TA: England have a strong pivot but little solid plan B

November 18th: England performed well in this World Cup preliminaries, winning all 8 games, scoring 24 points, scoring 22 goals and conceding 0 goals. TheAthletic also published an article commenting on the Three Lions' lineup. The article believes that the England team has a strong central axis-Pickford, Stones, Rice, Kane. Whether they can stay away from injuries is crucial to the Three Lions' World Cup journey.

The article wrote that the first stage of the Tuchel era of the England team has ended. They successfully qualified for the 2026 World Cup through a long journey to the World Cup preliminaries, and did not concede a point or a goal in the process. England's next official tournament will be seven months later, when the first match of the World Cup group stage begins.

Despite a slow start when he took over the team at the beginning of the year, Tuchel has built a strong and purposeful England team, full of focus and drive. After Sunday's final World Cup qualifying match against Albania, the players showed deep relief and pride as they hugged each other and greeted the traveling England fans.

They seem to know that they are strong and confident, and will fly to the United States next June to start the journey with the vision of achieving great results.

Watching England's games it is clear where their strengths lie, and this strength may also become their weakness in the future.

This team relies heavily on its strong central axis, composed of irreplaceable core players: Pickford, Stones, Rice and Kane. These are the key players Tuchel is particularly keen to keep fit in the coming months. Their fitness will directly affect England's prospects at the 2026 World Cup.

In other positions, England has reliable substitutes. Reece James is an excellent right back, but there are others who can fill the role. Anderson excels in midfield but Adam Walton can also step up. Saka is one of England's best players, but when he's unavailable, Madueke is a very competent substitute, as he was at Arsenal. If Rashford is unable to play, Anthony Gordon or Eze can directly replace him.

However, England have no obvious replacement at the core of the team and almost no reliable plan B should something happen to them. Not just for their performance on the pitch, but for the tone set and leadership shown off the pitch by Stones, Rice and Kane.

In the past few months, people have been talking about England players who are on the fringes or not even on the list, thus ignoring the importance of those players who are always available, but it is they who will play the most important role for England at next year's World Cup.

Pickford started 8 of the 10 games coached by Tuchel, missing only the friendly match against Senegal in June and the inconsequential final round of the World Cup preliminaries.

Dean Henderson performed very well against Albania and kept a clean sheet, but England's first-choice goalkeeper is undoubtedly Pickford. Pickford's performance in four consecutive major tournaments has been almost perfect, and England will need him to be at his best in the fifth major tournament next summer.

Perhaps a more important player than Pickford is Stones, who missed Tuchel's first three training sessions due to injury and was originally scheduled to serve as midfielder in the key game against Serbia in September.

This finally happened in the game against Albania last Sunday. England adopted a 3-2-2-3 formation in the first half, with Stones moving forward from the defender position to partner with Walton in the midfield. Despite England's struggles, Stones' performance has been outstanding. He is constantly moving, always asking for the ball, directing his teammates to play, exchanging positions with more forward midfielders, and even appearing at the 8th position. It can be seen that his understanding and level of the game are very high.

If England plays against top opponents under high pressure and sweltering weather next summer, without Stones, they will lose half of their strength. Stones had a temperament, quality and charisma that set him apart.

However, there are two players even more important than Stones.

Rice has started 9 of the 10 games coached by Tuchel and came on as a substitute in the other one. His importance in the team seems to be growing by the day, becoming the driving force and set-piece specialist in England's midfield.

Now with Anderson next to Rice, picking up the ball from the backline and filling the void left by Rice, Rice is even better than before.

No one else in the England squad can perform like Rice. Bellingham initially played as a box-to-box midfielder in Southgate's team and will play that way at the 2022 World Cup, but it is clear that Tuchel now wants him closer to the opposition goal.

In recent months, Rice has also become more important in the England team's dressing room and has become one of the team's main voices. Although he is only 26 years old, he has begun to show the style of a veteran.

Then there's Kane. What more can be said about a player who has scored eight goals in this World Cup qualifying campaign (England has scored 22 in total) and has scored 78 goals in 112 England appearances?

The 32-year-old Kane is currently in the best shape of his career, with his touch, awareness and scoring ability reaching new heights. Since leaving the Premier League to join Bayern in the summer of 2023, Kane's performance has been even better than before. Not only are there no players like him in England, there are almost none around the world.

In recent years, Kane has been unable to fully perform in major competitions due to constant minor injuries. The most important thing for him in the second half of the season is to avoid these injuries. If he can go into the World Cup in his current form, England will have a chance of winning every game.

In addition, Kane is an underrated leader. He has been the captain for nearly 8 years and has gradually grown in this role.. Even under Tuchel, his leadership has developed further, whether it was his enthusiastic congratulations to Spence on his England debut against Serbia in Belgrade in September, or his motivational speech after sealing qualification against Latvia last month, Kane has become more and more vocal.

If England participates in the World Cup without Pickford, Stones, Rice and Kane, it is almost unimaginable how inferior the team will be and the strength of its lineup will be greatly reduced.

This is not a criticism of Tuchel or his tactical plans, as every team relies on their best players, and what makes world-class players unique is that they are difficult to copy or replace. Many teams competing in next summer's World Cup will want to rely on their core players as much as England.

However, considering the intensive club competition between now and March next year, people will inevitably worry about the status of these core players in England. Although Bellingham, Foden and other new stars have attracted much attention, it was Pickford, Stones, Rice and Kane who led England to easily qualify for the 2026 World Cup. They will also be England's most important force and pillar in next year's World Cup.