Grealish could be the man to solve England’s issues

AFTER England fans at Molineux sang ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’, Gareth Southgate responded in typically measured fashion.

He accepted responsibility for the humiliating 4-0 defeat to Hungary, pointed to the fact his side wasn’t at full strength, and called for unity going forward.

In the face of some ridiculous overreaction, the Three Lions boss showed the level-headed approach that has characterised his success in recent years.

He knows as much as anyone that these four winless games have not been good enough, and a 4-0 home defeat against any opponent is not acceptable.

But as he hinted at how England can bounce back, two City players may have improved fortunes going forward next season.

“We picked a young team with energy and when the game started to go against them, it started to look that way. That’s my responsibility in the end,” Southgate said after the game.

“I told the players, our four matches is my responsibility. I have to balance looking at new players, rest players. We couldn’t keep flogging out our experienced players.

“We haven’t been at full strength. We need to be at full strength to win matches and we’ve seen that for several teams across Europe in the Nations League.”

City will be thankful that their England players weren’t overused after a long season, even if those players didn’t have a particularly successful run of results.

Kyle Walker strengthened his position against the indifferent performances of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier and Reece James, while John Stones’ harsh red card shouldn’t affect his World Cup place.

Raheem Sterling is one of Southgate’s go-to players, and didn’t particularly harm or boost his prospects as one of many players who struggled to fire this month. However, City’s other two England players could be key to injecting some forward-thinking into Southgate’s side, with Phil Foden missing the first three games this month with Covid and showing more intent than his team-mates after coming on against Hungary.

If Southgate wants to send a message in September’s internationals against Germany and Italy, then giving Foden an attacking brief would be a simple but effective start.

So too would playing Jack Grealish, who responded to Southgate’s calls for tactical improvement with a better performance against Italy.

But he was then dropped to the bench as Southgate rotated, and wasn’t used in the Hungary defeat.

In his place, Jarrod Bowen, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher hardly impressed, so perhaps Grealish should be recalled to send a message ahead of the World Cup.

Grealish will want to kick on at City next season, so may get the games he needs to persuade Southgate he is worthy of starting for England. He would be a popular inclusion to win the fans back, and spoke of freedom with England that could be the key to a more proactive Three Lions side ahead of the World

Cup.

The June games shouldn’t be seen as the catastrophic disaster that some are trying to claim they are, but they should be a kick for England that they must change things on the pitch if they want success in Qatar.

Starting Foden and Grealish could help get the best out of England’s other talented forwards.