By bypassing their problems in midfield, England prove only greater change will allow Gareth Southgate to succeed

Familiar problems came back to trouble England in their 2-1 Nations League defeat against Spain

At the very top level of international football, it seems, things really do fall apart if you don't even try and hold the centre.

That was the grand lesson from this 2-1 defeat to Spain, the greater reminder and reality check. A summer that was genuinely transformative for England in some elements but couldn't change the most important elements of the game at the truly elite level. If you don't have a top-class midfield, you can only bypass it for so long. You're really only putting off the problem for so long.

Just as the semi-final against Croatia proved, this match at Wembley only emphasised that it is still overwhelmingly the area where these games are decided.

England were perhaps someway unfortunate that they came up against Spain who had been so determined to solve their own problems, and make their midfield so authoritative again.

All of Thiago Alcantara, Isco, Saul Niguez and - above all - Sergio Busquets did not just have the 2010 world champions back to their best in how they passed the ball, but also how they looked to pierce England with it. This was possession with purpose, with penetration, as delivered by what still remains the best midfield in the world.

Few sides could compete with that, let alone an England so short of anything like that quality.

But maybe that was fortunate for Southgate too. It ensured they were given no false sense of where they're at in the summer. It illustrated that Southgate's solutions in Russia were only temporary and perhaps only successful due to circumstance.

Jordan Henderson was busy in a one-man midfield (REUTERS)

He'll have to come up with something deeper, as he admitted after the game.

"We know the quality they possess. Their retention of the ball was top class. We were a little bit disjointed with our pressing, particularly in the first half, but when you're playing against players who wriggle out of situations and play their way out... we can't do that. Eric [Dier] provided some stability, and allowed us to play better through midfield.

We have to keep faith in the way we're trying to play, otherwise we go back to what we did historically. There's no way we'll ever be a top team if we do that. We have to be brave enough to stick to our principles, and identify how to improve. But that won't be easy. You can see the level of the top teams. I said that in the summer. We're prepared for that challenge.”

The only issue is that it's perhaps going to be the greatest challenge he'll face as a coach. It genuinely might require some managerial tactical alchemy.

Because, for the moment, it does feel as if England cannot fix this until they have a proper passing midfielder - a Luka Modric, a Thiago Alcantara.

There are candidates for that role, but no guarantees.

It is going to require patience, and maybe even a cultural change in English coaching.

Because this match emphasised there's not going to be any change in the international football any time soon.

You can't bypass this problem by bypassing midfield.