CHANCE TO PUT
No excuse for CZECH REP ENGLAND being cautious as last-16 spot is guaranteed
SO FAR Gareth Southgate has had to balance the roles of being England manager and his players’ biggest cheerleader.
Tonight, though, those roles can unite to deliver the 90 minutes the nation needs if we are to believe that this year there is genuinely a realistic chance football could come home.
Of course, the cry for a swashbuckling victory to stir the heart and get the blood pumping was bound to be loudest when Scotland were the visitors on Friday.
It all ended in something of a disappointing stalemate of a draw.
That said, the single point was enough to put England in the box seat for qualification into the knockout stages – Southgate’s first challenge before he joined the rest of the country in entertaining grander dreams.
And sure enough, with third-placed teams Finland and Ukraine ending their group campaigns yesterday with just three points, England had a place in the last 16 secured for them late last night.
So now it means proud patriot Southgate has no excuses not to throw caution to the wind to make the procession something more likely to capture the home fans’ imagination.
“My default is always football is a game for the fans and you want to play well, excite people and score goals and win,” said Southgate.
“We’ve found scoring a little bit more complicated in the last few matches but in terms of those four games it’s only the last two when we’ve had the same attacking three on the pitch.
“If the other night had been a oneoff game and we needed the points to win a World Cup qualifier, you’d risk more and you’d take a gamble.
“But we weren’t in a situation where we needed to gamble – there was always a good chance if results went the right way will have qualified already because we got that point.
“To be happy with a point is maybe an unpopular decision because, of course, I understand people in the stadium and their feelings of wanting to beat Scotland. I am exactly the same. But you’ve got to navigate your way through this first phase of the tournament as well and that’s a balance we’ve had to find.
“I totally understand the frustrations of supporters and I totally understand any criticism that comes my way.
“We have to accept there’s demands on the team and it’s pointless us complaining about that.
“We could be involved in some matches that nobody was bothered about watching and our life would be a lot duller.
“We are playing for England, we are at Wembley, we’re in a major tournament and we’ve got to cope with that and we’ve got to produce the football that gives the crowd the excitement they want, as well as the results they want.”
To that end, the Covid chaos that descended yesterday may have forced Southgate’s hand rather weakened it. Neither Mason Mount nor Ben Chilwell are likely to play whatever their isolation status given the turmoil and the absence of the former leaves space to try Jack Grealish a little bit deeper while maintaining pace and energy further up the field.
With Harry Kane certain to start and Raheem Sterling a strong candidate, maybe it is time to give Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho his tournament bow.
The trio were first given a run out together in March 2019 at Wembley in a game against Czech Republic which England won 5-0. Even the most hardhearted England fan would have to be finally happy with that.
You want to play well, excite people and win