On June 28, Carragher wrote in a column for The Telegraph that England's performance at the FIFA World Cup has been poor so far, and the team still relies heavily on Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

Here is the column:

When Thomas Tuchel took over the England squad, he knew he was fortunate to have two world-class players. But he was unsure whether he could truly build a great England team. Now that the World Cup has reached the knockout stages, that uncertainty remains. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have once again proved why they play for two of the world's biggest clubs. This is why they were England's greatest hope before coming to the United States for the World Cup. How far England progresses still depends heavily on their form.

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have stepped up when the pressure is greatest, as they always have for England. So far at this World Cup, five of England's six goals have come directly from them. Meanwhile, Harry Kane is setting records with almost every goal he scores. His 70th goal of the season made him England's all-time leading scorer in World Cup finals history.

But after Kane and Bellingham led the team to victory over Panama, returned to the hotel, and began savoring the praise and thinking about the next match, I wondered if they might privately think this: if the team system were more rational, they could contribute even more. I suspect both players are satisfied with their decisive performances, but they must have been disappointed by several aspects of the first three matches.

Particularly Kane.

For years, what I most dislike hearing at every major international tournament is: "Harry Kane drops too deep and hurts the team." That is an oversimplification. Kane has played this way for years; it is not new. The real problem is not that Kane comes deep to receive the ball outside the penalty box. The real problem is how his teammates should play when Kane is allowed to continue playing this way.

There are several reasons why Kane continues to drop deep. First, as he has aged, his pace is not what it was in his youth, so he must adjust his style of play rather than stay behind defenders all match waiting for chances. He is one of the most intelligent players in world football and instinctively knows where he needs to be. Second, he is also one of England's best passers. He can deliver defense-splitting through balls and finish attacks.

The real problem is tactical. In the starting lineup, if too many players enjoy occupying the "in-between" spaces where Kane drops into, it becomes too crowded. The result: the penalty area is packed with bodies, but there are not enough runners attacking behind the defense. Southgate faced this problem at previous major tournaments. And it persists at this World Cup. Against Panama in the first half, Kane had just one touch inside the box. More concerning, he had very few touches outside the box as well—only 10 total. Against Ghana, he had just 20 touches throughout the match. This limits a versatile center forward and England's most lethal weapon. Before facing stronger opponents, Tuchel must rethink this.

Last night, one clear problem was that he deployed two attacking midfielders. This meant both Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham liked to receive the ball in the areas where Kane operates. Sometimes Nico O'Neill appeared there too. In the first two matches, Rice often played this way as well. One solution after Rice's return is to pair him with Elliot Anderson as a double pivot, playing him deeper.

Against Panama, Anderson showed many vulnerabilities. Panama launched too many quick counterattacks. If it had been a stronger team, England would have been punished much earlier. If Rice had played deeper, there could have been better connection between Kane and Bellingham. But that would require Tuchel to abandon his initial attacking philosophy. Currently, he wants the team to form five attackers during possession, creating triangles on the flanks through wingers, fullbacks, and attacking midfielders. When Kane drops deep, the two wingers must take on more responsibility and attack the opposition defense more aggressively.

At Bayern Munich, Kane has teammates like Olise and Luis Díaz. Tuchel has also built this England squad around quick, direct wingers. So he brought many such players to the World Cup squad. Unfortunately, so far the most striking thing about these wingers seems to be that they perform better when they are not on the pitch.

Rashford is currently rated as the standout winger. But overall, all the wingers have been well below par. This puts even more responsibility on Kane and Bellingham to create chances and score goals. Now other players must step up. Otherwise, England will be heading home early.

So far, England has not produced a truly complete, high-level 90-minute performance. They still rely on moments of brilliance created by the individual ability of Kane and Bellingham. Can that carry England all the way? Can a team depend for so long on two players who are far superior to everyone else? Usually, the answer is no.

Every time I watch Jude Bellingham play in a crucial match, I think of my former Liverpool teammate Gerrard. I always remember someone's very accurate assessment of him: "He doesn't control the game, but he changes it."

The same is true for Bellingham.

He was born for decisive moments.

He always scores crucial goals or provides assists that everyone will remember at the most important times.

If you are a neutral fan watching England's current performance, seeing France, or Argentina and Spain who have won recently, it would surely remind you to be realistic with England fans.

Other strong teams have many world-class players.

And Tuchel knows well that if England is to compete with these teams in the coming tournament, the only way is to continue to draw out the greater value of Kane and Bellingham while hoping that other players finally perform at the level they have consistently failed to show for England.

When the team's performance remains so inconsistent—across three group matches, England played truly well for only one complete 45 minutes—future opponents will surely be more confident.

Because they will believe this: if they can stop Kane and Bellingham, Tuchel will be just as helpless as his predecessor when it truly matters.

Of course, there are positive aspects.

As long as the team has two world-class superstars who can change games, there is always hope.

After last year's European Championship, I wrote that England needed to evolve from "Harry Kane's team" to "Jude Bellingham's team."

I was premature.

Today, England's biggest reliance in challenging for the title is still the era of Kane and Bellingham leading together. How long England survives this World Cup comes down to one question: Will we repeatedly console ourselves that they created a few more moments of personal heroics? Or will we be able to celebrate that they truly motivated all their teammates around them, and England has finally grown into a complete, mature, and successful team?

AI 번역.

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