Barry outlines England tactical shift after 7-0 Croatia win

England assistant coach Anthony Barry has detailed a change in the team's attacking approach following Saturday's 7-0 Nations League victory over Croatia in Rijeka. In comments reported by the Guardian on Monday, Barry said England were giving players greater freedom to exchange positions while retaining shared principles to keep the side organised.

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Jude Bellingham is central to that approach. The Real Madrid midfielder has been operating in a No 10 role with more freedom to move across the pitch, rather than remaining in a fixed area. Barry said the intention was to let Bellingham use his instincts and contribute in several different roles within the same match.

Barry nevertheless stopped short of declaring the adjustment a settled success. He described the evidence so far as a small sample and said the work needed to continue. He also acknowledged the difficulty of introducing that degree of movement in international football, where coaches have limited preparation time, saying flexibility needed a clear underlying structure to avoid becoming disorganised.

The Croatia match offered examples of how the wider system operates. According to the Guardian's report, England pushed their full-backs forward, encouraged their wingers to make runs from wide positions and used players in less familiar areas to provide cover. Harry Kane also dropped into deeper defensive spaces when England did not have possession, rather than restricting his contribution to the forward line.

Barry said the approach depended on trusting the understanding and movement of players such as Kane and Bellingham. He also highlighted Elliot Anderson, Alex Scott and Declan Rice as midfielders comfortable covering extensive ground. The changes, he explained, were an extension of England's existing work, with more positional exchanges intended to help the team find routes through opposing defensive blocks.

England led Croatia 4-0 at half-time and repeatedly tried to recover possession quickly after losing it, the Guardian reported. The tactical changes come during a Nations League campaign following England's World Cup semi-final exit against Argentina. Barry presented the greater freedom as a developing approach, with further work still required despite the emphatic result in Rijeka.