England, your time is now

The English national team is going through a 52-year world cup drought.

England has suffered a few agonising losses in the later stage of the tournament in recent decades, mostly in penalty shootouts. Gareth Southgate, the current manager, is looking to break this trend in Russia.

England are in the prime position to raise the cup at the end of the tournament with players in form in their domestic and club football.

Harry Kane, who has been in blistering form for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, has shown he can mix it at the international level by scoring a double in England’s first group game against Tunisia, and a hat trick against Panama.

The England side looks to be a dream team of talent picked straight from a barrel. The midfield is littered with talent with Dele Ali and Ashley Young holding the midfield down.

The defence is held down by the corporal in Kyle Walker. Walker has been playing well for Manchester City with supporters crediting success to his work ethic.

England has had a favourable draw in their group stage, drawing Tunisia, Panama and Belgium.

The Lions will battle it out with Belgium to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament.

England’s 5-1 defeat was a demolishing performance. The structure and tactics that Southgate has implemented has seen a new and improved England that we have rarely seen before.

Gareth Southgate, Manager of England looks on (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

The final group game against Belgium will no doubt be the Lions hardest game of the tournament to date. Recent reports in the media have said that Gareth Southgate is considering resting the likes of Kane and Jesse Lingard.

Resting early on in the tournament can be positive and negative at the same time. Resting players in a tournament only seven games long can cause a brief intermission in a form. It also causes players to lose their touch. The early substitutions in the Panama game represented a timely and clever move by the England coach.

The chemistry between the England players has been amazing with players setting up and also pre-determining the positioning of their counterparts.

Team dynamics have somewhat been a thing of the past especially in big tournaments like the world cup and the European Championships in recent years.

The next game against Belgium will determine which team tops the group. The game will be between two teams that rank pretty evenly against each other and a game plan that is very much alike, with plenty of long overlapping players.

The run through midfield will determine the result of this game and clear transition through centre midfield will either expose England or cement them as a favourite of this tournament moving forward.