I think you are getting carried away a little bit there 183blue.
All I want to see are midfield players who have a picture in their heads before they receive the ball, who can take the ball on the half turn and take the opposition midfield out of the game - and we have those players if Southgate was prepared to use them. For Winks, Rice, Phillips and Dier read Mount, Foden, Maddison, and Grealish. Throw in Henderson as your more defensive minded midfielder and full backs/wing backs who are willing and able to get to the bye line instead of coming back on to their favoured foot and we would be half way there.

History will judge him.
Some folk weren't keen on Jesus at the time and Van Gogh wasnt really appreciated until he passed on.
For Grealish , lifting the World Cup in Qatar, will at least provide some living recognition.

Grealish couldn’t lace Gazza’s boots.

Yeah , I was a massive Gazza fan and remember when he was on the fringes in the England team in 1989. Robson had similarly cagey tactics and there was reluctance to throw Gazza in to the team for fear of him being too individual.
I have some sympathy for Southgate as Grealish wasnt necessarily held in such esteem by most until quite recently and there was some debate as to whether he was the 'real deal'.
He obviously didnt fit in to Southgate's planned way of playing.
If he carries on in the form he has been in , he will force his way into the team and he could be a match winner when it comes to the big occasion.
Not convinced he is as good as Gazza but he certainly looks an exciting player.

I agree 183blue, far better playing the likes of Belgium and Denmark than San Marino and Scotland(joke) for instance, but why set up so negatively?
He obviously has a problem with Grealish for some reason - even after his mom performance against Wales whilst he said he had been good on the ball he hinted that he didn't track back enough - this when we had a back 5 and 2 holding midfielders in the team!!!!
Do you think Terry Venables was overly worried that Gazza didn't track back? Not saying Grealish is as good as Gazza, but there are similarities in the way he draws people towards him and is always looking forward and being positive.

Three defensive or semi defensive midfielders sums up Donkey I'm afraid.
Used to follow England around the world, but every time I tune in now and see why I packed it in.
Never mind, another waste of two weeks to come in November.

Why not follow a decent side like Scotland. Eight games unbeaten and 4 points clear at the top of their League of Nations group.

I think England are third in theirs.

This Nations League at least gives some semi-competitive games that the qualifiers rarely offer.
You learn nothing playing against the minnows.
Seems a bit flat at the moment but in 6 months time it will all change again.
At least he hasn't been afraid to make changes more generally.

Exactly.. we now have a lot of young hungry players to play gung ho football...to make others think about it, but the recent defensive mindset has reared its ugly head, and its so frustrating, many in form players not getting a game and its been square pegs in round holes far too often...playing them in unfamiliar positions will just dent their confidence.

Actually feel sorry for Maguire, he shouldn't have been selected by Southgate as he has been out of sorts all season and given a complete rest - so much for his mantra of picking players in form.

Southgate is a decent bloke and started off well as England manager but is succumbing to the English managers disease of picking their favourites from the bigger clubs and being too negative in his selections.
Whilst I don't have a problem with playing 3 centre backs (because none of them are good enough), why play 2 defensive midfield players?

We should be playing to our strengths, which are our attacking players and let the opposition worry about us.

Grealish would be a rubbish centre half but couldn't be any worse than Maguire.