UNLEASH RASHFORD

Despite only two goals in 39 games Southgate has been loyal to Sterling, but now it’s time to...

RAHEEM STERLING is terrific player. He has many qualities. His 23 goals for Manchester City demonstrates a huge improvement. But this is England and he now has scored two goals in 39 games.

It hasn’t happened for him in an England shirt. It’s not like he hasn’t been given the chance to shine, with scoring opportunities against Nigeria in the friendly at Wembley and against Tunisia last Monday.

Even though his goalscoring has improved for City, it hasn’t in the No10 shirt for England. A genuine goalscorer is always gambling; playing on the shoulder; waiting for the split-second mistake that gets him in. You could say they’re waiting to get lucky. But, of course, they’re not lucky. It’s an art.

So when Sterling missed his early chance against Tunisia — albeit it would have been disallowed for offside — and got his feet in a tangle, it was instructive. He would have been expecting Tunisia’s Dylan Bronn to cut it out but Bronn missed his chance. The ball went to Sterling unexpectedly, but he tightened up. That’s a sign to me that he hadn’t quite set his mind and prepared himself to receive as he should have done.

At City he has really worked on the timing of his runs and arrives in the penalty area at the right time. The crucial difference though is the position he plays. He suits a 4-3-3 where he knows his job and it’s simpler to come off the line. He sprints in from wide at City, facing the goal, and when he has the pitch in front of him, space to run into, with maybe one player to beat, he is an excellent player.

For me, he’s not a No 10. Some players can play on the half-turn. They tend to have broader peripheral vision; an innate sense of what is around them. You need 360 degree awareness. Sometimes the last thing you’re looking at is the ball. You’re forever looking over your shoulder, assessing the space: where are the opposition? Am I marked or not? Can I play one- or two-touch? It’s a specialist position.

Teddy Sheringham could do that in my England team. Peter Beardsley did it too. But I think Sterling’s vision is more 180 degrees, everything in front of him, when all he has to worry about behind him are the players he’s left dead for pace and the assistant referee struggling to keep up.

TEENAGE KICKS

ENGLAND are going to go up against a banked- up defence again, with Panama expected to play 4-5-1 as they did against Belgium. So you need players who can take people on and get past t hem. I t hi nk Marcus Rashford has more confidence to do that at present.

As an England manager there’s a degree of reluctance when you have to replace an established senior man with a youngster. I dropped Sheringham for t he t hird group game against Colombia in the 1998 World Cup for 18-year-old Michael Owen. But I was clear I was going to do that prior to the tournament. I could see t hey played very square as a back four and that they might not fully appreciate how quick Michael was. Ulti- mately you’ll always do what is best for the team and that’s not about allowing Sterling to get some confidence against Panama.

It’s simply about winning and Rashford gives us the best chance of doing that.

He can offer the team more because he’s full of confidence at the moment. Against Costa Rica at Elland Road and when he came on against Tunisia, there was a buzz about his play. He is taking people on with real belief and we’ll need that against a banked-up, physical Panama side. Crucially, his goalscoring has been better, with that wonderful goal against Costa Rica.

At times Harry Kane can drop in and let Rashford go up front or he can drift out wide. That’s not like his wide role at United when he’s stuck on the wing. It’s completely different having the freedom to pull wide from the centre.

He does need to impose himself a little more. There was a moment after he came on against Tunisia when he had a terrific chance, but he left it for Jesse Lingard behind him. From lip reading his reaction, you could see that Lingard must have called for it and that Rashford was annoyed he had listened to his mate.

He now needs to ignore calls like that! He’s the main man, the striker. If he thinks he’s in position to score, he needs to take the chance.

YOUNG GUNS (GO FOR IT!)

IT’S the World Cup finals. England have a crucial game and about to come into the team is a player who has made 35 starts in all competitions in club football at Chelsea and Crystal Palace. He made his debut in 2014 and is 22 years old — older than Dele Alli, who has made 198 starts in club football.

Ruben Loftus- Cheek exemplifies much of what has gone wrong for English football at major clubs in recent years.

Only 13 of those starts have been for Chelsea and here we are talking about him in a key role for England in the World Cup. But even if successive Chelsea managers didn’t have faith in him, Gareth Southgate believes in him and is developing a reputation for giving young players a chance that they maybe won’t get with their clubs. You only need to look at the freedom he has given Rashford to play and compare it to his role at Manchester United.

Loftus-Cheek has had more games for the Under-21s, where Gareth was his manager, than he has had starts for Chelsea. When he came on against Tunisia, he made a couple of lovely turns and also pulled the ball back for that chance which Rashford left for Lingard.

He can make those incisive runs that Alli makes, though maybe not as many. But he’s strong and knows how to get his body between the ball and the defender.

We haven’t seen enough to know whether he is a goalscoring midfielder but he has different attributes and he might keep the ball better. He can be a thorn in people’s sides as he can pick a pass and play through the lines. He holds the ball well.

He’s been held back by Chelsea, who haven’t given him his chance. He won’t get a bigger stage than this to prove his worth.