Ballon d’Or shortlist shows up Premier League’s attacking failings – but tide could be turning

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Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland are there but Cole Palmer, one of the nominees in 2025, is out after an injury-hit year and English football’s shift towards physicality and set pieces last season is summed up by none of the forwards from the best team in the country making the cut.The trio giving Arsenal a presence – Gabriel Maghalhães, Declan Rice and William Saliba – are all defensive minded. Games flowed more in North America, in part because of officials clamping down on the “meat wall” at set pieces.As for England, Thomas Tuchel’s plan to tap into the Premier League’s physicality failed.

It is also significant that not until Anthony Gordon’s goal against Argentina did an England attacker who played in the Premier League last season score at the World Cup.“Spanish football demands a different level of tactical and technical intelligence,” Gordon has said since leaving Newcastle for Barcelona. At those levels Ødegaard looks as good as Fernandes.Florian Wirtz has struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premier League.

Jude Bellingham, England’s jewel, has never played in the Premier League. The Premier League has to be careful.