LEAP OF FAITH
Southgate: I picked Sterling to help him
ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate last night backed Raheem Sterling and revealed that he started the Manchester City star against Nigeria at Wembley because he felt he had to show faith after a difficult week for the attacking midfielder.
Southgate admitted that he considered axing Sterling for yesterday’s 2-1 win after the 23-year-old reported late for Three Lions duty at St George’s Park. However, he felt he had to pick Sterling for the friendly at Wembley as he needed protecting after the reaction to a tattoo of a gun on his leg.
Southgate said: ‘I had a decision to make whether to play him after turning up late. But actually that wasn’t a decision after he started to come under fire from every other direction. The most important
thing I do in the next six weeks is protect the players. They respect each other and understand how important it is they support and protect each other.
‘I got the level I expected from Raheem. There will always be moments with forward players when taking people on doesn’t quite succeed, but our front four did well.
‘You’ve always got to balance what the message is to the rest of the group, and what’s most important at that moment in time. The situation was one we didn’t want to happen.
‘We don’t want to see that happen again. But that was the best way to deal with it in my opinion at this moment.’
Southgate had seen England produce the classic game of two halves in their penultimate World Cup warm-up game, but he only took only positives from his side’s Wembley send-off. Goals from Gary Cahill and Harry Kane had given England a deserved halftime lead. But the second half was a far more anxious affair after Arsenal youngster Alex Iwobi pulled one back for the Nigerians.
England have one more pre-World Cup test to come — they play Costa Rica in Leeds on Thursday.
Southgate said: ‘I thought it was an exciting game. I was really pleased with the first half. We used the ball well and we were a threat. I liked the interchange of movement and passing between our front four. We were then able to win the ball back with our pressing.
‘Second half we were slow to start and it took us a little while to adjust to them changing shape. What it created was a great atmosphere behind our goal for us to defend properly and manage the game which was important.’
Captain Kane continued his hot international streak with his eighth goal in his last seven England matches and said: ‘I feel I’m at my best, I feel really good.’