England are in the final eight of the World Cup and now the real fun begins. It looks to be a set of blockbuster quarter-finals and the Three Lions will take on France.
Despite the drama and panic following the goalless draw with the United States, England's World Cup has been uncharacteristically stress-free so far. Gareth Southgate's side cruised through the group stages conceding just twice - one a dodgy penalty and the other a sweet strike when the game was already well won, and kept another clean sheet in Sunday's clinical dispatching of Senegal. There have been no fresh injury concerns, no suspension heartbreak, not even a booking as of yet and they've done it all playing on the front foot with some exciting attacking play.
The Three Lions' strength is their wealth of excellent forwards. So much so that Raheem Sterling wasn't missed when he had to return home and missed the Senegal game and hardly anyone has noticed that James Maddison is yet to play a minute. Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Jude Bellingham and, of course, Manchester City hero Phil Foden.
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Southgate has varied between a more progressive system with four defenders that allows him to play more of his attackers and a more defensive back-three throughout his reign in charge. The deciding factor tends to be if his side will have the majority of possession or not.
In the four matches so far that has been the case and we've seen the results with some thrilling passages of play and superbly crafted goals. USA aside, England have been exciting to watch with verve and style, killing off games early before going into cruise control until the final whistle. This assertiveness has made them look like one of the best sides in the tournament.
Now the big question ahead of France is does Southgate stick or twist? Hold firm with what has been working so well or revert to his usual conservative approach against tough sides. History would suggest that a return to the back-three is likely. In England's last matches before the trip to Qatar, they played Italy and Germany in the Nations League and the formation was used in both games.
Regardless of what Southgate chooses he has earned everyone's backing at this point but reverting back to a more defensive system is playing with fire. If you go out swinging and land on your sword against a just-as-talented side with Kylian Mbappe in it, there's little shame in that, but changing how you play for them and still going out would invite a cascade of criticism. But he would also be hailed a genius if a formation change resulted in victory.
Moving to a back-three does feel like it would be a negative step, though. England have been just as good if not better than France in the tournament and they are worthy of just as much fear. They should take confidence into the match. A switch would be an admission that Southgate is frightened and doesn't think his team are as good, immediately giving France the phycological edge.
It would also be hard to then change tact and try to become more attacking once the match begins if things do go awry and a goal is conceded. Not to mention it's not been used in this tournament yet and could be rusty.
Bringing in an extra defender, which would likely be Kieran Trippier with Kyle Walker becoming one of the three centre-backs, would also likely see a forward sacrificed. It could be one of the midfield trio of Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson or Declan Rice but that seems unlikely as they have grown into a finely balanced trio. Harry Kane will be starting and he would likely have Marcus Rashford up alongside him.
So the most likely candidate to be on the chopping block would be Foden. That would be a massive shame. He was brilliant against Senegal as he set up two of the goals with a level of delivery that not many other players can boast. Bellingham has been grabbing the headlines but Foden has been sublime in his two starts and his Pep Guardiola-honed decision-making makes them such a threat on the break.
Southgate may well be having sleepless nights toying over what he's going to do but, hopefully, he will be brave and once again play on the front foot. Because with Foden and the rest England are good enough to beat anyone.
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