England’s Right-Back Dilemma: Waddle Advocates for Henderson Against Mexico

England are into the World Cup knockouts, but they arrive in Mexico City with a hole on the team sheet and a storm of debate swirling around one position.

Right-back.

Thomas Tuchel’s side face Mexico in the last 16 in the early hours of Monday morning (1am UK time), walking into a stadium and a country that have been waiting years for this moment as co-hosts. England, by contrast, limp towards it in that area of the pitch.

The 2-1 win over DR Congo in the round of 32 got them here, Harry Kane dragging his country over the line with two late goals. The drama papered over the cracks. It didn’t erase them.

Tuchel has lost almost every specialist he trusted on that flank. Tino Livramento never kicked a ball in North America. Reece James and Jarell Quansah followed him onto the treatment table once the tournament began. Now Djed Spence, the man who started against Congo, is a doubt as well.

A crisis in one position. And a decision that won’t go away.

Tuchel’s choice to leave Trent Alexander-Arnold at home continues to draw fire, especially with Quansah also missing. Alexander-Arnold, now at Real Madrid and still one of the most gifted passers in the game, looked like the obvious solution from the outside.

Chris Waddle doesn’t see it that way.

The former England winger, part of the side that reached the 1990 World Cup semi-finals, has backed Tuchel’s call on Alexander-Arnold – and thrown a very different name into the conversation.

“Alexander-Arnold played 30 games last season and didn’t complete enough games – so no, I wouldn't say that it was a mistake to leave him behind,” Waddle said. “If you are going to pick him, you pick him for his quality and what he gives you, then that's fine – I understand that.”

The issue, in Waddle’s eyes, lies not with the Liverpool academy product who stayed at home, but with the durability of those who travelled.

He points straight at the medical records.

“We knew Reece James is – unfortunately, he's a top player – but he's always injured, as is Tino Livramento. So looking at the squad straight away, you had to put a question mark over their injuries. They are injured a lot, unfortunately, and the one thing you want when you go to a tournament is a healthy squad. You've got to have players who are fit.

“When you look at the injury records of Livramento and James, they do miss a lot of football matches. So maybe taking two right-backs who are constantly injured was a risk, and the manager should have probably looked at that. As players, their quality is undeniable – they're very good players and I like them, but their track record of being injured was a red alert for me.”

The red alert has become a full-blown siren. With Spence now in doubt, Tuchel is staring at a knockout tie against an unbeaten Mexico side, one that hasn’t conceded a goal at this World Cup, without a recognised, fully fit right-back.

Waddle’s solution is bold, pragmatic – and rooted in how he sees this England team controlling games.

“Listen, with the way we play, we dominate football matches,” he said. “It’s not until we play France, Spain, or Argentina – someone of that quality – where you're going to be under real pressure. Against the teams we are playing now, he could play Jordan Henderson at right-back.

“Tell me who has got a great winger or who plays on the front foot against England? It’s all counter-attacking, so you may as well have a passer of the ball back there. There's no reason Jordan Henderson can't play at right-back.”

Henderson has barely featured – just six minutes of World Cup football so far. Throwing the veteran in from the cold in a knockout tie, in the altitude and intensity of Mexico City, would be a significant call from Tuchel.

Yet the idea of a midfielder stepping in at right-back is no longer theoretical. Declan Rice already did it against Congo, shifting out wide as Tuchel shuffled his pack. It worked well enough to plant a seed.

Waddle would push that concept further.

“If you look at the rest of the squad, I know he has played Jarrel Quansah there, but why not play a midfield player there?” he said. “Play Declan Rice there and put a creative midfield player in the centre instead. Put Eberechi Eze alongside Elliot Anderson, and say to them, 'look, I want you to pass. If you see a 30-, 40-, or 50-yard pass, I want you to hit it'. That is how we're going to score more goals and get the wingers into the game.

“Because at the minute, you've got two midfield players who are exactly the same, and it’s all 10-yard passes. By the time the ball shuffles out to the wing, it’s too late. You want somebody in the middle of the park who's brave, who wants to get on the ball and distribute it long-range.”

That is the tactical trade-off laid bare. Use Rice as an auxiliary full-back and unleash more imagination in the middle. Or go even more radical and hand the right-back role to Henderson, a man who built his career in midfield but has the experience and composure Waddle craves.

“Personally, I'd put Jordan Henderson at right-back,” Waddle added. “He's good on the ball and he's economical. He doesn't have to fly on the overlap or bomb forward. We just want somebody who can play as a right-back, get the ball, control it, and pass it, because I've not seen any team go full throttle at England yet.”

Tuchel now walks into a last-16 tie with a choice that cuts to the heart of his tournament strategy. Trust a makeshift solution and keep the ball, or gamble on a less familiar name at full-back and risk Mexico finding joy in the space behind.

The right-back slot, so often an afterthought, has become England’s biggest question mark. How Tuchel answers it in Mexico City may define how long this World Cup adventure lasts.