Lingard’s got a big-match mentality that makes him a must-pick for Southgate
JESSE LINGARD was the star of the show yesterday. He looks comfortable on the biggest stage of all and it feels like he is taking on responsibility as well as anybody in an England shirt.
He took his goal beautifully, got in for the first penalty and his all-round game so far at this World Cup has looked polished and seen him playing with real confidence.
There was talk before the tournament about whether Gareth Southgate would play Lingard or Dele Alli, or both of them. If Lingard continues to play the same way, then it is going to be impossible for Gareth to leave him out in the big knockout matches.
Lingard has developed a big-game mentality at Manchester United and he keeps producing for club and country. He has a fantastic ability to know when to spin, when to make runs, when to come to feet and he also times his runs into the box. We talk about players like Frank Lampard and Dele Alli, but I do not think Lingard gets enough credit for his decision-making and knowing when to make those runs in behind.
He has had a great season for United and playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world is going to give him so much belief — and that is showing his game. Of course, Harry Kane led by example with his hat-trick against Panama, but Lingard deserves a mention.
The England performance in the first half was superb. Panama are probably the same standard as a League One team, but Belgium were drawing 0-0 with them at half-time. It is not easy to break teams down and score six goals at any level, so we have to give our lads credit for that.
Too many times England have gone into games at major tournaments assuming we will win, whether that be when we played Slovakia or Iceland at Euro 2016 and we did not do it. But every time this group of players has a hurdle to jump, they jump it.
They were helped by naive defending from Panama, but some of the football and the movement was as good as we have seen out here. I am not necessarily thinking we are going to win the World Cup, but watching the likes of Spain, Brazil and
Germany, I do not think those England lads have anything to fear from those teams.
Belgium is going to be a good test. The players know Tunisia and
Panama are two teams they should be beating and they will not be getting carried away. Gareth came out after the game and was a little bit critical of the performance, which for me is an indication that he is trying to keep everybody’s feet on the ground. There were a few dodgy moments against Panama when we gave away chances, but the players go into the Belgium game knowing they can play with freedom and knowing they have started the tournament well and the nation is behind them. It is a great place to be.
There is a debate over whether Gareth should rest players against Belgium or stick with his strongest team and look to build some momentum.
I think the latter. If someone has a little niggle, then maybe make one or two changes (I would give Marcus Rashford a go), but I would play our strongest team. Momentum is huge in tournament football. If we beat Belgium, even if we make changes, and Harry Kane scores again, then all of a sudden everyone goes with it.
I enjoyed doing the co-commentary for the BBC yesterday and being inside the stadium in Nizhny Novgorod you got a real sense of the hunger of the team and the desire to get the job done.
Occasionally we got a bit sloppy in our own half and Panama broke on us. Jordan Henderson was in there on his own in midfield and that might be something that changes against Belgium.
Gareth may put Fabian Delph or
Eric Dier in there, but at the moment there are so many positives to focus on. Russia have two wins from two games at their home World Cup and are 19/10 to beat Uruguay today and finish top of
their group