It's back to the old drawing board for Gareth Southgate after his Trent Alexander-Arnold experiment malfunctioned for a second time in England's lacklustre 1-1- draw with Denmark on Thursday night. The question of who should play alongside Declan Rice in midfield is now one of many the Three Lions' boss must answer, and he has a matter of days to find a solution.
Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold was among a host of England players to fall well below their usual standard in Frankfurt, misplacing passes and failing to create anything of note as a deep-lying playmaker. That he was hooked after just 55 minutes was telling, and perhaps a reflection that Southgate is prepared to shelf his so-called experiment for the time being.
So disappointed was the England manager with the performance that he bizarrely saw fit to yearn for the days of overlooked pair Kalvin Phillips and Jordan Henderson. "We have been trying to find a solution in midfield for seven or eight years," he said in his post-match press conference. "If we hadn't had Declan Rice, I don't know where we'd have been. Unfortunately, Kalvin (Phillips) wasn’t a possible for us for this tournament and Hendo (Jordan Henderson) the same, so we're trying to find something different."
Southgate must now come up with a solution in midfield, but what are the options available to him?