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

England are into the World Cup knockout rounds, but they arrive at the last 16 with a glaring problem in a position that used to look overstocked. Right-back has turned into a minefield for Thomas Tuchel, and on Monday morning in Mexico City, he may be forced into a solution that nobody expected when the squad boarded the plane.

Chris Waddle thinks the answer is simple: pick Jordan Henderson.

From Comfort to Crisis

What began as a tournament with options has descended into a selection headache. Tino Livramento never kicked a ball in North America. Reece James and Jarell Quansah then joined him on the treatment table once the World Cup was under way. Now even Djed Spence, the man who started the nervy 2-1 win over DR Congo, is a doubt for the showdown with Mexico.

For a manager who left Trent Alexander-Arnold at home, it is a brutal twist.

Tuchel’s decision to omit the Real Madrid defender has followed him around this tournament, every new injury sharpening the focus on that call. Yet Waddle, a veteran of England’s 1990 World Cup semi-final run, refuses to label it 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,” he 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.”

The issue, in Waddle’s eyes, lies elsewhere.

Red Flags Ignored

James and Livramento are elite full-backs when fit. That’s the problem. Too often, they’re not.

“We knew Reece James is – unfortunately, he's a top player – but he's always injured, as is Tino Livramento,” Waddle 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 didn’t stop there.

“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 turned into a full-blown siren. With Mexico next and no natural, fully fit right-back guaranteed, Tuchel must improvise.

“Play a Midfielder There”

The pattern of England’s games so far feeds Waddle’s argument. Tuchel’s side have dominated the ball against lesser opponents, including DR Congo, where Harry Kane’s late double dragged them through. They have not yet faced a side prepared to go at them for 90 minutes.

“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.”

It is a provocative shout on paper. Henderson has played just six minutes at this World Cup. He is 34, a central midfielder by trade, and has not built a career bombing down the touchline.

Waddle’s point is that he wouldn’t need to.

“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.”

Declan Rice has already offered a glimpse of that kind of solution. When Tuchel shuffled his pack against DR Congo, Rice dropped into the right-back slot and looked comfortable enough, a reminder that in-possession roles can be bent to fit the system.

Waddle would go even further.

Eze, Anderson and a Different England

“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 very different England to the one that laboured past DR Congo, where Kane’s goals papered over a slow, predictable approach.

“Because at the minute, you've got two midfield players who are exactly the same, and it’s all 10-yard passes,” Waddle 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.”

The tactical tweak is clear: use a midfielder at right-back to keep control, then free up the centre of the pitch for risk-takers. Let the ball travel quicker. Get the wingers into the game earlier. Turn sterile domination into something more dangerous.

That brings Waddle back to Henderson.

“Personally, I'd put Jordan Henderson at right-back,” he said. “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.”

Mexico Await

Mexico will test that theory. They arrive in the last 16 with a perfect record and not a single goal conceded. They are one of the three hosts, backed by a hostile crowd in Mexico City, and they will not be shy about turning the game into a scrap if England look uncertain.

Tuchel now stands at a fork in the road. Trust another makeshift defender, roll the dice on a half-fit specialist, or lean into Waddle’s logic and hand the role to a veteran midfielder who has barely featured.

England have the talent to go deep into this tournament. Whether they have the right-back to match those ambitions may be answered in the early hours of Monday morning.