Sancho takes his chance to show what he’ll bring for Ole
GARETH SOUTHGATE has pulled so many rabbits out of the hat during the Euros he’ll surely be invited into the Magic Circle if England go all the way.
Having kept Jadon Sancho in cold storage for the opening four games, the England manager suddenly thrust the Manchester United-bound winger into last night’s starting line-up.
And like all of Southgate’s tricks at the moment, it worked a treat.
The 21-year-old Manchester United-bound winger slotted into this rampant England team as though he’d been playing with them all along, rather twiddling his thumbs on the bench.
He has been plundering goals and assists for Borussia Dortmund for the last two years but on this quarter-final occasion in Rome, he was happy to stay behind the headlines, making the runs and creating space for others until Ukraine were in total collapse.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have enjoyed one slalom run that left three defenders in Sancho’s wake.
‘This isn’t a surprise,’ raved Rio Ferdinand on television. ‘This is what German fans have been seeing. He moves like he’s on a dance floor, he mesmerises defenders.
‘The confidence and balance he has is rarely seen. Once he’s up to speed, this kid is unplayable.’
Having had to wait for his opportunity, Sancho was thoroughly unselfish given the hype surrounding his impending £73million move to Old
Trafford. For England’s key second goal, he played the decoy at a free-kick, shaping to take the delivery but then allowing Luke Shaw to swing the ball across for Harry Maguire to head home. All three will be at the same club next season.
England have so many options on the right of a 4-3-3 — Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford , all could also do a job there.
Yet Sancho showed last night he is in that company and in terms of natural fluidity in that position, possibly surpasses them all.
Sancho scored 16 goals for Dortmund last season but when selecting Saka ahead of him for games against the Czech Republic and Germany, Southgate mentioned more than once how the
Arsenal player had excelled in training.
If that was aimed at Sancho, he has responded in the right way because before kick off, the England manager remarked how his levels in practice have been high, perhaps relieved the longrunning saga over joining United looks to be over.
He dribbled the ball in the right areas last night, putting the Ukraine defenders on edge. His movement was very good. When challenges came in, he tried to keep his feet rather than falling at the first opportunity.
Will he keep his place for the semi-final against Denmark? With Southgate on his current roll, you just can’t tell. But United fans will know from watching they’ve got a player who could grace the England setup for the next 10 years.