With an FA Cup week at the business end of the January transfer window, the last seven days have seen two exciting things happen from an England perspective. First, Kalvin Phillips finally found his escape route from the Manchester City touchline. Then Trent Alexander-Arnold played not just an auxiliary midfield role in possession, but the real thing. He came off the bench to join a midfield three and sit in front of a back four he’d usually be part of. 

If this is any indication of how the next few months will play out in the Premier League, Phillips and Alexander-Arnold are about as well equipped to start in England’s midfield as they ever have been. The only thing is, they won’t both be starting together. Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are two of the first names on the team sheet, so who will join them? Here’s what they each offer…

Kalvin Phillips

Phillips is the kind of player who can control the tempo of any game. While he may not always be taking the most risks on the ball, he’s the one who keeps the team ticking with cute lateral passes and great spatial awareness. 

Leeds fans call him the Yorkshire Pirlo, and when he plays for England, it really is reminiscent of that World Cup-winning Italy team in 2006. The main feature of their team was the presence of a deep-lying playmaker (Andrea Pirlo) and a more attacking playmaker (Francesco Totti), sitting in front of and behind the opposition’s midfield line. Against Scotland and Italy in autumn 2023, Phillips and Harry Kane performed similar roles to those of the Italians 18 years ago.

With Phillips in, Rice enjoys more freedom to roam where he pleases. Rice likes to pull into the left-half-space when Harry Maguire has the ball at centre-back, or sometimes drop in to make a back three if needed. Phillips is most comfortable in this central area, so Rice is allowed to read the game and adapt his positioning.

Using Phillips and Rice in a double-pivot naturally gives Jude Bellingham the licence to operate as a No.10, enjoying a better link-up with Kane.

Strong and composed, Phillips’ presence in a midfield will always improve ball retention. As he plays more minutes at West Ham, the 28-year-old will become a rather desirable option for England at Euro 2024.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Gareth Southgate decided just before the June internationals last year that he wanted to trial Alexander-Arnold in midfield again. His new inverted role at Liverpool allowed for this experiment, and it’s safe to say it worked. 

The only difference between the two roles is what he does when defending. At Liverpool, he’s been dropping back to right-back. Southgate’s been asking him to stay in midfield, something he’s unfamiliar with doing. At last, however, he’s experienced the same role off the ball at Liverpool. With that issue patched up now, what can he bring?

He will regularly occupy the half-space — where he’s got easy access to the centre and the flank, making it difficult for opponents to know where England will play the ball. 

In progression, this will allow England to move the ball swiftly through the lines. In the final third, his forward runs could be quite dangerous.

The main attraction to playing Alexander-Arnold is the scope for wide rotations. We saw this against North Macedonia last year, where Kyle Walker advanced to allow Bukayo Saka to come inside, and Alexander-Arnold would drop back to fill in for Walker. 

Similarly, Alexander-Arnold will still be free to pull wide and overlap Saka to cause overloads, as we saw a lot against Australia in October. This is what Jordan Henderson did really well to confuse the French in the World Cup quarter-final. 

Alexander-Arnold offers excellent delivery into the box from deep crosses too, and of course from set pieces. On top of this, he’s an athletic midfielder. In fact, a midfield three of Rice, Alexander-Arnold and Bellingham would be incredibly athletic. Sometimes, we place too much attention on skills. England were utterly overwhelmed by the USA’s athletic midfield three at World Cup 2022. Athleticism comes in very handy when pressing to winning the ball back quickly. 

Playing Phillips would likely see England dominate possession and guarantee we see the best of Rice and Bellingham. With Alexander-Arnold, there’s always the chance he will produce the moment that wins the match because it’s in his nature to take risks. They’ll both be used, but only one can start.