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da betsson： As Gareth Southgate watched on from the stands of an eerily quiet Wembley on Monday night, one Tottenham substitution will have particularly caught his eye with Harry Winks replacing Eric Dier in the 66th minute. Not only did Mauricio Pochettino’s swap involve two England players boasting a strong chance of being involved in Southgate’s next squad, but it also highlighted the fundamental conflict at the base of the Three Lions’ engine room – the undoubted utility of defensively-assured industrialists versus the call for technical talents who can link play between the lines.
The case for Eric Dier (and Jordan Henderson)
It may seem hyperbolic but that tackle on Sergio Ramos was almost as crucial to England’s win over Spain as the three goals. It seemed to wake everybody up and inject some passion into the game, just when the Three Lions needed it. Southgate’s always found room for a holding player in his England midfields and while they often become the scapegoats for underwhelming England displays, especially Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, they do of course add much-needed balance to the team against high quality opposition.
Manchester City represented that on Monday night though, and Dier’s influence was marginal at best. In over an hour on the pitch, he failed to register an interception, win an aerial duel or make more than one tackle, while only attempting 31 passes. At times, it felt like Tottenham’s utility man was a little out of his depth and the partnership with Mousa Dembele rendered Pochettino’s midfield painfully one dimensional.
The case for Harry Winks
As soon as Winks entered the fray on Monday night, Tottenham instantly felt more purposeful as a consequence of his driving passing game. Shortly after coming on, typifying his whole performance, Winks took the ball in deep midfield, swivelled away from his challenger and passed it vertically to put Tottenham on the front foot. In fact, from his 24 minutes on the pitch, Winks attempted just seven less passes than the team-mate he replaced with an accuracy of 92%.
In terms of chances created, attempts at goal or completed dribbles, Winks’ influence never quite translates. But for that final period of Monday’s game, he was at the heart of Tottenham’s push for an equaliser, the lynchpin moving the ball from back to front, and it was done through not only purpose and vision with the ball but also the readiness and delicacy to receive it in tight spaces. Certainly against lesser opposition and in the scoreless draw with Croatia, England lacked that mobility and ingenuity from deep in the engine room.
So, England and Tottenham fans, who should be Southgate’s midfield anchor during the next international break?