UEFA Nations League: 5 takeaways from the first round of games

#3 England’s pedestrian midfield continues to cause issues

England's midfield continues to be a problem

Only one game into the UEFA Nations League, it might seem premature to analyze the English team. However, it should be said that the Three Lions’ showing in Russia does seem like a lucky coincidence.

At the World Cup, England won only 3 games (3 losses and the shootout win over Colombia). However, these were against Panama, Tunisia, and Sweden. In the games against Belgium (twice) and Croatia, England was comfortably second best.

This pattern of struggle against the big teams continued against Spain. It was a poor performance by Gareth Southgate’s team that the disallowed Danny Welbeck goal does not disguise.

The team struggled to cope with the superior passing and intelligence of the Spanish players all through the match. Once again, the sole central midfielder, Jordan Henderson was overrun by the Spanish pair of Thiago Alcantara and Saul Niguez.

When the game entered the crucial stages, there was no one in the England midfield who could get onto the ball and dictate the tempo like their opponents were doing. The lack of a world-class central midfielder has been one of the most glaring fails of the English football system.

However, the Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard experiment need to end. The duo did little to help out Henderson defensively; attacking-wise, they were also of little use. Unfortunately for Southgate, he can only work with what he has. The likes of Phil Foden may be the answer in future but for now, England’s midfield looks set to continue struggling.