WILL GARETH DARE DROP STERLING? I DON’T FANCY THAT CALL!

How does Gareth Southgate deal with Raheem Sterling — not for turning up late but failing to score when he does?

Sterling oozes quality and has enviable, once-in-an- era natural talent. He is lively, likeable to those close to him and has huge public support in the sky blue part of Manchester. He is also considered a very valuable member of the England squad.

But for Gareth there is one frustrating, deeply concerning problem. He does not produce what he is well capable of, and for some inexplicable reason does not score goals for England.

It is the manager’s problem and the most pressing one Gareth has to solve before we face Panama. I had something similar with Alan Shearer. Although the most prolific of goalscorers, his goals had dried up prior to Euro ’96.

The pressure was on to leave him out, the logic being ‘if he isn’t scoring, then why select him?’

It is a decision only the manager can make. You try to stay calm and basically ignore the outside arguments, concentrate only on your belief in the player and, most importantly, the player’s belief in his own ability.

I backed Alan but kept him on edge. I never said he would be my selection even when he would ask me, as he did virtually every day in the build-up to the finals. ‘Boss, everything all right?’ ‘Yes,’ I’d reply. ‘I’ll let you know. Leave it to me.’

There was no way I was going to let him off the lead and allow him to take selection for granted. I played him in our opening game against the Swiss and some will have said I was wrong but he scored and all was well, though the match itself was poor.

The situation is solely between the manager and the player. How long do you trust your instinct?

Gareth has been loyal to Raheem but in the next couple of days he will decide whether to play him. Dare he drop a young man who is one of the stars of champions Manchester City who have just spent 10 months producing football so perfect as to seem unreal? That’s some decision.

Raheem seems to me to be in a perpetual rush, off the field and on it. Slow down. Give yourself time. He needs more ice in his veins. when he stops wearing the mantle of a great player he may, just may, become one.

The morning after a major win the England camp is wonderful. They will be full of themselves, full of confidence and banter as they sit down to breakfast. Gareth and his coaches will be on top of the world — sensing that, yes, they could be on to something very big indeed.

Players will be checked for injury, there will be massages and walks and fresh air. Then the build-up to the next tie will start.

By now, the mood will be much more realistic, still wonderful but not top of the world. For Gareth there are decisions to be made, questions he must answer.

It is more than two years since Raheem scored for England. Two years! He has scored only twice in 39 games. Can that go on? Is he still valuable despite not scoring?

Jesse Lingard is another who needs to be sharper in front of goal. How many chances can you shrug off against Belgium or Brazil, Germany and France?

Between them they missed enough to have put this one to bed at the break.

Kyle walker left himself open to criticism when he conceded the penalty that could have seriously damaged England’s campaign. He went blank, vacant, not a good look for a defender.

The world will be looking to see how Gareth deals with all this. Starting on Sunday. Little dark clouds over an otherwise impressive start.

we can give thanks for Harry Kane. He is going to be as great an asset as I thought. A leader who scores goals. He saved the game and should have had two penalties after being lifted off his feet and thrown to the ground.

For years I have been appalled by the failure of referees and the authorities to act over the crazy and illegal pulling and pushing inside the 18-yard box. But this fouling is at a new level in Russia.

Harry took it six or seven notches above what we normally have to experience. It was sporting GBH. Nothing less. The Colombian referee and the Brazilian VAR operator did absolutely nothing and that is a disgrace. Sack them for incompetence.

This is a moan on behalf of football. It has been happening for far too long. If players think they can now get away with body throwing it wILL be exploited by the villains and could easily ruin this world Cup as the spectacle we want it to be.