Gareth Southgate will surely make a change in the midfield as his so-called experiment with the Liverpool man fizzles out at Euro 2024
It’s back to the old drawing board for Gareth Southgate after his Trent Alexander-Arnold experiment malfunctioned for a second time in England’s lacklustre 1-1- draw with Denmark on Thursday night. The question of who should play alongside Declan Rice in midfield is now one of many the Three Lions’ boss must answer, and he has a matter of days to find a solution.
Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold was among a host of England players to fall well below their usual standard in Frankfurt, misplacing passes and failing to create anything of note as a deep-lying playmaker. That he was hooked after just 55 minutes was telling, and perhaps a reflection that Southgate is prepared to shelf his so-called experiment for the time being.
So disappointed was the England manager with the performance that he bizarrely saw fit to yearn for the days of overlooked pair Kalvin Phillips and Jordan Henderson. “We have been trying to find a solution in midfield for seven or eight years,” he said in his post-match press conference. “If we hadn’t had Declan Rice, I don’t know where we’d have been. Unfortunately, Kalvin (Phillips) wasn’t a possible for us for this tournament and Hendo (Jordan Henderson) the same, so we’re trying to find something different.”
Southgate must now come up with a solution in midfield, but what are the options available to him?
The safe option
Southgate is well known – and often lamented – for his pragmatism, and if his substitutions at the tournament thus far are anything to go by then it is the most sensible choice who will be first in line to replace Alexander-Arnold in the starting line-up.
Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher has twice come off the bench to replace his Liverpool counterpart, with the manager giving him as many as 35 minutes against Denmark having seen enough of his own experiment in Frankfurt.
It is not the most exciting selection, given Gallagher’s main attributes are his tenacity and work rate, but the 24-year-old does have a knack for getting into decent attacking positions and creating opportunities for his team-mates at club level. Whether he can translate that to the international stage remains to be seen.
Proven on the biggest stage
If Southgate wants to lay the foundations for future success and take a minor risk, then Mainoo should be his man. Technically adept and capable of operating as a number eight or in defensive midfield, the breakout Man Utd star is an England starter in waiting.
He may lack experience at senior international level, but he has shown during the club season that he is made for the biggest stage – most emphatically evidenced by his dynamic performance and wonderfully-taken goal against Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
The Slovenia clash could provide him the perfect platform to find his feet alongside Rice and develop their understanding before pushing on into the knockout stages and beyond. Even after the tournament is over, that is a midfield partnership we could see for years to come.
Bellingham deeper, Foden unleashed
One of the most tantalising options, and surely one that Southgate won’t pip for, is having both Bellingham and Phil Foden in the same midfield. That would, of course, require the former to play deeper as a No.8, but he showed in his time at Borussia Dortmund that that is something he is more than capable of doing.
Bellingham may be shining as No.10 at club level, but he rose to prominence as a box-to-box midfielder, and he has already shown he is more than prepared to muck in at both ends of the pitch. He looked exhausted against Denmark after his all-action display in the victory over Serbia, and England could perhaps conserve his energy by demanding less of him in the attacking third, even if he continues to make those dangerous late runs.
Foden, meanwhile, has looked like a square peg in a round hole on the left wing, with most his best moments in an exceptional club season (27 goals, 12 assists) coming as a roaming attacking midfielder who occupies the right half-space. If Southgate backs Bellingham to do the job defensively and gives Foden the same freedom as Pep Guardiola does, the results could be devastating.
A deserved chance
One man who seems to have drifted inexplicably to the back of Southgate’s thinking is Cole Palmer; a creative force in a remarkable debut season with Chelsea in 2023-24, he has been left on the bench for England’s opening two games even when they have been sorely lacking ideas.
It would be another out-of-character attacking shift for the Three Lions boss, but if he does choose to deploy Bellingham in a deeper role and keeps Foden wide then Palmer could become an option for the attacking midfield role.
The 22-year-old has shown in a young, struggling team at Chelsea that he can create chances almost at will, and the slower pace of tournament football may well suit his languid style as he takes his time and finds those spaces for his team-mates. Harry Kane could be a main beneficiary.
The ideal choice vs Slovenia
England are likely to come up against another defensive opponent on Tuesday night when they face Slovenia, and that could make the game the perfect platform for Adam Wharton to be given his chance.
The FA organised a friendly against Bosnia earlier this month in preparation for this kind of encounter, and Wharton showed in a 28-minute cameo in that warm-up game why he can be the key to unlocking a low block at the tournament proper.
The 20-year-old was immaculate on the ball, always looked to play forward and fundamentally improved England’s approach play as they eventually broke down a stubborn defence to add two more goals in a 3-0 win.
As someone who can do the defensive work, too, it feels like he could provide the answer to the question of who can replicate Phillips’ role in Southgate’s previous squad – and he can elevate that role, too.
Persevere with the experiment?
You just never know with Southgate, though. His selection was widely scrutinised after the narrow victory over Serbia, but he chose to persist with the same starting line-up against Denmark – a decision that it’s fair to say has backfired.
Hooking Alexander-Arnold after 55 minutes on Thursday night perhaps reflects an acceptance that he got things wrong, but having worked on this so-called experiment for the best part of the year there is no guarantee he will want to discard his half-baked project.
There is no doubting Alexander-Arnold’s technical ability, and if it proves to be the case that he was merely settling into the role in the first two games of the tournament and he goes on to star in the knockouts, then this difficult adaptation period will be swiftly forgotten. It will be interesting to see whether the manager gives him that chance.
Source Goal.com
