After the dismal bore draw against Slovenia, Ian Wright floated the idea of Bukayo Saka being moved to left back. This idea has been derided by many. But is it really as crazy as it seems?
A lot of (mainly Arsenal fans), gave Wrighty some abuse for his suggestion. They saw his comments as both a slant on Saka’s form and that Wright would be sacrificing the Arsenal man to et Cole Palmer into the team. Neither of these are true.
A major issue for England this tournament is the team has lacked balance.
Take way that Southgate is playing the wrong formation (he should go 4141) and tactics (why play so defensive minded when we have so many great attackers?), the left hand side has been one of England’s biggest problems.
Kieran Trippier was lucky to make the squad.
He had an average season for Newcastle United, which led to many Geordies calling for him to be dropped. At 33-years-old, his decline this season has been rapid. Were it not for Ben White’s falling out and Reece James’ injury, I do not think Trippier would have been in Southgate’s final squad.
The former Spurs and Burnley player is also not a left back. A quick search of Transfermarkt shows that he ha splayed just one game domestically in that position – a League Cup tie against Barnsley back in 2017.
Trippier offers nothing going forward on that left hand side. He does not use his left foot, does not even pretend to go down the outside and does not hug the touchline. It makes England very narrow and predictable.
Ahead of him, you have Phil Foden.
Foden is a fantastic player. You do not win Premier League Player of the Year being average. But he is best suited centrally, either as the sole 10 or on the right hand side of a pair of 8s.
When Foden plays on that left hand side, he always looks to come inside to get more involved. He is just not your typical “chalk on the boots” winger.
Trippier not being able to play on the outside and Foden looking to come inside all the time has made our left wing almost non-existent. we are basically playing in just 70% of the pitch, which in turn allows teams to defend narrower and restrict our space.
Southgate needs to get width into the team.
He could play Saka on the left wing, but like Foden he will probably look to drop inside to be more involved. The solution therefore could be to move Saka to left back.
Often during his youth career, Saka would play at left back. And when he first broke into the first team, he was utilised both at left back and left wing back. I must say that these were emergency cases and the club always saw him as an attacking player.
Whilst you might lose some of Saka’s attacking contributions on the right hand side, you gain by having a natural left footer at left back. Someone that has the discipline and game awareness to provide width, get chalk on his boots, and make those runs in behind Foden.
It might not be a long-term solution as better teams will look to exploit Saka’s defensive weakness, however against Slovakia this has to be an option.
Slovakia are unlikely to attack us much, so doubling up with Foden and Saka on the left hand side could turn it into a strength.
Southgate then has the option of either Cole Palmer or Jarrod Bowen on the right hand side – whilst they might not be at our mans level, they can both certainly do a decent enough job on that wing.
In my view, you gain more upgrading from Trippier to Saka at left back, then you lose from downgrading from Saka to Palmer/Bowen on the right wing.
Wrighty’s (and mine) comments should not be seen as disrespect for Saka. it is not him being pushed back into defence due to his form. It is a compliment to the young mans versatility that he should be a genuine option there. And sometimes as a player you need to make a sacrifice for the betterment of the team.
Over the years I think of Thierry Henry playing left wing for France, Sergio Ramos playing right back for Spain, Javier Mascherano playing centre back for Barcelona and many others who have been pushed out of their natural position to do a job elsewhere.
I would be surprised if Southgate does select Saka at left back. the knock out stages of an international tournament is not really the time or place to be experimenting. But we can also not keep going with Trippier when he offers so little in attacking positions.
Enjoy your Thursday. Cricket starts at 15:30. Hopefully we smash the Indians!
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 