00:00Two years ago, England had a midfield crisis. It was Declan Rice and who?
00:04Going into Euro 2024, Trent tried and failed to be his partner.
00:08Connor Gallagher got 45 minutes.
00:10Kobi Meynu ended that tournament as the preferred option,
00:12but something was still missing in the middle of the park.
00:15Fast forward to today, England have an embarrassment of young prospects,
00:19all different and all pushing hard to start in midfield.
00:22Elliot Anderson was brilliant in the summer.
00:24Kobi Meynu is still on the periphery.
00:26Alex Scott is surely destined for a cool-up for Euro 2028.
00:29Adam Wharton is one of the most sought-after midfielders in Europe.
00:33Myles Lewis Skelly was pivotal in Arsenal winning the league this year.
00:36Everton alone have four potential candidates in Kiernan Dewsbury Hall,
00:40James Garner, Hayden Hackney and Harrison Armstrong.
00:43It is a fantastic problem to have.
00:46England have been crying out for central midfielders for the best part of 10 years,
00:49apart from that window where Rice and Phillips nearly delivered the Euro 2020 trophy after COVID.
00:54We've always lacked a ball player, the Spanish midfielder,
00:57but now we have exactly that.
00:59What the best option is, is not for us to decide.
01:02It's hard to see a world where Anderson and Rice don't start alongside each other again in two years at
01:06the Euros,
01:07considering their perfectly complementary skill set, their age and their experience at the elite level.
01:13But two years is a long time in football.
01:15Few would have predicted we would have two,
01:16let alone nearly ten, incredibly viable options to partner Declan Rice.
01:20Speaking of Rice,
01:22right-back arc?
01:22Pending?
01:23What?
01:24Who said that?
01:24Who said that?
