England’s Star-Studded Midfield

When we look at the squad that England has, their midfield is one of the biggest spots of contention for the fans. They have around 10 midfield options, with some obviously being better than others, but a lot of them are great. There are a lot of midfield threes that people think Southgate will use or could use and different players could play different roles etc. The options are endless, so what are the best options and what will they play? 

Bellingham, Foden and Rice

Looking at the in total squad and team selection, these three are nailed-on starters in our opinion, but as a midfield three, we are unsure on how it would work. Foden has played centrally a lot this season and has been arguably the best player in the Premier League this season from the centre, but Jude Bellingham has also been playing as an attacking midfielder this season and has been arguably the best player in the world. However, for England, we have never seen this played, even against easier teams like North Macedonia, and we are unsure if we will despite the pleas from English fans and football fans.  

With these three, they could either neutralise Bellingham’s goal scoring prowess and play him as a deeper midfielder so they can play Foden centrally and get the best out of him or they can use Foden’s great versatility and play him on the wing and play Bellingham higher and play another midfielder instead, England and France are both favourites and both have very strong team with very few missing links, positions like midfield for France are very strong and could be the deciding factor for France winning.

Bellingham, Rice and Who?

As we have said, Bellingham, Rice and Foden are starters. If Southgate moves Foden to the wing and plays Jude Bellingham higher in the midfield, who plays behind him with Rice? This is probably England's weakest position as there are fewer options and no real well-run players in this position. 

Kalvin Phillips

In the last Euros, Gareth Southgate played Kalvin Phillips alongside Declan Rice and this was a great duo that would be great now as it could allow Rice and Bellingham to go a tiny bit higher and get into the box with late runs which both have excelled at this season. Since Kalvin Phillips’ move to Manchester City was a failure, he hasn't been playing great and really lacks confidence. 

Kobbie Mainoo

Replacing him seemed like a challenge until a young player took Manchester United by storm, with this player being Kobbie Mainoo. He came into a struggling United team and offered a small glimmer of hope, with great performances and maturity that United needed. He was the front-runner to be a starter for England as soon as he started to play consistently for United, but as his more recent performances haven't been as good, people are less hyper about the teenager, however, if he doesn't play in this tournament he still has a bright future in an England shirt. 

Less Likely Options

If England do play Bellingham higher in the midfield, they have a few other shouts that could fill in the gap. One of them and the less likely one is Adam Wharton. Adam Wharton was lighting up the championship for a struggling Blackburn side before getting a big-money move to Crystal Palace. Since joining he has completely changed the side and dominated nearly every midfield he's played against, including the Premier League champions, Manchester City (for the first 45 minutes) and more recently dominated United in a 4-0 thrashing. If he was on the plane to the Euros and got some minutes I don't think anyone would complain. 

Another more controversial option is Trent Alexander-Arnold. Southgate has played Trent as a midfielder already for England and will definitely do it again. So if England played Bellingham and Southgate played Trent, would it work? Personally, I am not sure if Trent is ready to play centrally in the bigger games yet, if he played directly next to Bellingham and was there to play the long passes and the line-breaking passes, it could work.