Goalkeeper, Central defence and centre forward could all do with maybe 1 more outstanding option, but for me, above all else our main weakness comes at the base of our midfield. A glance at the 10 sides who have contested the last 5 World Cup and Euros finals reveals near enough every side had a ball playing play maker who sat deeper and could both screen the defence (usually alongside the main defensive midfielder) and contribute to starting the attacks.
Spain has Xabi Alonso and Xavi, Italy had Pirlo, Germany has Schweinsteiger and now Gundogan, France had Pogba next to Matuidi then Kante, Portugal had Adrian Silva and Argentina had Biglia. World Number 1 Belgium have Tielemans.
For whatever reason, we still don't produce that style of playmaker in England and this, paired with our lack of a genuinely world class defensive midfielder means that area of the pitch looks a real weakness. Rice can probably go on to plug half the gap, but Kalvin Phillips doesn't seem a particularly big improvement on the others like Winks, Barkley, Delph and Ward Prowse who have tried to play the role. Henderson probably has the best resume of those available but he is injury prone and I still can't tell if his recent club success came in part from playing next to Wijnaldum and behind a devastating front 3.
I was hoping that they might look to develop Bellingham into a deeper role but it looks like he will be playing behind the striker and so if we are to go with 2 primarily defensive midfielders, it feels imperative to me that the remaining attacking positions are well balanced and include somebody who can create enough chances for others. I'm not sure if Mount or Foden do that and as we need a between the lines runner like Sterling/Sancho in the side, I'm not convinced we can accommodate Mount and Foden together. I hope i'm wrong, but I think it might be a bit of a Lampard/Gerrard style situation.
