On the eve of the European Championship, a former player from the England camp repeatedly said to us: ‘Square pegs, round holes. It won’t work.’
We wrote about the folly of Gareth Southgate and his intended Trent Alexander-Arnold experiment in midfield, and, by extension, Phil Foden at left winger. Our guy was right, it didn’t work.
Yes, England made the final, but in Berlin the best team won and the best players lost. The market value of the England starting XI is said to have dwarfed that of Spain.
It seems like Lee Carsley won’t be compromised by the same temptation as his predecessor. He will pick players in their best positions, even if that means Foden, Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer miss two in the battle for number ten. It is both a selection headache and a political minefield.
In terms of form, it would be best for Foden to bring a jacket. Forget that he last played on the pitch in Germany – and never really performed at his best for his country – his season has yet to start at Manchester City. His career in England, meanwhile, feels at a crossroads given the competition in the position he prefers.
Cole Palmer is staking his claim to be England’s trusted number 10 after a stellar start to the season
England are blessed in the creative role, with Palmer (left), Phil Foden (centre) and Jude Bellingham (right) all wanting to play in that position
Palmer has played for Chelsea this season, scoring six goals and five assists in seven Premier League matches
Rather, Bellingham versus Palmer is the subject of national debate. The latter would undoubtedly be the preferred choice at this point, and it should be. Palmer, at number 10 – the position from which he has scored six times for Chelsea this season – is the player Carsley should look to build around.
He will probably bungle it this week, playing one of them against Greece at Wembley tomorrow and the other in Finland on Sunday, but the longer-term imperative remains paramount. England’s eleven best players on paper do not fit in a team on grass.
Bellingham is of course an exceptional talent who could be the exception, and inclusion in a deeper role is worth exploring. That would be a square peg in a rectangular hole; depending on the dimensions it might fit. But one thing that does need to be tailored is
Bellingham’s ego. That swagger might save you with a bicycle kick in the 97th minute, but they wouldn’t have needed that get-out-of-jail card if the collective effort had outweighed the individual’s self-interest. A more traditional midfield role could restore some more traditional values.
But let’s not have Bellingham, Foden or Palmer from the left. Even from the right, they would rather be somewhere else. And let’s not transport half-fit players either. As we discovered in Germany, they weigh twice as much.
Therefore, Harry Kane is unlikely to make it to tomorrow’s match. He trained alone on Tuesday after suffering a knock at the weekend, bringing the debate over his best deputy to the forefront. Dominic Solanke and Ollie Watkins are the pair here with England this week. Ivan Toney’s move to Saudi Arabia has made him unselectable and that is a shame because he has shown himself to be a game changer at the European Championship.
Solanke is the beneficiary and at St George’s Park on Tuesday, the Tottenham forward said he can be like Kane in that he can fill a number 10 role. The problem with that is that England don’t need a new number 10.
They need their forwards to be limber and on their toes, not on each other’s legs. It was frustrating to see Kane’s deep run at the Euros, no doubt born from his own frustration at not being fit.
This new England, less structural and more dynamic, needs a forward movement to go the other way, and Watkins will do that. Still, Solanke is worth watching again, seven years after his only international match against Brazil.
Palmer was named England senior men’s player of the year at St George’s Park on Monday
Man City star Foden (left) could play in the number 10 role for England, as could Bellingham (right)
England interim head coach Lee Carsley has been blessed with midfield choices to test
“When I first came in here, I was young (20 years old),” Solanke said. ‘I’ve learned a lot since then. I’m a lot more mature now. I was disappointed that I didn’t reach the euro. I was definitely pushing. But I feel like this is the way (my trip to England) was supposed to be.”
Jack Grealish was also a player to miss out on this summer and he too said yesterday that Southgate should have picked him. On the left, he and Anthony Gordon should be the only two contenders for this team in that position if the bubbles are not to be deformed.
As good as Grealish was at number 10 in last month’s 2-0 win over Ireland in Dublin, the return of others removes him from the conversation in that area. “It was fun to play the role of No. 10,” Grealish said.
“We have so many good players here who want to play that role. Cole, Jude, Phil, but hey, I have so many at my club too. I have Phil, Kevin De Bruyne, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva. So it’s nothing that I’m not used to. I always feel like I can play in the number 10 or on the left.’
But surely using Grealish from the left would recreate the problems England had with Foden in Germany? England need a risk taker, a player who can distort his own shape and that of the opposition.
Where Gordon is quick and incisive from the left, Grealish and Foden – adhering to the Manchester City doctrine – are slower and more cautious. Bukayo Saka on the other wing is an obvious choice, and for good reason. Stick that round peg in a round hole and watch the opponent’s left back disappear into it.
Yet these are the decisions Carsley must make. It’s encouraging that he seems willing to make them. Southgate’s response to England’s embarrassment over riches in forward positions was to play the highest value hand. His team, at least this summer, was only poorer for it. It’s time to do away with square pegs and square balls.