The title I gave it was 'The Holding Solution' but the editor of the magazine, someone else in my year, gave the article the title 'Lewis Cook: A recipe for success in England's midfield.' I'm adamant my title was better.
Lewis Cook: A recipe for success in England's midfield
Looking at the current England set-up and the options available to Roy Hodgson, it becomes clear that there isn’t an abundance of natural holding midfielders at England’s disposal. Instead, England utilise makeshift versatile defenders and box-to-box midfielders, with the current preference at the base of England’s midfield being Jack Wilshere.
A possible solution has recently emerged and claimed a place in Leeds United’s starting eleven, in seventeen year old Lewis Cook.
Lewis Cook has become a regular this season at the base of Leeds’ diamond, showing maturity and composure beyond his years – with former Leeds head coach Dave Hockaday stating that “if you chopped Lewis’ head off and put an older head on his shoulders, you wouldn’t’ be surprised.”
Cook was recently ranked 32nd by TEAMtalk on their list of the ‘top 50 wonderkids,’ with the only criteria being that they must be born in or after 1996; with Cook placing 4th out of the Englishmen on the list.
Cook has already tasted success in an England shirt, after being part of the Under 17 side’s European Championship victory in May 2014, alongside recent Chelsea debutant Dominic Solanke and Fulham’s breakthrough star last season, Patrick Roberts.
In terms of style of play, Ryan Ledson (Everton), Cook’s midfield partner for the under 17s, described him as a “hard man on the field.” Cook possesses a good passing range and a burst of pace, utilising this to start attacks from deep, whilst never shying from a tackle.
In terms of player likeness, Cook is not in the mould of traditional holding midfielders like Claude Makelele, rather he is more akin to deep-lying playmakers like Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Cook is by no means the only possible future holding midfield option for England. Other options include the nationality torn son of Gus Poyet, West Ham’s Diego Poyet, and Derby’s George Thorne, who is currently facing a season long injury layoff with a cruciate knee ligament injury.
But of these options, Cook is the only one who is guaranteed to remain English and who isn’t losing a season of development. Although it may be a year or two before Cook is playing in the Premier League, it is highly likely that Cook will be ready for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but for now England fans need to, to quote Take That, have a little patience.
