I was there last night and Wilshere only went sideways, along with Xhaka. Ozil the only player with bite who can turn a man and pick a forward pass.
But I don't think there's any debate about the fact that Wilshere is the most creative deep-lying midfielder England have. Sitting deep and picking exactly the right pass, a la a Michael Carrick, isn't necessarily his strongest suit. But he can get on the ball, pass, and move with technique and panache in a way that leads to chances.
And there just isn't any English player who looks capable of doing that consistently at international level. Hopefully by the time the Tournament of Nations/qualifying roles around Lewis Cook will at least be ready to be eased into a role like that, but I don't think he's quite there yet, and he does like having a bit more freedom to roam. Henderson has a bit of that in his game, but at international level where you can't play the high intensity pressing and counter attacking football played under Klopp, he always looks not quite one thing and not quite another to me. Dier just isn't that type of player. Ditto Livermore. Ox is also different but showed some creativity this year but that's obviously null and void for the World Cup now. And some of the players I'd hope would be developing into a role like that, namely Chalobah (again a different type of player but one with a good array of passing), Lewis Baker, and James Ward-Prowse just aren't at that level.
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And there just isn't any English player who looks capable of doing that consistently at international level. Hopefully by the time the Tournament of Nations/qualifying roles around Lewis Cook will at least be ready to be eased into a role like that, but I don't think he's quite there yet, and he does like having a bit more freedom to roam. Henderson has a bit of that in his game, but at international level where you can't play the high intensity pressing and counter attacking football played under Klopp, he always looks not quite one thing and not quite another to me. Dier just isn't that type of player. Ditto Livermore. Ox is also different but showed some creativity this year but that's obviously null and void for the World Cup now. And some of the players I'd hope would be developing into a role like that, namely Chalobah (again a different type of player but one with a good array of passing), Lewis Baker, and James Ward-Prowse just aren't at that level.
They were just friendlies against Canada and Costa Rica though
Tough to choose 2 out of: Delph, Rose, Young, Bertrand or Baines.