WE DO NOT HAVE A GASCOIGNE OR A SCHOLES ... SO GARETH IS WORKING WITH WHAT HE’S GOT

THREE OR FOUR AT THE BACK?

GARETH SoUTHGATE wants to stick with the three, so let’s support that decision.

Wednesday’s defeat by Denmark — via a penalty which was never a penalty — was not as bad as some people are saying. England were the better team at Wembley until Harry Maguire’s red card.

That was the story of the game. We didn’t lose because of Southgate’s system. Let’s not forget the same set-up beat Belgium, the No 1 team in the world, earlier in the week!

I’ve been struck by the negative reaction to this loss. Maguire had a couple of mad moments and that cost England.

So let’s not declare this some sort of identity crisis under Southgate. His 3-4-3 can work.

IF THREE, WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN IN MIDFIELD?

ENGLAND don’t have a player with the range of passing of Paul Scholes. They don’t have a Paul Gascoigne, even if Jack Grealish is being touted as the next Gazza.

Southgate is working with what he has, and Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice looks like his best combination in midfield.

Harry Winks started against Wales but wasn’t in the squads against Belgium and Denmark.

Kalvin Phillips hasn’t done himself any harm in this international break — I’m sure Southgate will continue to study how he works as a single pivot in front of Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds defence.

But right now, it’s looking like a Henderson-Rice midfield for England at Euro 2020 next summer. Maybe that doesn’t provide a great deal of creativity, but Southgate wants his team to be compact.

TIME TO DITCH PICKFORD?

ENGLAND need to pick the best goalkeeper available to them and, right now, that is Nick Pope. Jordan Pickford does not fill me with confidence.

We’ve seen him flapping in goal at club level for Everton, including against Brighton before this break. Liverpool’s forwards will be wanting to test him in tomorrow’s Merseyside derby, too. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson love to cross the ball, so let’s see how Pickford fares with his catching at Goodison Park.

Pope (left) was very assured against Wales. Give him another go, Gareth!

SHOULD GREALISH BE STARTING?

RAHEEM STERLING on the left, Harry Kane in the middle and Marcus Rashford on the right. That is England’s best

front three. ITV pundit Roy Keane suggested on Wednesday night that Grealish is being made out to be the Messiah and he isn’t wrong about that.

The more Grealish is out of the team, the more his reputation is growing! But the bottom line is, if everybody is fit, the Aston Villa captain doesn’t get in England’s front three.

Maybe the sight of Jadon Sancho coming on against Denmark was like a slap in the face to Grealish. Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the left seemed strange, too.

But Grealish will just have to keep trying to impress Southgate when in a Villa shirt. The 25-year- old seems to have nailed down his spot in the squad. That’s a good start.

ONE REASON TO BE CHEERFUL AHEAD OF EURO 2020… AND ONE REASON TO BE FEARFUL

CHEERFUL: The headline from this international break should be the fact England beat the world’s best-ranked team using Southgate’s preferred system.

It isn’t always pretty — I know we’d all like to see expansive, freeflowing football from the national team — but it worked.

If England win Euro 2020 playing that way, I won’t be complaining!

FEARFUL: There are too many unanswered questions surrounding England’s back line.

What does Southgate do with Maguire now? Should Conor Coady be starting? Is Joe Gomez out of the picture? Is Eric Dier even a defender?

Wouldn’t Tyrone Mings, as a left-footer, be a natural fit on the left side of the three?

I know I’d have AlexanderArnold starting as my right wing back and Ben Chilwell on the left, even if they are used as full backs by their club managers.

So Southgate has some problemsolving to do, with England’s next meeting with Belgium less than a month away.