As much as there is a dearth of the type of player you're talking about, I still think that if Spain or Germany had identical squads to ours then the midfield would look very different. A Rice/Phillips double pivot is not a case of necessity. I think most countries would have one on their own or one next to Bellingham, at most. And Foden isn't at his best at an #8, but he's still probably going to give you more on the ball there than anyone else in the squad, so maybe you have to make that happen too. If Pedri was English, would he start? Would the manager even have him in the squad? It's strange, in hindsight, that Southgate presumably intended to play with a #10 from the outset, yet never really had a close look at the most natural #10 that we have in James Maddison. I honestly think it's because he's worried about him getting knocked off the ball and not much else.
Not according to the stats I saw last week .. nowhere near .. Guess people can make stats say what they want though
I still remember how fantastic was to see the u20 world cup winner team dominating midfield as they did. That team was far from perfect, and Simpson was not a great tactician, but that Cook, Onomah pivot played just the way we would expect from England. It's a pity both playing in the Championship now, which is especially frustrating in the case of Onomah, who looked like the whole package. He is still young (2 years younger than Phillips), but he would need his own Bielsa now.
Grealish is Villa's key player and their main option, Maddison is just one option for Leicester but when he gets the ball he wins free kicks at the same rate
how has cook played this year just gone? Gomez in Portugal could be the guy for us if a side takes a chance
I only know he head another ACL injury in March, so he will miss the first few months of the next season
This story is far from over.The future is ours to write. pic.twitter.com/eg8qGVjD4j— England (@England) July 18, 2021