World Cup favourites choosing defensive-minded midfielders over deep-lying playmakers

From the group stage to the final, find out who ESPN FC's Julien Laurens has lifting the World Cup trophy in Russia. Harry Kane leads the line and Antoine Griezmann has relegated Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench in Paul Mariner's World Cup ultimate XI. The most fascinating tactical development over the past few World Cups has been the increased popularity of the deep playmaker. Having nearly become extinct around the turn of the century, it's been notable that recent World Cup winners have generally depended upon a great creative influence from deep. Take the past six World Cup winners, and they can essentially be split in half -- the early three sides used defensive-minded water-carriers in front of the defence, screening and tackling rather...

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