ENGLAND NIGERIA
of brainless moment that makes it tough to fully get behind a player who even drives club boss Pep Guardiola to distraction at times.
Sterling scored 18 goals in City’s rampage to the Premier League title.
But he could have bagged plenty more and was held accountable by Guardiola for failing to kill off Manchester United and seal the crown against their rivals in red.
Southgate and all England fans will be hoping there are no such regrets in Russia and that Sterling can do a lot of damage – and not of the self-inflicted variety. Despite a second-half fightback by the Super Eagles, England started their World Cup preparations with their usual pre-tournament Wembley victory. We have been this way before of course, so it is best not to get too carried away.
Ahead of the last World Cup in Brazil four years ago. England were unbeaten, signing off at home with a resounding win over Peru – with Cahill on the scoresheet again – before jetting off to Miami. In humid Florida conditions, England played their final warm-up games against Ecuador and Honduras – drawing both – before heading to their base in Rio de Janeiro.
And before the Euro 2016 debacle in France, England beat eventual winners Portugal as well as Australia and Turkey before leaving these shores with high hopes. Those were crushed in an embarrassing defeat by Iceland.
Please
Although hopes are not overly high heading to Russia, there was enough to please Southgate.
His line-up against Nigeria will not be too far off his idea for the opening game against Tunisia in Volgograd. In the meantime, there is plenty of work to do and the game against Costa Rica at Elland Road on Thursday will offer another chance for some fine-tuning.
But if Southgate learned anything, it will be that the Tunisia, Panama and Belgium defences will not be so easy to break down as Nigeria were here.
And, alarmingly, the one time Nigeria did threaten the heart of England’s back line with clever play, they scored a terrific goal through Arsenal star Alex Iwobi.
And maybe that is why Southgate is all too keen to play down Three Lions’ hopes while his stars big themselves up.
Frustrating, infuriating and wasteful... the faults holding him back from going from good to great