GETTING BATTER AND BETTER
Southgate’s men hit six in the opener... and he says the attack is stronger than last year when his side reached the Euros final
GARETH SOUTHGATE believes the Class of 22 is better than last year’s vintage.
And the England boss even revealed he thought some of his forwards were well below par at the Euros.
England started their World Cup campaign in wonderful style as Southgate released the handbrake and they hit Iran for six.
Now, England face the United States tonight with Southgate claiming he has more attacking options.
“I see more of our attacking players in a better moment than they were in the Euros, perhaps,” said Southgate. “I know people talked a lot about the depth we had then.
“But I didn’t see, for some of the squad, that they were in a really good moment when you were looking to make changes. “Now, I’m looking at training and it’s at a really good level amongst the group and they’re making decisions harder. “I’m always thinking if there’s an injury to a player, ‘Well, OK who’s the next one in?’ It’s an opportunity for someone else.” Incredibly, Harry Kane was not among those six goals when England thrashed
Iran, but the captain had a superb allround game, arguably one of his best in a Three Lions shirt.
Bukayo Saka got two while Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish were also on target, which meant when there was an injury scare for Kane this week, it did not feel like all hope was lost.
Back in the days of Sven Goran Eriksson, if Wayne Rooney was not fit England might not have bothered.
Southgate insisted that Kane is also a “special” player but says now they can share the responsibilities around the squad.
“Everybody will focus on his goals but the quality of his build-up play the other day for Raheem and Marcus’s goals the other day was exceptional,” said the England boss.
“We’re blessed to have him. Equally, what we’ve tried to do from the very start was not put all the onus on the captain, whether that’s media duties, whatever else it might be.
“Spread the load, give people more responsibility – we have now got more depth.”
Southgate had been rigid in the build-up to the tournament in using a back-three formation, so it was something of a surprise when he went with a more attacking approach in a 4-3-3 line-up against Iran.
That got the best out of England’s forwards and midfield.
And while Southgate does expect a tougher game against the United States, he hinted possession is nine-10ths of the law when it comes to starting places.
Southgate added: “On the one hand, the team has earned the right to go again and there’s something important about a meritocracy for a team where they will say, ‘If I’ve played well, I’ve earned the right to again.’
“And then there is, ‘But are they all ready to go again and is that the right decision? There are other guys who are raring to go.’
“So that is the decision we face really, do we change that or can we go again? The challenge then is to go and produce what you’ve produced again. And the US will be more of a threat.
“They have a higher level of players, lots of players with Premier League experience.
“So it’s a different type of test for us.”