Tuesday 11 September 2018 12:42, UK
John Barnes believes England have been guilty of creating too many players who are "dribblers", rather than playmakers.
England have struggled to dominate possession against the world's top sides and manager Gareth Southgate recently said the only "true creative force for England in the last 50 years" was Paul Gascoigne.
Barnes, who made 79 appearances for England, agrees with Southgate and believes England are lacking a creative presence in midfield.
"We have lots of defensive midfield players and lots of layers who can dribble, but no one in between," Barnes told Sky Sports News.
"We need players who can get the ball from John Stones and then put dribblers in the positions where they can cause danger."
England lost 2-1 to Spain on Saturday - their third consecutive defeat - in their opening UEFA Nations League match.
Barnes says England need more players who can play one and two-touch football, like those in the Spanish squad.
"Players who are comfortable on the ball shouldn't mean players having 20 touches and beating five players," added Barnes.
"If you look at the three midfielders for Spain - Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcantara and Isco - they are three midfielders who can keep the ball and create.
"Paul Gascoigne, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, we've had players like that in the past. But we have to develop them, we've come up with this concept of developing players who are comfortable on the ball."
Southgate believes English youngsters need more playing opportunities in the Premier League and Barnes agrees.
"He [Gareth] is being very forthright in what he wants to do," he said.
"The problem Gareth has is that he's not got a big pool to choose from. Unless the Under-20 players are playing regularly for their clubs, how are they going to improve if they're not playing in the top teams?
"As much as Gareth is talking about this new crop of players, Gareth would like good experienced players in the side to help the youngsters.
"Any international team needs the majority of their team to be between 26 and 31, we don't have that.
"Our brightest prospect is Phil Foden and is he going to be in the first team at Manchester City? Probably not, so how is that England Under-20 World Cup-winning team going to grow if the players aren't playing regularly for their clubs. But all of this isn't Gareth's fault because he just hasn't got the pool of players to choose from."
England take on Switzerland in an International Friendly on Tuesday night at the King Power Stadium, live on Sky Sports Main Event.
