The question should be reframed. It is no longer how does Thomas Tuchel get Adam Wharton into the England team, but how does he keep him out?
Wharton is the obvious answer to the balance Tuchel is seeking in the English midfield. It is a matter of tempo and style, and goes to the heart of the problem that has troubled England for more than half a century; how to balance flair and industry.
The English way has historically prioritised the latter, the hard runner too readily trumping the baller in the middle of the park. Rice follows that tradition, an indefatigable, box-to-box, never-let-you-down “winner”. Except that template has never quite delivered against the best.
Finding the right player to complement Rice in the England midfield has proven as tricky for Tuchel in his opening matches as it did for Gareth Southgate. Kalvin Phillips approximated the truth but did not quite move well enough. Conor Gallagher is busy but lacks subtlety.
So Wharton is Tuchel’s gift, a player who displays elite touch and vision, who reads the game superbly, and, critically, turns defence into attack at the drop of a half-turn. Wharton purred at the base of the Palace midfield in the Community Shield at Wembley to match and ultimately outlast the remarkable contribution of Liverpool’s new wonderboy Florian Wirtz.
His ability to break up play with interceptions and initiate counters with his laser passing was central to Palace’s dogged resistance, a constant menace disrupting Liverpool’s patterns and rhythm. His performance would not have gone unnoticed either by another coach two hundred miles to the north.
Manchester United’s striking issues have been addressed by the addition of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko. But the Wharton-sized canyon at the base of United’s midfield is as wide as ever. Not since Michael Carrick have United had a world-class metronome in the middle of the paddock. Casemiro is too old, Manuel Ugarte too imprecise, Kobbie Mainoo too forward-biased, Bruno Fernandes too impetuous.
United have been linked with Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, but Sunday’s eye-catching display has reignited interest among a fanbase urging Ruben Amorim to go all in on Wharton. His socks down energy conforms to the Brazilian patent, all effortless flair and forward thinking. By increments Wharton’s influence at Wembley matched that of the iridescent Wirtz, who demonstrated his own samba sensibilities in stirring Liverpool’s early ascendency.
We must hope that Wharton does not become a victim of England’s historic distrust of his kind of creativity. The failure of the so-called golden generation two decades ago resulted in part from the inability to assimilate Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes successfully.
Twenty years before that, Sir Bobby Robson could not work out how to get Glenn Hoddle into the team alongside Bryan Robson and Ray Wilkins. In the end injury and suspension made the decision for him. The game has changed immeasurably since then, and England have a greater spread of world-class talent across the pitch.
Joining the dots is the key, finding the right connections. Wharton and Eberechi Eze enjoy the benefit of each other at Palace with the ever-willing Will Hughes in the domestique role. There is no reason, therefore, why Wharton could not find the same sweet spot alongside Rice and Jude Bellingham for England.
As for United, the need is there. It is claimed United turned down the chance to sign Wharton before Palace paid Blackburn Rovers £18m for him in January of last year. It could turn out to be the greatest investment co-owner and chairman Steve Parish has made, as well as typifying United’s muddled transfer policy, somehow failing to harvest a kid from just up the road.
Wharton has proved himself in big games against the best teams in England. And now a European campaign, albeit not the competition for which Palace hoped, beckons. He can do no more. It is for Tuchel to see the light, to recognise the libero in Wharton, the position filled so gracefully by arguably the greatest German of them all, Franz Beckenbauer himself.
So Tuchel has no excuse. Imagine it, Wharton adding a Teutonic flourish to an England team led to World Cup success by a German coach. We’d all take a bit of that in the United States next summer.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/IWrB3Tg
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