World Cup 2018: Why England's performance dropped off in second half against Tunisia

England defeated Tunisia 2-1 in Volgograd courtesy of good organisation in two different respects: a cohesive, unusual system in open play, and pre-planned set-piece routines. The former ensured England dominated, the latter provided the goals.

Gareth Southgate has consistently deployed this 3-5-2 system since England clinched qualification for this tournament, and it’s proved difficult for opponents to cope with late midfield runs. While the three-man defence has made something of a comeback in the Premier League over the last couple of seasons, partly thanks to Antonio Conte’s impact at Chelsea, it’s generally structured as a 3-4-3 rather than 3-5-2, with two holding midfielders screening the defence, and two inside-forwards drifting inside.

Indeed, the other two sides using a three-man defence at this World Cup, Costa Rica and England’s group rivals Belgium, use 3-4-3. England’s 3-5-2 is unique, with Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli pushing forward into clever positions in the channels, leaving Jordan Henderson to control midfield solo. Henderson was surprisingly left free in the early stages, taking advantage of his freedom to knock the ball over the top for England’s first chance, when Lingard should have converted from Alli’s pass.

Lingard and Alli were the crucial players in England’s system. With Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling starting upfront but making runs towards play to drag the opposition centre-backs out, Tunisia’s full-backs tucked inside to fill the gaps. In turn, Alli and Lingard made clever runs into the channels, past the opposition midfielders and escaping the attentions of the Tunisian full-backs.

Lingard continually found himself in goalscoring positions: in addition to the early chance from Alli’s pass, he missed a simple volley at the far post when left completely unmarked, miscued a presentable chance in the aftermath of a set-piece and prodded against the post from the outstanding Kieran Trippier’s arced ball into the channel. His finishing was poor, but his movement was sensational, aided by Kane and Sterling’s clever decoy runs.

Tunisia coach Nabil Maâloul had started with a 4-3-3 system which meant their defenders were often left four-against-four, with Lingard and Alli effectively becoming extra forwards, and meant Henderson went free. But in the second half Tunisia switched to more of a 5-3-1-1, providing extra defensive cover, while Naim Sliti moved inside to shut down Henderson. England now struggled to work the ball forward, although Tunisia’s narrow attack created more space for Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire to push into. Both carried the ball forward, compensating for Henderson’s diminished influence.

But England won this game with two goals from set-pieces, both converted by Kane. Tunisia desperately struggled to defend corners throughout the first half, using too many men zonally along the six-yard box, with only three players deployed in man-marking briefs against four England players: John Stones, Henderson, Kane and Maguire. The first three generally acted as blockers, creating a pocket of space for Maguire, the target man.

Tunisia’s players were fortunate not to be penalised for holding on several occasions, and after half-time Maâloul changed his strategy, asking for a fourth player to man-mark England’s four runners from deep. By the time Ruben Loftus-Cheek was introduced and became a fifth target, Tunisia added a fifth man in that zone, seemingly switching from a predominantly zonal marking system in the early stages, to a predominantly man-marking system in the closing stages.

But regardless of the system, Kane was constantly left unmarked. England had seven corners and Kane made the same run every time, looping around to the back post, hoping to collect the second ball after one of England’s centre-backs had nodded towards goal. On four of those seven occasions, Kane came into play.

After two minutes, Maguire won the first header, and goalkeeper Mouez Hassan acrobatically pushed the ball away before Kane could reach it. After 15 minutes, Stones’ header was brilliant saved by Hassan, but Kane was on home to convert the rebound. On 61 minutes, Stones again reached the first ball, but it fell just behind Kane who could only hopefully hook it into the danger zone. And then in second half stoppage time, Maguire rose highest, headed to the back post, and Kane used all neck muscles to flick the ball home at the near post. Tunisia can’t say they weren’t warned.