No magic trick to finding a dynamo
BOOTHROYD: WE HAVE THEM BUT THEY NEED PROTECTING
AIDY BOOTHROYD insists the central midfielders England desperately need are coming through the ranks.
But he believes they must be protected from the clamour to fasttrack them through the system.
The lack of a dominant central midfielder was one of the shortcomings highlighted by England’s predominantly successful World Cup.
England had no answer to the class of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic in their semi-final exit against Croatia.
And that sparked a guessing game over who could one day become the player capable of solving England’s lack of creativity in midfield.
Manchester City’s Phil Foden, Bournemouth’s Lewis Cook, Harry Winks of Tottenham and Chelsea’s Mason Mount – on loan at Derby – have all emerged as potential future solutions.
Under-21 boss Boothroyd (above) said: “We have got players who can do that. They are still very young and we need to protect them from the clamour of playing in the ‘World XI’.
“But we know that’s an area we need to add to. We have some fantastic central midfield players in the seniors and below.
“We are always looking to improve, always looking to push, and we have one or two who if they develop at the right rate and play the right games then who knows?”
Former England skipper Bryan Robson believes a quality box-to-box midfielder is the missing link. He also cast doubt on Foden’s suitability for a central midfield role, claiming he is a little bit “light” for the engine room.
But Boothroyd refuses to place too much significance on verdicts from outside the England set-up.
He said: “I’m not surprised, but you have to judge comments from where they have come from.
“They are not in the system, they don’t see what’s coming through from the 15s all the way to the 21s.
“The trend was for defensive midfield players and now it’s adapted a bit. I think it’s important we have both sets of players in the team.
“In an ideal world they would be able to do everything, but you have to get the best out of what they’ve got. But there definitely are ballplayers in the system.”