Should Gareth Southgate ditch the back three for England?

Harry Maguire has had a tough few months, Joe Gomez has a long-term injury, Eric Dier is solid if unspectacular and Michael Keane, Tyrone Mings and Conor Coady aren’t tested at the highest level. John Stones was a key part of the side that got to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, but he can barely get a game for Manchester City now.

With Jordan Pickford also struggling in goal at Everton, reinforcing the backline with an extra defender makes sense, but it does come at a creative cost. Is it worth it?

What’s the problem?

England were the highest scorers in Euro 2020 qualifying with 37 goals and they also reached last year’s inaugural Nations League final, all while playing almost entirely in a 4-3-3.

They also beat Spain 3-2 just over two years ago, in arguably the best display of Southgate’s reign, again while playing with a back four and front three. That game saw Harry Kane drop deep and feed Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, who tormented the hosts with their speed and skill.

It’s a far cry from their Nations League campaign this year, which has seen England score just three goals in five games. Two of those goals were from the penalty spot.

There have been mitigating circumstances – an array of injuries and withdrawals, Maguire’s red card against Denmark – but there’s a sense that this set-up weakens the attack, which should be England’s greatest strength.

How could England line up?

As mentioned earlier, Grealish’s recent displays make him very hard to leave out. He’s got a unique ability to make things happen, with four goals and five assists already in league action this term.

He may be used wide on the left for Villa, but he could move inside for the national side to inject some imagination into midfield. He could form a nicely-balanced trio with Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice. Rice would screen the defence, Henderson can operate box-to-box, and Grealish would look to create in the final third.

That would also allow two of Sterling, Sancho and Rashford to take the wide roles and offer a devastating threat on the break.

It may mean taking away part of the defensive safety net, but that could be a risk worth taking. England aren’t solid enough to rely on shutting teams out, but they do have the firepower to compete with anyone.

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