England Suffer Big Injury Blow

It appears that Liverpool and England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss the 2018 World Cup this summer through a knee injury sustained playing in the Champions League. A key member of the England squad, this is a huge blow for the Three Lions.

Chamberlain has improved tremendously since making his switch to Liverpool from Arsenal. The player has expanded his flexibility as a player, no longer just comfortable playing wide, but also now playing well centrally. His pace and stamina on the field has gotten better, as has his shooting and passing ability. Many ruled out Liverpool being successful after losing Coutinho, but players including Chamberlain have stepped up, propelling the side to the Champions League semi final.

England have an abundance of talent in the midfield, perhaps the strongest they have had in a while. Chamberlain was one of a host of players that would have been battling for a starting spot. Now, the likes of Deli Alli, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, and Raheem Sterling will all stand a better chance of getting game time in Russia. While all four of those men are talented players, England will most definitely miss Chamberlain’s abilities. The Liverpool man is much better defensively than all of his fellow England wingers, and as mentioned could play in multiple spots. Alli and Lingard very rarely play wide for their club teams, and are nowhere near as prolific, as when played centrally, when they do. This means that England coach Gareth Southgate will need to decide on the formation he wishes to play against his group stage opponents very quickly. 

A 4-4-2 diamond formation featuring Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy as strikers, supported by either Alli or Lingard would likely be the best option, however this means leaving more talent on the bench, talent that could win games. An alternative would be to play with one striker, and supplement the attack with a second creative midfielder. This could work wonders, especially with the option to bring Vardy’s pace off the bench. A third option would be to go with the trend of playing with three defenders, as England have tried in recent friendly matches. The downside of this is that, with the defensive options available and how inexperienced they all are, the wide spots would need to be filled with out and out full backs, rather than explosive wingers with defensive capabilities, a spot that would have been ideal for Chamberlain. Utilizing a back five against Belgium could work well, however playing this way against the likes of Panama and Tunisia could be detrimental to the attack. Coach Southgate has a lot of thinking and tinkering to do in order to get the most out of his very talented group of players. By creating a balanced and powerful squad, and ensuring that his players all give 100% each game, Southgate's England could go the distance in Russia, despite not having Chamberlain in the squad.