I’m not a fan of Southgate, but even I’ve unfortunately fallen into the camp of ‘There’s no other options right now’.
He showed signs of changing with the 4-3-3, but tactical changes still lack for him and getting the overall edge in the games against the big sides.
We have a meh 18 months in terms of football going into Euros, so it just comes down to winning the Euros. Can’t accept anything less. I just want to see him try out more players in different positions over that time, so options are expanded. The big things for me:
Foden long term position. I want to see him central for England, Saka RW and endless options LW.
The balance in the middle. Rice/Bellingham/Foden. Phillips/Mount/Maddison. Try stuff that has that bit more creativity, whilst being solid. It can be done.
LB options. Chilwell hopefully comes back like he’s not had an ACL injury, but if things are not good we just have Shaw who can be hot and cold, both form and injuries. So need someone else as an option that isn’t Trippier or Saka
CB pairing. Maguire I just can’t see being a Man Utd regular, so unless he moves in summer, we have to look at edging him out the starting XI and try someone else alongside Stones. Even with Stones you can’t be confident long term at Man City he’ll be a regular. Had it been a summer World Cup, he’d have been going into it with just 13 prem appearances. So we need to try out some people, especially in the ‘tougher’ games.
Start Ramsdale more in qualifying. Need to rotate between him and Pickford, again to keep options open.