Young Lions set mood ahead
England run out easy winners against USA but Southgate keeps most of his big guns in reserve for Sunday’s decider against Croatia
allow missed opportunities to play on his mind as he marked his debut with England’s third goal.
Prior to that, Jesse Lingard curled home a sumptuous 25th-minute opener and, two minutes later, Trent AlexanderArnold — a menace all evening — struck his first international goal to help create the perfect environment for Rooney’s grand entrance.
The USA’s present state of reinvention following a failure to qualify for the World Cup notwithstanding, England showed an impressive strength in depth here which Rooney had admitted the teams of his peak years lacked.
Southgate’s attempts to instil a playing style which assimilates — and is not defined by — specific personnel received a real fillip as Wilson, Lingard and Sancho were more than a passing resemblance of Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling.
This one outing would never be enough to oust that trio, of course, but Southgate continues to make the most of what he regularly bemoans is a shallow talent pool.
The cumulative exertions of a tournament will not be replicated this week, but there was a notable drop off in England’s physical level during their World Cup semi-final against Croatia, underlining the importance of resting so many players against the USA.
Without wishing to detract from the credibility of England’s draw in Rijeka, the absence of an audience and the still somewhat shapeless nature of their Nations League group made that game a bizarre parody of a bona fide encoun-
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