by Will trying to get Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer into the England team be a ‘Paul Scholes moment’ for Gareth Southgate?
He is not jumping on the bandwagon after their midweek hat-tricks to suggest Foden and Palmer should start for England in the European Championships this summer. The cases during the campaign are very strong and, in fact, there are five England players who have been involved in 30 or more goals – goals and assists this season in Europe: Foden, Palmer, Bellingham, Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins.
Unfortunately for Watkins he is not going to displace Kane as the starting center back and, in truth, has failed to impress for England so far. His place in the squad is in jeopardy especially after Ivan Toney’s strong performance against Brazil recently.
The issue for Southgate is how does he work with the others? In that question there is an immediate comparison and debate about the age of international managers: how do you get your best players into the team and still apply?
For England therefore there are echoes of what Sven Goran-Eriksson faced when he tried to push Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Scholes, together with David Beckham, into the same side. A solution? Well, he struggled to find one as he took the easy option and sent Scholes out to play unhappily on the left with Gerrard and Lampard not working effectively as a central midfield pairing. England looked much better when Owen Hargreaves was introduced.
“What do you do with Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham?” Eriksson said. “The best solution if we wanted to use the four midfielders was to put Scholes on the left side at that time.”
The problem was that Scholes – despite Eriksson pointing out that he was England’s best midfielder – certainly did not enjoy the change of position. He ended his international career too soon, after a disappointing Euro 2004, aged 29. Scholes later said he regretted it but playing out of position was a factor in his decision.
For Foden and Palmer the situation is very different. And especially because they are 23 and 21 respectively. Foden may have 33 caps but Palmer has just two – playing just 35 minutes in two Euro qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta. But for lack of fitness he would appear in the last two games, the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium. Instead he watched as Anthony Gordon took his chance.
Bukayo Saka clearly deserves to start for England and will do so on the right in whatever formation Southgate decides on. At the moment, with two warm-up games to play against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iceland before heading to Germany, that approach looks like a 4-2-3-1.
Southgate appears to favor Bellingham in the number 10 role, where he has featured for Real Madrid, behind Kane. With Saka on the right Foden looks set to compete with others for a place on the left – although he has done his best for Manchester City and England, recently, playing more centrally.
Palm? He plays on the right, cutting in, for Chelsea. But it is unlikely that he will release Saka. Plus there’s also Jarrod Bowen. Southgate has Gordon, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish to consider for the left, too, and it’s clear they won’t all be going to the Euros.
So what does it do? Palmer is left-footed even if his best work is from inside the right channel where he can pass infield to his stronger left side. He can play wide on either side or as a number 10 and although he is not as quick he has the skill to beat his opponents. Southgate could easily deploy him on the left – but surely not at the expense of Foden?
A solution is to move Bellingham back to partner Declan Rice in a double pivot. That would work but, seriously, does England want to limit Bellingham that way even if they could give him the license to go forward more often than Rice?
So what should Southgate do? There is an answer and it is to copy the City’s approach. England could play 4-1-4-1. It would mean four of Saka, Bellingham, Foden and Palmer (with the latter two alternating) behind Kane and Rice as the only midfielder in Rodri’s role.
The key then is to ask John Stones to get into midfield like he does for City but, unfortunately, there is a potential flaw (or two) in all of this. Luke Shaw desperately needs to be fit and play on the left, and is a major doubt, with Kyle Walker on the right. But above all, he demands that Harry Maguire will be able to play as the dominant center in the middle of those three. The fear is that he would be left exposed without Stones always there and not having the mobility to deal with it.
What this does, however, is get more attacking and creative English players in the team. It will have crossed Southgate’s mind. He is brave enough to change and give young players a chance – most recently Kobbie Mainoo.
As ever for international managers the greatest challenge lies in putting the jigsaw together and it is what defines them. England have an exceptional squad, albeit one with obvious shortcomings, and it’s fair to say that teams with the best defensive bases will win tournaments. But sometimes it’s also about going for it and using your best weapons in the best way. It would be a shame, and perhaps a regret, if England’s best young players are not used sparingly. Southgate needs to have the best team on the pitch at the Euros and not the most exciting on the bench.
