England have world class attackers, but their World Cup trump card is Thomas Tuchel's defensive dominance

Another day, another miserly England display. That was 1.6 xG allowed to Serbia on the way to another clean sheet and a robust 2-0 win.

Wait, sorry, what? They've allowed that across all the qualifiers? Thomas Tuchel, he's done it again.

For all the talk of England unchained post-Gareth Southgate, the hope that a superstar coach might be able to jam a few more attackers onto the pitch, the English FA knew what they were getting when they handed Tuchel one of the most coveted jobs in the international game. They were getting a winner not a stylist.

So far Tuchel has delivered on expectations. There was some friendly weirdness in the summer but in the meaningful games England are exemplary. With only a trip to Tirana ahead of them, the first European side to qualify for the World Cup have a record that reads played seven, won seven, scored 20, conceded zero.

That scoring number has tended to get much of the focus and understandably so. England are so replete with attacking options that they may have passed the stage where their talent pool is a good problem for Tuchel to have. You could forgive him for picking up the phone to Gennaro Gattuso and seeing if Italy might fancy swapping one of their left footed hybrid defenders for a tekky No.10. He could chuck in a winger that likes cutting infield to sweeten the gig. After all, some big names are going to miss the World Cup. Cole Palmer's ongoing injury issues have robbed him of a chance to make a case. It is hard to see how Jack Grealish can be good enough, especially when Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon join the battle for places on their return from injury.

On paper you would suggest that the vulnerability in England's squad lies in its defense. Your next step would be to explain why those supposed weaknesses are yet to translate onto the pitch. Of course the opposition is not business end of a World Cup level. Serbia, however, fielded talented forwards such as Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic at Wembley. Albania gave all sorts of issues to Italy, Croatia and Spain at the World Cup. England's task in reaching the tournament is no obviously easier than France's or Germany's, perhaps even Spain's.

So long as the standard of opposition is not the elderly, allowing an average of 0.23 xG per game is ludicrous. Their total tally against is bettered only by Spain, and you do fear that won't be the last time England will be bettered only by Spain in the World Cup cycle.

This run of clean sheets has not been done in necessarily ideal circumstances for Tuchel. While Jordan Pickford has been an ever present in goal Ezri Konsa and Reece James are the only players to have started more than half of the seven qualifiers. In all, 10 defenders have started and with only 90 minutes of competitive football left it would be a brave man who picked the starting back four in North America next summer.

James figures as a lock if -- and this is a big if -- he can keep fit over the course of Chelsea's season too. Pencil Marc Guehi in as well, perhaps with Stones alongside him though there are the same questions over him that there are over James. Tuchel is evidently a big admirer of Myles Lewis-Skelly, but only if he is playing regular football. Nico O'Reilly's performance certainly put him in the mix.

All of these are fine options, even if they don't profile at the levels of Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka, top three players worldwide in their position. Perhaps that's fine. The individual talent at the back might not be of the highest level -- though an Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice shield isn't far off -- but the gameplan will be.

This is what Tuchel does perhaps better than any other coach in the world. He has come a long way since the hard-running days of his Borussia Dortmund side and has mastered possession as a defensive weapon. Just give this man a functioning double pivot ahead of four competent defenders and there'll be no need for laundry day. All the sheets, they'll be spotless. He evidently doesn't need much time to make an impact and these England numbers are no fluke. Nearly five years ago he was parachuted into a faltering Chelsea, conceding a goal and with xG figures to match. In an instant they became one of the best defenses Europe has seen in the last decade. Tuchel had inherited a good squad just not that good... even with N'Golo Kante, Antonio Rudiger and prime James.

Can Tuchel's football occasionally veer too close to pragmatism? There were certainly moments during his Chelsea tenure, much as the way in which England ground down Andorra and Latvia was hardly cause for national jubilance. Then again, everything Tuchel has done since he formally took over at the start of 2025 has been done with a view to making the Three Lions the most effective tournament side they can be. That means a team that can hold the other guys goalless in the biggest games. The only evidence you are going to get from qualifying is three shots on target allowed, no goals conceded, that sort of stuff.

And so yes, England will absolutely be there or thereabouts at the World Cup. They might even be second only to Spain in the favorites rankings. That is in no small part down to the fact that they can roll out Saka, Kane, Bellingham etc. and supplement them with elite attacking talent on the bench. But when coaches try to puzzle up a plan to beat England in June and July they would be well advised to not just focus on how they might stop the superstars at one end. They will need to come up with a way to break the system at the other.