In his latest column for The Sporting News, former England striker Jay Bothroyd previews the Three Lions' huge quarterfinal clash with France at Qatar 2022.
What a mouthwatering quarterfinal we have on Saturday, with England in good form as they face up to the reigning world champions.
Everyone is saying France this, Kylian Mbappe that. I’m not interested in that because, at the end of the day, England are one of the superpowers of football. We have the best league in the world and some of the best players.
France have some of the best players in the world as well, but they're definitely nothing we should fear. We should be going in there with the mindset that we would against any other nation. If we perform to our best we can win this.
There's obviously a huge threat out wide from France and Jordan Henderson playing on the right of a midfield three, with Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham in there as well, are going to have to help Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw at full-back, doubling up at times — because Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele have got speed.
If Mbappe's going to try going against Walker on the outside he won't run away from Kyle. Then, if he comes back inside he needs someone there to nail him. There's going to be more defensive duties for Henderson and Rice.
I look at France's back four and our forward line and know we can cause them problems.
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Is Harry Kane playing well at the World Cup?
It's great that Harry Kane got on the scoresheet the other day against Senegal. He had a fantastic performance — he led the line and did everything that was required.
I wanted to see him higher up the pitch and against Senegal he was much higher, more of a focal point occupying the centre-backs, which ultimately gave Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka space to dribble and get in the box.
I wasn't a forward who was a speed demon, wanting to run in behind all the time. When you play up against defenders, look like you're going to run in behind and then come short, you bring a defender with you. That creates space and gives opportunities for people like Foden and Saka to go in behind.
On the other hand, if Kane looks like he's going to come short and then pivots to go in behind, the defenders have to go with him. That then gives Foden the space to come into that pocket between the lines, receive the ball and turn and dribble.
Then you have someone like Shaw overlapping and Bellingham joining in from midfield.
When you've got that type of flexibility within your forward line, you can only be successful. England have struggled before when you have all the players trying to do the same thing, coming into feet or going long. That becomes an issue, and it's one this team doesn't have.
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France are the same with Olivier Giroud up front. He's not as good as Kane but he's still a good finisher with his head and both feet. He's not as fast as Kane but he can hold the ball up.
If he comes short, then Mbappe and Dembele run in behind. If he stays high, they can come into those pockets, like for Mbappe's two goals against Poland, where there was great disguise on his finishes. When someone's got great movement and is fast like Mbappe, that combination is a problem.
There are a lot of similarities between the front threes of both sides. It's going to be about whoever turns up on the day.
