Roy Hodgson backs Crystal Palace’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek to be England’s gilded midfield shield at the World Cup

The manager has talked up his midfielder’s qualities and has admitted Palace face a fight to keep the talented 22-year-old beyond his current loan spell – who must decide where his future lies

Brighton’s midfield struggled to contain Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AFP/Getty Images)

The second half at Selhurst Park on Saturday was mostly a fraught affair for Crystal Palace fans; at one point a man 10 rows back stepped into the aisle in order to get some purchase on his rage. But, for a brief moment in the 80th minute, as the number eight illuminated the fourth official’s board, the tension subsided as the crowd rose to applaud Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

This had been the Chelsea loanee’s first home start since returning from a three-month injury layoff. The ovation was acknowledgement of a fruitful symbiosis: Palace are enjoying an elegant midfielder with the increasingly valuable trait in modern football of being an impossible bastard to dispossess; while Loftus-Cheek is receiving that oddly rare thing for a talented young footballer – the chance to play football.

After the game Roy Hodgson spoke about the 22-year-old in glowing terms, and talked up his chances of representing England at the World Cup. “He has the qualities,” the Palace manager said. “He’s very good at screening and keeping the ball, he’s very good at beating players. If he can play regularly for the last part of the season then I think we will see him doing even more as a player.”

Playing regularly in the Premier League is something Loftus-Cheek has badly missed out on. The first five years are critical, according to his manager for a brief time this season, Frank de Boer, in a fascinating interview last month with The Independent. “I always think that from 17 until 22 you have to play every week, 30, 40 games in a year,” explained De Boer. Loftus-Cheek began this season, aged 21, having played only two full career league matches.

He has still managed to amass an impressive youth resume: two FA Youth Cups, the Uefa Youth League, the prestigious Toulon Tournament and its best player award. This observer saw him up close in an England Under-21 qualifier and he was a cut above every player on the pitch. His manager that evening was Gareth Southgate, and clearly that positive association played its part when he earned his senior England debut against Germany in November with a brilliant man-of-the-match display.

And therein lies the paradox of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He is a symbol of the FA’s plans coming to fruition, working his way through the youth ranks to senior level, drinking in the ‘DNA’; and at the same time he is a symbol of English football’s flawed club system at the elite end, which somehow allows a player with exceptional gifts to drift and bounce without settling.

Perhaps one reason for his struggles – or a consequence of them – is that his best position is still up for debate. Managers and pundits disagree: Antonio Conte said he has a striker’s characteristics; Glenn Hoddle compared him to Michael Ballack; Ruud Gullit said he should play in a midfield three; De Boer said he should play in an attacking three; Hodgson has predominantly used him out wide.

Southgate has a good relationship with the midfielder (Getty)

But Hodgson’s praise of his “screening” abilities hints at a player who may ultimately end up controlling midfield spaces and marauding through the centre, much like Mousa Dembele for Tottenham. In Southgate’s England team, which is light in central midfield and is something of a Tottenham prototype, Loftus-Cheek might represent the missing piece.

While Southgate ponders on his inclusion, Loftus-Cheek might wonder about his own decisions. Does his future like away from Stamford Bridge? Hodgson would like him to stay at Palace beyond this season, even permanently, though he admits that won’t be an easy sell. “For Ruben Loftus-Cheek to consider us seriously as an option, we need to be in the league for a kick off,” Hodgson said. “There’s no doubt he’s going to be hot property if he has four more games like the last couple. Not just for Crystal Palace, but for other teams too.”