Time for Gareth Southgate to reveal his cool head

England and Wales begin their World Cup campaigns on Monday and although the levels of expectation are very different for the two neighbours, the key to success could be surprisingly similar.

Even though they reached the semi-final of the last World Cup and were denied on penalties by Italy in last summer’s European Championships, hopes for England in Qatar are low.

A poor Nations League campaign coupled with misgivings about how adventurous manager Gareth Southgate is willing to be with his tactics has meant that the typical hype around the chances of the Three Lions has been muted.

Rafa Benitez helped popularise a metaphor of the ‘short blanket’ to describe setting up a football team, ‘‘if you cover your head, you have your feet cold, but if you cover your feet, you have your head cold.’’

Southgate has decided, rightly, that England’s weakness is in defence and as a result he has attempted to keep his team’s head warm with cautious tactics.

Five at the back looks likely to be the shape for his side, particularly in games against teams of a similar level.

The England manager took something of a gamble by opting for the system against Germany in the round of 16 at last year’s Euros, and reverted to it for the final against Italy.

However, it proved to be more of a hindrance than a help for the side, who failed to stretch an ageing Italian back line with pace in behind as they played out an uneventful extra-time.

Harry Kane’s preference to drop deep to join in with the build-up play makes him one of the most complete number nines in world football but it also means he needs runners to go beyond him to stretch the opposition backline.

In Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham, England have a number of prime candidates able to achieve that.

However, in the Euros final, those players were not able to penetrate and create space in which others could flourish.

One major positive for fans of the Three Lions is their young attackers could hardly be in better form for their clubs.

Saka has four goals and six assists in 14 Premier League games, Bellingham has seven goals and three assists in 20 matches in all competitions and Foden has scored seven times and racked up four assists in 14 league matches.

For England to be successful, Southgate must allow his team’s head to get cold every now and again, giving his forwards the freedom to push on, particularly in games against teams of a similar standing who are likely to play a high line.

The concept of having pace and youth around a talismanic forward is one that also extends to Wales.

At 33 years old and with a difficult fitness record, Gareth Bale does not have the physical attributes to stretch defences in the way that he used to and fellow striker Kieffer Moore also falls into that category.

However Rob Page has at his disposal a number of quick and direct forwards, including Dan James, Brennan Johnson and Sorba Thomas, who will need to step up to supplement the efforts of Bale and Moore.

Both sides lack a truly top-level midfield creator - Aaron Ramsey’s powers look to be on the wane and England’s likely starting midfielders are more box-to-box operators.

As a result, they will both need to utilise their pace and directness in attack if they are to be successful and live up to their expectation levels.

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