It says a lot about the strength of the England squad right now, and the relative stress-free experience of following the nation under Gareth Southgate, that the only real debate to be had – be it tactics or squad selection – is who should be playing at centre-back.
It is worth noting that Southgate himself seems settled on his choice. Throughout Euro 2020 (and in every remotely challenging game during the World Cup qualifiers) he picked Harry Maguire alongside John Stones with first-choice right-back Kyle Walker slotting neatly across should England wish to play in a back three.
Using the same three players, just shuffling along a bit, made the transition between England’s 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 a seamless one that could be done throughout the tournament - and in the final itself.
As is so often the case, the problem – the noise, the anxiety, the debate – is probably only really taking place among us lot, the fans and the media, whereas inside the camp Southgate is likely to be calmly assessing things and making minor tweaks with his team.
Nevertheless, there’s a chance Southgate is as concerned as the rest of us by Harry Maguire’s poor form. He looks a shadow of himself at Manchester United, that lack of agility and pace on the turn becoming an increasing problem as he attempts to adapt to the higher line and faster football of Ralf Rangnick.
The simplest and calmest reposte would be that a) Southgate is not going to become a Germanic transition-centric manager all of a sudden and the conservatism with which he operates – against the top nations, at least – should rid Maguire of most of his errors, and b) throughout the Southgate era players have a habit of leaving club form at the door.
From Raheem Sterling to Jack Grealish, the atmosphere is so positive with England that players can slip into guises designed around their highly-specified tasks for their country.
The lines between club and country are no longer blurred because the thinking is no longer muddied. Having such a well-defined tactical model – and the trust of the manager – at international level allows the players to change hats.
Maguire is most likely going to be just fine come December, while there are no reasons to foresee a problem for Stones or Walker, who feature regularly under Pep Guardiola.
But these three aside, virtually every other centre-back spot is up for grabs, and of course should an injury hit Maguire or Stones England need to have a reliable – and settled – defender upon which to draw.
The latest squad contains Marc Guehi, Tyrone Mings, Conor Coady, and Ben White. An argument can be made to swap out pretty much all of these players.
Mings is certainly the odd one out on this list. His inclusion seems predominantly to be based on his being left-footed, a unique trait among England centre-backs, but considering all of their work over recent years has been done with two right-footers this in not enough of a reason.
For Aston Villa, Mings makes defensive mistakes very frequently, whether minor positional ones or major unforced errors. Worse still, he is not good on the ball, generally hoofing things clear when confronted with even a single pressing opponent.
Conor Coady’s presence is based on his ability to play in a back three, and although he is a talented player the emergence of White – his superior in every department – perhaps means it is time for the Wolves captain to be removed from the squad. White has lots of experience in a back three with Brighton and Arsenal.
He is an exceptional player on the ball, regularly carrying the ball out of defence and finding a line-splitting pass to an Arsenal team-mate, which is a quality England desperately need if they are to move to the next level in their build-up play.
He is also the leader of the Arsenal defence and a major contributor to their 13 clean sheets this season, regularly dominating aerially and on the ground as Mikel Arteta’s side go from strength to strength.
Guehi, 21, has emerged out of nowhere and is rightly being fast-tracked into the England squad. He looks like a born leader and has been crucial to Crystal Palace’s excellent season, commanding a back line that is held relatively high by Patrick Vieira - and even contributing the odd goal. He is rightly in the squad and hopefully will develop over the next few years into a top player.
But if Mings and Coady can be dropped that leaves two places up for grabs. The first should be reserved for Joe Gomez, a brilliant centre-back just coming back from a seven-month injury lay-off; as soon as he is back to full fitness and challenging Joel Matip at Liverpool, he ought to take a place.
For the time being, the in-form Eric Dier deserves a recall for his performances under Antonio Conte – importantly, in a back three.
Conte’s detailed tactical coaching has improved Dier and Southgate should take advantage of that, while Dier’s long-ball distribution could be crucial for England when they are trying to unlock a deeper defence.
Should Tomori be in England squad?
Finally, it is high time Southgate gives Fikayo Tomori a chance. The 24-year-old has matured considerably at AC Milan, who currently sit top of the Serie A table thanks in part to the former Chelsea defender.
Tomori tops the charts at Milan for tackles (2.3 per game) and interceptions (1.6 per game), emerging as a leader even with the iconic Simon Kjaer alongside him.
England might not be world-class at centre-back, but they are relatively settled and in Maguire-Stones-Walker should not worry too much.
The real debate to be had is who should sit on the bench behind them, and for the opening game of the 2022 World Cup it ought to be White, Guehi, Tomori, and Gomez, with Dier in reserve.
