John Barnes thinks England are lacking “strong defenders” because the country tried to develop defenders who are good on the ball.
The Three Lions have got off to the perfect start in the World Cup qualifying group with two wins out of two against San Marino and Albania, while a tougher test awaits them against Poland on Wednesday.
There has still been criticism of England’s performances with some annoyed at Gareth Southgate for not releasing the handbrake on their attacking talent.
MAILBOX: James, TAA and Chilwell all out of my England squad for Euros…
However, Barnes is more concerned about the physical side of the current England squad with not enough “defenders who can defend”.
Barnes told BonusCodeBets: “The England squad are not stronger than they were in 2018. If we don’t win, then the vision will just change to the 2026 World Cup. The vision is always just to do well as soon as possible.
“England’s problem is that when we started to develop players, we developed attacking players who were good on the ball who have lots of skills and tricks. We didn’t develop strong defenders, because all our defenders wanted to be good on the ball.
“John Stones is a typical example, he’s very good on the ball and he’s playing form at Manchester City has been very good. His defensive skills aren’t good as his ability to play out from the back, but this is primarily due to Manchester City having a lot of ball possession. Rather than in England, sometimes we play in teams where he is primarily required to defend over a lot else.
“It’s the same with English full backs who want to attack and put crosses in. Trent Alexander-Arnold, for example. When you play against teams who are going to attack you, these types of defenders aren’t good enough defensively.
“So, even England’s balance in terms of player development isn’t right, because we’re still just trying to develop everybody to be comfortable the ball and able to attack, but we’re not developing defenders who can defend. That is where we have fallen.
“In the old days, when I played, it was all about being strong defensively and we never really looked to develop any technically gifted players, but we were strong and physical. Nowadays England has gone the other way and completely disregards the physical, defensive aspect of football, which is also very important.”
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