When England, the 1966 champions file out against the defending champions, France, not only full-back Kyle Walker or Centre back Harry Maguire will be wondering how to stop the phenomenal Kylian Mbappe, but equally from the touchline, Gareth Southgate.
Already, England’s manager, Gareth Southgate is wrestling with the biggest dilemma of his reign as he tries to plot a way to stop the “sensational” Kylian Mbappe in Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal. But that may be the beginning of the tactical mistake, as France is not only of the pacy Mbappe. Ousmane Dembele could single-handedly disorganized a team and so could Griezmann. Certainly, over concentrating on Mbappe may be counterproductive at the end of the day.
Southgate’s hopes of leading England to a third successive semi-final at major tournaments hinge on finding a solution to a problem that has proved impossible for any team to solve in Qatar.
Just how do you subdue a player with Mbappe’s lethal combination of electric pace, balletic skill and clinical finishing? Some ggod teams, like Australia, Denmark and Poland failed to come up with an appropriate answer as Mbappe scored in his three starts on route to the quarterfinals.
Poland defender Matty Cash summed up the conundrum posed by Mbappe after the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s brilliant two goals in France’s 3-1 last-16 victory on Sunday. “I didn’t know whether to drop off or go tight,” Cash said. “When I went tight he just spun in behind. When he gets the ball, stops and moves, he’s the quickest thing I’ve ever seen.
“He’s a different level. Speed, movement, look at his finishing. He’s got everything”, he added.
Four years after playing a key role in France’s World Cup triumph in Russia, Mbappe is arguably, the tournament’s most feared player. The 23-year-old already has five goals in four games in Qatar, while his haul of nine career World Cup goals puts him level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and one ahead of Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now it is Southgate’s turn to sit the daunting Mbappe exam.
“Look, he is a world-class player who is always producing the moments when they are needed. That is what those top players do. That is the challenge we face,” Southgate said.
So what will Southgate do to combat Mbappe’s threat?
One answer would be to switch England’s 4-3-3 formation to a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 system, which would allow Kyle Walker to move from right back to supplement the central defence.
Southgate’s concern is to avoid a situation in which the pacy Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele can run at defender Harry Maguire and exploit his lack of speed.
England full-back Kyle Walker has assured that his team cannot afford to obsess about France’s free-scoring Kylian Mbappe ahead of Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal against the defending champions.
The right-back is likely to be directly up against Mbappe, who is the tournament’s top scorer so far, with five goals.
“I know he’s a top player but we’re not playing tennis. It’s not a solo sport, it’s a team game,” the Manchester City defender said on Wednesday.
“We know he’s a great player and that’s why he’s the focus of all questions. But let’s not forget (Olivier) Giroud, who has scored countless (goals), (Ousmane) Dembele, for me just as good on the other wing.”
Walker has come up against Mbappe for Manchester City in the Champions League and said the lesson was not to over-focus on the 23-year-old.
“When we played Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, we were not just thinking of Mbappe and it’s going to be the same on Saturday,” he said.
“Yes, he’s a tool in their armoury – and a very good one – but you can’t underestimate their other players.”
Walker has become a key cog in England’s defence, operating as an orthodox right-back in a back four in this tournament, having also featured in a three-man central defence.
While he still has great pace, he is less adventurous in over-lapping down the flanks.
“I don’t really bomb forward as much as I used to playing for Tottenham as a wing-back,” he said. “It is about reading the game, the opponent, the formation the manager wants you to play in and adapting to that.”
Walker appeared slightly irritated at frequent questions at Wednesday’s press conference about Mbappe and how important his confrontation with him would be.
“This game isn’t England v Mbappe, it’s England v France,” he said.
“We will give respect but I’m not going to roll out a red carpet for him to score. It’s do or die as if we lose we go home,” added the 32-year-old.
“I do understand what I need to do and that’s to stop him. It’s probably easier said than done but I don’t underestimate myself.
“I’ve come across great players before so I will just treat it like another game.”
Walker said Gareth Southgate’s men had gained useful experience in recent years – reaching the World Cup semifinals in Russia in 2018 and the final at last year’s Euro 2020 – but also felt the quality of their opponents had risen.
“I think the team was a little bit inexperienced in big game matches,” he said. “OK, we knocked down some walls in Russia, winning the penalty shootout (against Colombia) and stuff like that but we were still inexperienced,” he said.
“I think we are more equipped but I think the players from the other teams -– when you look at Morocco for example, how well they played against a very good Spain team and got the result they wanted – you have had a few surprises with Japan and so on. I think the standard of play has gone up a bit from Russia.”
Moving Walker would give Maguire help but it would also leave Southgate open to fresh claims he is a negative coach more concerned with stifling the opposition than letting his own stars express themselves.
Southgate was heavily criticised after his return to a 3-4-3 formation in the Euro 2020 final against Italy produced a tepid display that ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat.
Instead of changing his formation, Southgate may take inspiration from Walker’s role in Manchester City’s Champions League semifinal first-leg win over Mbappe’s PSG last year.
City boss Pep Guardiola asked Walker to muzzle Mbappe from right-back and he responded with a disciplined display that kept the star from scoring.
“I can’t think of another right-back in the world that I’d want to put up against him,” former England defender Gary Neville said of Walker’s chances of subduing Mbappe.
“Kyle will go closer to him, he has more pace than the Polish defenders. That’s not to say Kyle will mark him out of the game. This is a sensational player, the new best player in the world.”
As well as Walker winning his one-on-one duels with Mbappe, Neville believes it is essential to reduce his service from Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.
“If they can stop the service to Giroud and Griezmann in that central area, it means Mbappe’s receiving far less dangerous passes,” Neville said.
But no matter how much England plan for Mbappe, Cash knows from painful experience that nothing can truly prepare them to face such a unique talent.
“I spent the afternoon watching his clips, but I’m watching the videos while lying in bed. In real life, he’s burning my legs, that’s the difference, he said.
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