In 2018 it was Luka Modric. In 2021 it was Marco Verratti. In 2024… England thought they’d been let off when Rodri didn’t emerge for the second half.
The injury picked up by the Spain midfielder was – cruelly – a fillip for fans of England. But Nico Williams’ almost instant opener, just 69 seconds after the restart, crushed that confidence.
Rodri’s substitution seemed such a key factor because, each time Gareth Southgate has brought England to huge stages at the World Cup and Euros, in the big moment, his side have come up against a midfield battle they could not win.
As it turns out, even against a Rodri-less Spain, they couldn’t gain the upper hand. Spain’s possession stats had climbed as high as 80 per cent midway through the first half. It finished up at 65 per cent – but a post-match comment from captain Harry Kane was telling.
“We didn’t keep the same pressure, we didn’t keep the ball well enough,” Kane said when asked why England couldn’t build on the incredible boost Cole Palmer’s fine equaliser gave them.
Spain dominated possession and controlled much of the final against England
It has been a familiar tale of the Southgate era.
In Moscow, Modric, and his midfield pals Marcelo Brozovic and Ivan Rakitic racked up 242 passes in 120 minutes compared with just 153 by Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson and his late replacement Eric Dier. Henderson misplaced almost a third of his passes in that World Cup semi-final as England, despite their early advantage, were worn down.
At Wembley, England again took an early lead – and again ceded the initiative. Marco Verratti pinged off 118 passes during his 95 minutes of action. Jorginho was a couple shy of a ton. In all, Italy made 820 passes through normal and extra time, compared to England’s 426. Italy’s tally of accurate passes was more than double England’s – 726 to 319.
And now in Berlin, England’s total of accurate passes was again more than doubled by their dominant opponents. Spain’s passing accuracy was 89.7 per cent from their 545 passes, with 489 finding their target. England’s passing accuracy was 77.9 per cent, with 229 completed from 294.
England’s passing network vs Spain shows how they struggled to build through central midfield
Southgate can boast an impressive defensive record at the tournaments he’s overseen, while the attacking assets of his reign, particularly in Germany, have been an abundance of riches.
But it is in the most important area of the pitch where England have been repeatedly found out when it has come to the big matches.
The problem is, what’s the solution?
Southgate hit a bum note during these Euros when he tried to explain away one of many sub-par performances by noting there was no “natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips”. Like the absence of Henderson, Phillips’ omission from this England squad was welcomed by many of the nation’s supporters.
High-octane running in the middle of the park has its merits but a conductor like Modric, Verratti or Euro 2024 player of the tournament Rodri was the glaring requirement if England were to take the next step.
But Southgate’s stretched loyalty to that pair – as recently as March, Henderson was still very much part of the group – reflected a lack of obvious options to come in alongside Declan Rice.
Southgate’s struggles to find an answer in that part of the pitch was plain to see during the groups stages, as a 12-month project for Trent Alexander-Arnold to step in there was swiftly ditched – although not as swiftly as the on-the-spot solution of Conor Gallagher.
Kobbie Mainoo, just 19 years old, deserves credit for the way he has made the step up to international football as swiftly and as impressively as he stepped up to Man Utd first team duty. There was pre-final hope his FA Cup heroics against Rodri could be a precursor of a statement display for his country. But this assignment against Spain looked like a step too far right now.
The presence of 20-year-old Adam Wharton on the bench underlined the point. He was playing for Blackburn in the Championship six months ago.
For all of the talent which has been developed through the England age groups over the past decade, there is a lack of top technical players in their peak in central midfield.
Mainoo and Wharton could go on to become those players, alongside Rice and Jude Bellingham.
But the absence of that type of player in the Southgate era so far has been a key factor in their failure – for all their progress – to get over the line when it matters most.