Danny Mills has questioned whether Elliot Anderson is ‘good enough’ for England.
The former Manchester City and Leeds man joined Shaun Custis and Henry Winter on Sunday Edition on eSPORTY as the right-back quizzed whether England have what it takes to go the distance at the World Cup this summer.
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The Three Lions breezed through qualification to secure their spot in North America, winning all eight matches and conceding none.
Their 100 per cent record means England have been instilled as one of the favourites to win their first major international trophy since 1966.
To some, Thomas Tuchel has his ideal XI all-but set in stone, with only a small number of starting spots up for grabs.
Mills, however, isn’t convinced that Tuchel knows his best team yet, with Anderson in particular called into question.
The Nottingham Forest man, who is wanted by City and rivals Manchester United this summer, is expected to line up alongside Arsenal star Declan Rice at the base of Tuchel’s favoured 4-2-3-1 setup.
‘Is he good enough?’
Mills said he’s not sure who should partner Rice in midfield and when Anderson was mentioned, the former right-back said: “Is he really good enough at international level to win a World Cup?
“Do I look at Anderson and go ‘He is the best player in the position in the country’? He’s way off it.”
Mills then proposed an alternative system, continuing: “Do you end up playing one holding midfield player as Rice. Who else?
“What about Adam Wharton? For the last two years, it’s all been ‘Adam Wharton’s going to be the next best thing’.
“We’re now talking about [Phil] Foden not being in the squad. Where does Jude Bellingham fit into that squad. Where does Cole Palmer fit in.
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Mills added that he feels the number of players plying their trade for numerous club teams will impact England’s chances of winning the World Cup.
The 48-year-old singled out Foden as a reason why England looked laborious in their 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Friday night.
“There are so many possibles and variables. They all play at different clubs, they all play in different systems,” Mills said.
“Trying to get them to gel, and we saw that the other night [against Uruguay] when you just throw a team together, it’s very, very difficult to get them all to gel and play in a certain way because they don’t do it for their club, and this is where Phil Foden has always struggled.
“Manchester City are so unique in the way that they play, Phil works on that every day with Pep [Guardiola] and has done for years, and how they transition, and where they play, and how they rotate positions on the pitch, and he’s sensational at times.
“He goes into an England team, and they play nothing like Manchester City.
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“So therefore, he gets lost at times, and he doesn’t maximise his potential, not just through fault of his own, (but) because the team don’t play how he is used to playing.
“And he has to adapt to tell other people, dramatically, to try and get the best out of himself, and he suffers because of that and that’s why we haven’t seen the best, I think, out of Phil Foden.”
England follow up their 1-1 with Uruguay with the welcome of Japan on Tuesday night.
