‘SUPER SUB’ JACK MUST START AT WORLD CUP

YESTERDAY I was asked a question: if England’s 2022 World Cup opener was tomorrow, who would I want to see in Gareth Southgate’s front three? Here goes: Jack Grealish on the left, Harry Kane in the middle, and Jarrod Bowen on the right. Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka might make your favoured front three — and that’s OK because they’re both fine forwards — but I have my reasons for excluding them. Grealish changed the game when he came on against Germany.

It was his low cross that would have been buried by Kane, were he not facing a magnificent goalkeeper in the form of Manuel Neuer. Then it was his pass that led to the VAR-awarded penalty for England’s late equaliser. Eleven of Grealish’s 22 caps have come as a substitute, making him seem like a ‘super sub’ in Southgate’s eyes. This month he’s been brought off the bench against Hungary and Germany, but I would like to see England benefit from his creativity from the off. Kane is Kane, and I don’t think I need to explain why he would start.

As for Bowen, he would be on my right-hand side because he’s different. You could not have a functional front three of Grealish, Kane and Saka because they all come to the ball.

They are programmed that way at their clubs and are very good at it. But it’s better to have a mix. You need that man bursting in behind off the ball and that’s Bowen — who scored twice that way for West Ham against Manchester City.

With him, England could look to recreate that Kane and Son Heung-min double-act that works so well for Tottenham — one playing those balls in behind and the other latching on to them. A front three of GrealishKane-Bowen gets my vote now because I like the balance it offers, though that may change closer to the tournament, once we see who’s in form. Southgate will continue to experiment, so let’s see if he gives this trio a go.