Gareth Southgate admitted that England’s over-reliance on Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling is a ‘concern’ after his side drew 0-0 with Italy on Saturday - a problem that could be answered by Patrick Bamford.
The Three Lions manager started Roma’s Tammy Abraham upfront at Molineux and only named two out and out strikers in the squad for the recent Nations League matches with Tottenham leading-man Kane the other. England enjoyed 60% possession, played 642 passes and had 12 shots, but only put four on target and failed to beat Italy stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The performance once again drew criticism of Southgate, who is said to be far too negative a manager for such a bright and exciting crop of attacking talent. His inclusion of just two number nines in the squad has raised questions about his reliance on Spurs man Kane to perform, while former Chelsea youngster Abraham - after an impressive spell in Serie A - failed to make the desired impact.
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And Southgate admitted that his reliance on Kane and Manchester City winger Sterling is a concern, but claimed that this period of games was a chance to ‘look at different players’.
"Clearly across these four games we're needing to look at different players ahead of the World Cup," he said. "Today was part of that process. We knew on the back of a physically tough game in Germany the other night, also to refresh the team was going to be important.
"It's the same as I said yesterday - of course you're wanting to win the games and we're disappointed not to win the game. I think we had two or three very good chances that we have to take. You don't get loads of chances in games against the top-level teams, that's how it is.
"We'd like to have created more given the amount of possession we had and we definitely used the ball better in the back two thirds of the field than we did the other night so that was pleasing. But in the end we've not got the goal to make the difference.
"We're very, very reliant on Harry and Raheem for our goals at the moment and that is a concern."
Whites fans may argue the point that if the England manager was using this period to ‘look at different players’ and he needed someone to add danger in front of goal, then Leeds frontman Bamford could be the man to lean on in the future.
The 28-year-old was understandably left out of the Nations League squad after missing the majority of the season with injury. He was finally fit to play in the final day trip to Brentford but tested positive for Covid just days before, meaning his most recent appearance was 22 minutes against Wolves in March and his last full 90 minutes was against Newcastle United in September.
But he made the step up to the Premier League with surprising ease last season, netting 17 times on the way to becoming the second-highest scoring Englishman in the top-flight behind Kane. Those performances earned Bamford the single call up against Andorra, but a lacklustre England side failed to provide any chances.
Should the Leeds man come back fit and firing during the new season, then Southgate will have to look at bringing him into the squad - equally as important as the goals he could bring, his work rate off the ball could prove vital during periods where England sit back and allow top teams a share of the ball.
There won’t be many further opportunities for Bamford to make an impact in and England shirt - the squad will only meet once more for two Nations League games in September before the World Cup squad is announced. But if Southgate is wanting to alleviate the pressure on Sterling and Kane then the Leeds man could be the answer to his problems.
