Thomas Tuchel has a lot of questions to answer in attack, but those issues are borne out of the fact he has a wealth of talent at his disposal.

The problems he has to address further back in the team - and in particular in defensive midfield - are much more acute, because here he has a real lack of options.

For the first time, Tuchel has said publicly what we sensed in the background - that John Stones is a serious contender to be England's defensive midfielder - or No 6 - for the World Cup.

"There is not one pivotal, classic, deep No 6," the England head coach said. "Except maybe John Stones, who fits this characteristic.

"We have top players and we will find the right pairing. We will need to be flexible because anything can happen, someone can be injured."

And, indeed, Stones h

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