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In his pre-match press conference for England's Nations League clash against Spain, Gareth Southgate praised his side's ability to keep tight with Croatia's midfield during Friday's scoreless draw in Rijeka - suggesting the Three Lions boss will stick with the same 4-3-3 formation on Monday night.
What did he say?
"It's good that we've got options. Different teams pose different tactical problems. We knew we'd need to get tight to Croatia's midfield and Spain are similar. We've also got to cause them problems, we've got comfortable and we can be the dominant team."
What did he really mean?
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Having looked to counteract the manner in which Croatia dominated midfield during England's World Cup semi-final defeat by changing formation for Friday's thrill-less encounter in the Balkans, it's logical to assume Southgate will take similar measures when the Three Lions face Spain, a side that also highlighted the flaws of England's 3-1-4-2 setup at Wembley last month by once again controlling the engine room and consequently the flow of the match.
England's 4-3-3 setup on Friday didn't exactly inspire a rousing performance but it did, as Southgate himself pointed out, keep the visitors much closer to the hosts and stop them from dictating the encounter, eventually finishing up with arguably the better chances over the ninety minutes. The statistics are telling, too. Croatia's midfield trio completed 242 passes and created six chances in the World Cup semi-final; in the Nations League meet, they managed just 177 passes and laid on only three chances.
Winks & Chalobah vying to complete midfield
With Southgate sticking to a largely functional three-man engine room but Jordan Henderson suspended after picking up a booking against Croatia, some of the more balanced midfielders in this current England squad look set to be given a chance to impress, ahead of the likes of James Maddison and Mason Mount who are offensive in nature and would have better suited the previous 3-1-4-2 setup.
Top of that list are Tottenham's Harry Winks and Watford's Nathaniel Chalobah, although a lack of minutes for the latter this season should put the former at the top of the pile. He's comfortable in deep positions and could well be key to England's ball retention against a team that will rarely squander possession cheaply, having averaged an impressive 92% pass accuracy during his two Champions League outings this season.
Chalobah is a lot more physical and a firm favourite of Southgate's with a staggering 40 appearances for England's U21 side under his belt, but has only managed eleven minutes from the bench in all competitions so far this season.
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