England were defiant and competitive as they fell to defeat against Spain at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Certainly, Gareth Southgate’s men can feel a little unlucky to have come away with nothing from the match, particularly after a last gasp Danny Welbeck equaliser was disallowed in dubious circumstances. 

However, whilst there are positives for the home side to take in defeat, they shall also be acutely aware of where this game was lost. In the centre of the park, the Three Lions were simply outplayed. Some credit must go to the Spanish midfield, who are of an exceptionally high level even after the retirements of such world class stars as David Silva and Andres Iniesta. England’s own midfielders could have done more though, and old weaknesses and frailties were once again in evidence. 

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For all of Southgate’s progressions, experiments and innovations with this side, he is yet to find a way of setting up a midfield that can dictate a match against high class opposition. In the last few months alone, he has seen his midfield contingent outclassed by their Belgian, Croatian and Spanish counterparts.

If England are to build upon their World Cup successes of this summer, then the issues with their midfield must be resolved quickly. This may require a process of some trial and error, but there are avenues for Southgate to explore whilst seeking solutions to this problem.

Solution A - Find an extra man

One way in which Southgate could make his midfield contingent stronger is to make it bigger. So far, the national team boss has seemed pretty wedded to deploying a system featuring three centre-backs, which has brought some success to date but it also brings with it its own set of problems. Not least, an under-manned midfield. Returning to a more traditional four-at-the-back model would free up a player to be added to the middle of the pitch.

The three-man midfield this would allow would certainly make England’s central players harder to bypass. In theory, it should also make maintaining possession under pressure easier and would also free up a man to be afforded more license to get forward. At the sacrifice of his trusted defensive unit though, this change may not suit Southgate. However, it is not the only option he has for increasing his midfield capacity.

Instead of removing a defender, he could subtract an attacking berth. 

Southgate has regularly used either Raheem Sterling or Marcus Rashford as a roaming forward, operating around Harry Kane. Yet, the Spurs striker is perfectly capable of performing as a lone forward, as he has done for much of his club career. This means that it may be possible to do without the Sterling/Rashford role without impacting the team’s attacking potency too greatly.

Again, this extra man could be introduced into the midfield.

Solution B - Personnel change

Rather than being a fault with the amount of midfielders, or even their tactical instructions, it could be the individuals on the pitch who are unsuited to the task at hand. Comparing the stats for the Spain fixture, this is a hard argument to ignore. 

England’s starting midfield trio of Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard mustered 50, 45 and 49 touches respectively. Whereas Spain’s midfield three, formed of Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcantara and Saul Niguez managed 66, 72 and 83 touches. On top of that, Busquets and Thiago both registered pass completions rates of above 91% - a feat only Alli could match amongst the English midfield starters.

The introduction of Harry Winks could offset some of this inability to dominate possession. The 22-year-old is very tidy in possession and would help aid the midfield’s battle for time on the ball.

Equally, Ruben Loftus-Cheek would be a smart addition to the starting line up. Not only is the 6’3” man excellent in possession, but his dynamic, physical style of play would ensure that England fared better in the midfield duels. 

The duels do appear to be a problem for England’s midfielders when faced with quality opposition. All of Henderson, Alli and Lingard were dispossessed at some point in the last match, whilst only Saul, of the starting Spanish midfielders, was successfully dispossessed at any point. 

Whatever approach Southgate decides to take, it is vital that England’s midfield issues are addressed successfully.