England's Right-Back Dilemma: Waddle Advocates for Henderson vs Mexico
England are in the World Cup knockouts, but they don’t feel remotely secure.
Not after DR Congo.
Not with Mexico next.
And certainly not with half a back four in the treatment room.
Thomas Tuchel’s side walk into the noise and altitude of the Mexico City Stadium in the early hours of Monday morning with a place in the quarter-finals on the line and a glaring question still hanging over them: who plays right-back?
A Last-16 Tie, A Last-Second Problem
The route here was anything but smooth. England needed Harry Kane, again, to drag them through. Two late goals from the captain turned a fraught round-of-32 tie with DR Congo into a 2-1 escape act, but the performance left more doubts than reassurance.
The most urgent of those sits on Tuchel’s teamsheet, circled in red ink.
Right-back has gone from a position of supposed depth to a full-blown headache. Tino Livramento never made it to kick-off in North America. Reece James and Jarell Quansah followed him onto the injury list once the tournament began. Now Djed Spence, the man who started on the right against Congo, is a doubt as well.
Four right-back options. One by one, gone or compromised.
Every fresh setback throws another harsh light on Tuchel’s decision to leave Trent Alexander-Arnold at home. The Real Madrid defender, once Quansah’s team-mate at Liverpool, watched this crisis unfold from afar as England travelled with two injury-prone specialists and no luxury playmaker at full-back.
Tuchel has insisted he stands by the call. He has support.
Waddle Backs Tuchel on Trent – But Sees Another Solution
Chris Waddle knows what it means to navigate a World Cup with the nation watching every selection. A semi-finalist with England in 1990, he does not believe omitting Alexander-Arnold was a mistake.
“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, speaking to 10bet. “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.”
For Waddle, the real gamble came elsewhere. He points the finger at the medical records, not the talent.
“We knew Reece James is – unfortunately, he's a top player – but he's always injured, as is Tino Livramento,” he said. “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.”
He doesn’t question their ability. He questions the risk.
“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 injuries have now turned that “red alert” into a flashing siren. So where does Waddle turn?
To another Liverpool old boy.
“Play Jordan Henderson at Right-Back”
Waddle’s proposal is as pragmatic as it is surprising. He would push Jordan Henderson, the veteran midfielder with just six minutes of World Cup football so far, into the back line.
His logic rests on how England dominate most matches.
“With the way we play, we dominate football matches,” Waddle 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.”
In other words: England are not being pinned back by flying wingers. They are facing teams who sit deep and break sporadically.
“Tell me who has got a great winger or who plays on the front foot against England?” Waddle asked. “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 is not the modern, turbo-charged full-back. He will not mimic James or Alexander-Arnold on the overlap. Waddle argues he doesn’t need to.
“Personally, I'd put Jordan Henderson at right-back,” he 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.”
On paper, it sounds bold. In tournament football, it might be exactly the kind of clean, simple solution managers sometimes need.
Rice at Right-Back, Eze in the Middle? The Midfield Shuffle
Tuchel has already flirted with the idea of a makeshift full-back. When the pressure grew against DR Congo, Declan Rice shuffled across to cover the right.
It worked well enough to plant a seed.
Waddle sees that as a viable route too, but only if England use it to unlock more creativity in midfield.
“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?” Waddle 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.”
That is a pointed critique of England’s current rhythm in possession.
“Because at the minute, you've got two midfield players who are exactly the same, and it’s all 10-yard passes,” he said. “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.”
In Waddle’s vision, the right-back role becomes a safety net for a passer, not a sprinter. The real incision comes from the middle, from players willing to risk the longer ball to release the wide men earlier and higher.
Mexico Await – With a Perfect Record
All of this tactical theory now collides with a hard reality: Mexico have been flawless so far. Three games, three wins, no goals conceded. One of the three hosts, they will have the crowd, the confidence, and the comfort of home conditions.
This is not the soft landing some associate with a last-16 tie.
Henderson has barely featured. Throwing him into a knockout match in Mexico City, out of position, would be a major call. So would moving Rice out of his established holding role to patch up the right.
Yet Tuchel is running out of orthodox options. The injuries have stripped him of the luxury of choosing between styles of right-back. Now he must choose between profiles from entirely different parts of the pitch.
Waddle’s message is clear: stop fearing the experiment. Use the dominance of the ball. Pick a passer at right-back, free up the midfield, and let the attacking players breathe.
England will walk into the Mexico City Stadium with a place in the quarter-finals on the line and a defensive jigsaw still missing a piece. Tuchel has 90 minutes, maybe 120, to prove that his answer at right-back is not the decision that defines their World Cup for all the wrong reasons.
