The abiding image of England’s 2010 World Cup campaign was Germany exposing England on the counter attack while a central midfield pairing of Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry struggled to cope and left the defence exposed. Hargreaves was injured midway through the 2002 World Cup, was left on the bench during Euro 2004 and was then named as England’s best player in 2006. The best modern exception to that rule was Owen Hargreaves, but he fought against a swell of negative connotation throughout his international career and received only 42 caps. As Nobby Stiles told the Guardian, “My job was to win it, give it to Bobby and let him get on with it.” That legacy persevered. While other countries were producing defensive midfielders who saw tackling and progressive passing as mutual inclusives, English football had an archetypal image of the holding midfielder as gnarly, no-nonsense tackler and expected little else. To some extent, that speaks of a historic unease at multifunctionality in the position.
But in defensive midfield, none of the Premier League’s best – a rough top three would be Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and N’Golo Kante – have been English.
Despite the vast rise in foreign imports over the last two decades, they’ve produced world-class players in almost every position: David Seaman as a goalkeeper, Gary Neville and Ashley Cole as full-backs, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell as centre-backs, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard as central midfielders, Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney as forwards. Have England finally produced the all-action, multifunctional holding midfielder they needed?Įngland have traditionally had a difficult relationship with holding midfielders. Declan Rice has become the cornerstone of a West Ham United side challenging for Champions League football next season, and has become a fixture in England’s team ahead of the European Championship.