Southgate believes his attacking three is up with the best
Rashford, Sterling and Kane excite manager They are players that lift you off your seat, he says
CHIEF FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT Is there a better front three in international football than Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford? “I think that they’re as exciting as anything, really,” Gareth Southgate said after the 4-0 Euro 2020 qualifier win over Bulgaria that meant England top Group A with three wins from three matches and 14 goals scored.
Brushing aside Bulgaria, with a Harry Kane hat-trick that took him to 25 international goals and above Sir Geoff Hurst in the all-time goalscorers list, is hardly a gauge of whether England have the potential to win the tournament next summer. Southgate is fully aware that he has been handed a group that, despite the threat of an emerging Kosovo in Southampton tomorrow, should be easily dealt with.
That, in itself, poses a familiar problem for England, who have tended to qualify without complication for major tournaments – only to be halted by the first top-ranked nation they face in a finals. The World Cup in 2018 went some way to remedying that, with a win over Colombia, even if England were beaten by Croatia in the semifinals, and the Nations League continued it even if – again – they were defeated by Holland, who will definitely be one of the contenders next summer.
To temper expectation Southgate reeled off Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium as other inevitable challengers. But it was interesting how enthusiastic – and excited – he is by the “players that lift you off your seat” that he is able to select. Starting with his attack.
Portugal – with Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and, possibly, Joao Felix – may disagree when it comes to discussing who has the most dangerous front three, while France will point to Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann – both undoubtedly world class – in their attacking triumvirate, although Olivier Giroud may be the weaker link in that, unless Ousmane Dembele refinds his way.
But it is not over the top to say that the English trio are up there and Southgate recalled the Nations League victory away to Spain last October that still feels like a seminal moment. “I remember going to Spain and thinking well, a really tough game, but actually, when we look at our front three and look at their front three on the night, I felt that we were strong,” he said of an occasion when Sterling scored twice and Rashford once. “And I’ve got to say, we’ve got [Jadon] Sancho and [Callum] Hudson-odoi who are going to push, and really push, so I think that it is exciting.”
A coach would take the English trio over who played for Spain that day – Iago Aspas, Rodrigo and Marco Asensio – with Southgate conceding that, on occasions, “sometimes you can overlook the brilliant things that they do, that maybe other countries don’t have”. Certainly all three have benefited from the switch in formation after the World Cup, when Southgate abandoned the 3-5-2 approach, realising it would take England only so far, and opted for a bolder 4-3-3, which is also aided by the emergence of some exciting young midfielders, even if he is still to settle on his preferred combinations in that department. Against Bulgaria, he opted for Declan Rice, Ross Barkley and Jordan Henderson, but it would not be a surprise if one, or even two, of Alex Oxladechamberlain, Mason Mount, James Maddison, Harry Winks, Ruben Loftus-cheek or, even, Phil Foden forced their way in the side.
It has also helped in attack. “The balance of speed, intelligent movement,” Southgate said as he – effectively – compared Kane to Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, who is part of such a devastating front three at Liverpool.
“Harry [Kane] at times sacrifices his positioning to help create space but also it’s his movement, dropping into those pockets, playing balls inside full-backs for his teammates.”
While Southgate said that Kane and Sterling “have proven now, season after season” how good they are at the “elite level” he conceded that Rashford – still just 21 – remains “a work in progress”.
Rashford earned England’s first penalty when he ran at the Bulgaria defence, feinted to cross, and was caught by Nikolay Bodurov.
Kane dispatched it – inevitably – just as he did to complete his hattrick after he was fouled as he shaped to shoot. His first goal, in the first half, owed everything to Sterling’s sharpness and aggression as he intercepted the ball when Bulgaria tried to play it out from the back and teed up Kane.
Sterling also scored and it was telling as it resulted from Rashford again running at the defence, slipping a pass to Kane who crossed for the forward to bundle it over the line as he has done so many times for Manchester City.
The post-match focus inevitably centred on Kane’s contribution, with Southgate acknowledging that 25 goals in 40 England appearances – an average of a goal every 123 minutes – meant it would be a surprise if the 26-year-old did not overtake Wayne Rooney’s record of 53.
“The reality of that is that there’s a reason that only Bobby [Charlton] and Gary [Lineker] and Wayne have got there, because it’s such a hard challenge to stay fit, the No1 choice, focused, motivated for the long period that you need to be able to get the games and to get those goals,” Southgate said. “But if anybody has that strength of mentality, for sure it’s Harry.”
Especially if he continues receive such attacking support. England Bulgaria to