As England suffered a shock defeat to Greece on Wembley soil, the Manchester United supporters hoping for a break from those club-centric issues would have been disappointed.
A team full of uber-talented footballers outperformed and outscored by a much less heralded crop. Conceding chances by the bucketload, conceding a late winner, and overwhelmed in the centre of the park.
Erik ten Hag’s problems are Lee Carsley’s too, it would seem.
Of course, things might have been different had Manchester United’s own Kobbie Mainoo not been ruled out of the October internationals with an injury.
Then again, Mainoo plays every week for the Red Devils. And, clearly, he alone cannot fix such deep-rooted structural issues.
A natural deep-lying playmaker could go some way to fixing Man United’s midfield problems, helping to control possession, stem those needless give-aways, and make Ten Hag’s team less vulnerable to quick transitions.
And, amid claims that Angel Gomes could be in line for a return to Old Trafford in the New Year, Three Lions legend Gary Lineker cannot help but wonder if the former Carrington kid could be England’s missing piece too; Carsley lacking a tempo-setting, beat-laying number six in the role of a Rodri or a Sergio Busquets.
Former Manchester United starlet Angel Gomes could play Rodri role
“I had a conversation with Russell Martin, the Southampton manager. And he said the problem with this country is we don’t produce that kind of player; a Busquets, a Rodri, that kind,” Lineker says, agreeing with the man who brought The Saints back to the Premier League via the play-offs.
“Xabi Alonso, the player that absolutely plays that role.
“Now, [Declan] Rice has played it a bit for Arsenal. But he’s really an eight, isn’t he? He likes to get forward and he runs around. He is not that pivot. We haven’t really got a natural there.
“I wonder whether Gomes might be that.”
Gomes impressed Roy Keane and co on his long-awaited England debut in the 2-0 win over Finland last month.
In hindsight, perhaps Carsley would have opted to utilise the Lille star’s talents against Greece too. Rice was swamped in an England midfield light on numbers defensive security in a recklessly attacking line-up.
Gomes has talked up Man United return rumours
Four years after leaving his homeland upon the expiry of his contract, Man United graduate Gomes has blossomed into one of the best young string-pullers in Europe across the Channel.
Speaking to The Times this month, Gomes also admitted that it would be ‘difficult to say no’ if United offered him the chance to pick up where he left off, with the club’s midfield very much in a state of transition right now.
“[Gomes has had] a very good spell with Lille so far. He’s really impressed me with the kind of profile of player he is,” Ligue 1 expert Jonathan Johnson told the On the Continent podcast a few weeks ago.
“The expectation when he arrived wasn’t necessarily that he would develop into one of the key players in the team. But Gomes has become this really crucial figure.
“He’s good value for the recognition he’s getting with England. I hope to see him become a staple with the Three Lions. He has been a very consistent performer with them over the years.”
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