SOUTHGATE LEFT WITH TOO MANY WEAK LINKS

NOW might not seem the right time to bemoan a lack of England talent, but, a year from the World Cup, manager Gareth Southgate has some legitimate concerns. There is cause for optimism when assessing England’s attacking strengths: an abundance of youth, flair and ambition and in Harry Kane a finisher of the highest quality. But it is what remains of the spine of the team that demands Southgate’s attention, however much backbone he feels they showed in responding to two late Scotland goals with a stunning equaliser at Hampden Park. Southgate can no longer be confident that he knows his best goalkeeper after another shaky display by Joe Hart and there are issues to resolve in central defence and central midfield. The omission of John Stones from the back four almost went unnoticed but it is hugely significant when he is the one defender capable of improving a team striving to play a higher standard of possession football. Clearly, Southgate has trust issues with the sometimes error-prone Manchester City defender and that is a worry when Stones is comfortably the best ball-playing centre half available. Southgate took one look at Saturday night’s fixture, no doubt anticipated a determined if unsophisticated Scottish attack, and opted for the relative solidity of Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling. That it is not so terrible given they are two players who have won major honours with their clubs domestically and in Europe this term. But when Southgate is striving to make England ‘one of the best teams in the world’ it is not a pairing that inspires great confidence. The situation is similarly troubling in front of the back four. Just as England were once well-blessed with centre halves they also boasted some truly outstanding central midfielders, so the reappearance of Jake Livermore alongside Eric Dier also highlights a key weakness in this England team. Southgate was quick to praise Livermore after the game. ‘Jake was excellent today,’ he said. ‘We asked him to fulfil a specific role — we could have gone with a more attacking player in that position — but with the forwards we had and the full backs we wanted to get forward, we had to have someone to do a disciplined job.’ And he was disciplined, and fairly positive in possession. But this was Scotland, not a team England are likely to meet in the knockout stages of a major tournament. A fit Jordan Henderson would be a vast improvement. As would Jack Wilshere if he ever showed signs of returning to the kind of form that once created such excitement. Southgate acknowledged that the days are gone when an England manager had to wrestle with how best to accommodate Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. ‘We’ve gone into this game without Wilshere, Henderson, Drinkwater and Delph,’ he said. ‘There’s no one else and that is part of the challenge. We have to hope there are young players who can add to that. We have talent coming through, they need opportunities.’ Certainly talent is emerging, given yesterday’s heroics in South Korea. Just maybe not in time for Russia.