Part of the reason Southgate has been so defensive regarding the criticism Henderson faced during this international break is the role he had in helping Bellingham settle off the field. Rice is clearly improving as a player - his £100 million summer move to Arsenal has exposed the 24-year-old to a new level of expectation - while the 20-year-old Bellingham is threatening to become a truly generation talent, if he isn't already, with 10 goals in 10 games for new club Real Madrid. And the country are yet to produce a deep-lying midfielder able to control games in circumstances such as the Euro 2020 final, when Marco Verratti and Jorginho helped Italy claw their way back. That pairing became the focus of a widely held view that Southgate's inherent conservatism was perhaps holding England back from realising their full attacking potential - explaining the switch to 4-3-3 after that tournament - but the two principal reasons to use Rice and Phillips in the same line-up arguably still apply.Įngland's collection of centre-backs do not compare favourably to other elite nations, although there is hope that Marc Guehi, Levi Colwill and one or two others could develop in the coming seasons. This midfield composition also enables Southgate to reprise the central axis of Phillips and Rice which helped steer England to the final of Euro 2020. Yet England's 3-1 win over Italy on Tuesday night came in a 4-2-3-1 formation which replicated the system used to impressive effect in September's 3-1 win against Scotland, maximising Bellingham's burgeoning talent in a more attacking No. On that basis many would have dispensed with him long before now, but Southgate is of the view that Rice and Phillips are England's only viable options to operate as a single pivot in the 4-3-3 shape that had for a long time appeared his preferred approach. That creates a tension that will eventually be unsustainable for Southgate given no manager would continue to pick a player so irrevocably marginalised on the domestic front. Phillips has stayed on the same page, creating a troubling distance between the importance he has for country compared to his club. Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĮngland need Kalvin Phillips to get a transfer out of Man CityĮngland manager Gareth Southgate is not in the habit of pushing his players into transfers but there must be part of him desperate to make an exception for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips.īack in June, Southgate joked about how some members of his squad were "tapping each other up" ahead of a summer in which Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, James Maddison, Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson all changed clubs to begin a new chapter in their careers.
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