It’s often said that the team with the best defence wins a tournament. Recent evidence might suggest it’s the team with the best midfield – or at least with players able to control a match, dictate the tempo, and choose the right moments to take risks.
That word “control” has been used repeatedly by England’s interim head coach Lee Carsley who, like the rest of us, watched as Spain dominated the Three Lions in the final of Euro 2024 – a match they were never truly in save for a solitary moment of quality from Cole Palmer.
The England team of last summer, Gareth Southgate’s final one in charge, was full of dynamic individuals capable of producing such flashes of brilliance.
What it sorely lacked though was the cohesion or fluency brought by Rodri, or Martin Zubimendi, who seamlessly replaced him at half-time to dash English dreams of a Spanish midfield collapse.
Such hopes were misplaced against a nation who excel in producing technically gifted, high IQ playmakers, the type of which seem to have eluded England since Michael Carrick, whose meagre tally of 34 caps prove the absence of a midfield conductor has been a cultural blind spot as much as it has been a failure of player development.
While the Manchester United man was criminally underused, the debate raged as to how to fit Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard into the same side. The prioritising of Jude Bellingham’s maverick tendencies in Germany at a cost to the overall balance of the team showed that such attitudes still prevail in English football.
However, Carsley, himself an underrated and tactically astute midfielder in his playing days, clearly believes that identifying a different type of player is critical to England’s chances of ending their long wait for silverware. The type of player who can bring calmness and lucid thinking to a high-stakes knockout scenario as an antidote to the anxiety and individualism such games often provoke in English players.
On Tuesday night, Lille's Angel Gomes auditioned for the role with an encouraging full debut in the 2-0 Nations League victory over Finland.
Gomes, formerly a highly rated attacking player in Manchester United’s academy, has reinvented himself deeper in midfield in Ligue 1 and showed just how far he has come as he stylishly knitted things together at Wembley.
He was uncapped prior to Carsley’s arrival in interim charge but was a key member of his successful under-21 side and added a fresh dimension to the England midfield with his 116 completed passes comfortably the most of any player on the pitch.
He earned praise for being “busy” and “always available” from TV pundits Roy Keane and Ian Wright. His manager said the plaudits were fully deserved.
"He's a great person. He loves football, he watches football, he's interested in tactics, he knows all the players in any league,” Carsley said of Gomes. "If you ask him for any feedback, you need to be prepared that he's going to give you some feedback on the session, or how we're going to build up, or the positions.
"He'll often say about some build-ups he's done with other clubs, or what he's played against, because he's obviously playing in France, so he sees different things. He fully deserves it."
Southgate took a player with similar attributes to the Euros in the shape of Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton but the 20-year-old was confined to the bench. With Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City all said to be monitoring his progress, Wharton looks set for a prosperous career in the Premier League and international football as another emerging midfield option.
With Bellingham's world-class ability and Declan Rice's lung-busting qualities, a smart playmaker who can take the ball under pressure and offer continuity would help create a potent blend.
As for Carsley, the future remains unclear. With a run of six games in interim charge it could be viewed as his job to lose. For now, he can only focus on what he can control: squad selection, tactics and, ideally, the midfield.
