Rashford and Rose fluff their golden opportunity
Duo most likely to force their way into side did not convince, writes Matt Law in Kaliningrad
It was all going so well for Danny Rose until Adnan Januzaj, the former Manchester United winger, probably made England manager Gareth Southgate’s mind up for him. Rose had looked like the one man who had not read the script during the first half. While his Belgian opponents passed sideways, backwards and, generally, tried to do anything but go forwards, England’s left wing-back was staking his personal case for a last-16 place.
Rose did not have to worry about defending during the opening period, but he let his win Group G. First, Youri Tielemans was penalised for a rash challenge on Rose and then Leander Dendoncker stepped out of the centre to bring down the Tottenham Hotspur defender.
It was the ability of Rose to go inside or out that caused his opponents problems and he was constantly looking either to run into the penalty area or cross into the box.
All of Rose’s talking before this match had been done off the pitch and he has been widely praised for his honesty and bravery in revealing his battles against injury and depression.
He opened up again this week, admitting he may yet allow his family to travel out to the World Cup with his fears of racism in Russia yet to be realised. He also questioned whether or not he would want his children to be professional footballers and have to deal with all the pressures that come with it.
But Rose, most of all, wanted a chance to do his talking on the pitch in Kaliningrad, and his case to do just that was helped by the fact Nacer Chadli was bizarrely employed as a right wing-back for the evening by Belgium manager Roberto Martinez.
Unfortunately, Rose, who to his credit kept roaming forwards after his mistake, may not need to book those flights because the smart money would now be on Young regaining his place for the bigger tests.
Shortly after Januzaj had taken advantage of his one and only lapse, Rose was called over to the touchline for a quick chat with Southgate. He will not have needed telling he could have done better.
And so, too, could Rashford, who came in to replace Sterling with the brief of building on his brilliant warm-up performance against Costa Rica on the biggest stage.
Playing just behind Jamie Vardy, Rashford put in a performance full of willing, but, like Rose, when the big moment came, he fell a little short.
In what was a game of few clear-cut chances, Rashford was handed the best one of the night on a plate by Vardy.
With England trailing, Vardy sent Rashford through on goal with time and space to pick his shot. But the Manchester United forward could not beat Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, when Southgate needed him to be ruthless.
The smart money would now be on Young regaining his place for the bigger tests to come
Centre-half Arsene Wenger branded Kyle Walker “not a real defender”, but Phil Jones surely will not dislodge him. Harry Maguire probably keeps Gary Cahill out of the side. John Stones is safe. Right-back Kieran Trippier is about as undroppable as it comes, so it is credit to Trent Alexanderarnold that he would probably keep his place under any other circumstances. Left-back
Lack of a left-footed player in the team was exposed against Tunisia and Panama, and Danny Rose was bamboozled too easily for Belgium’s goal. The jury is out on whether he did enough to displace Ashley Young from the team. Midfield
The only reputations that were enhanced last night were of those who did not play. Dele Alli – if he is fit – Jesse Lingard and Jordan Henderson are more nailed-on than ever to start against Colombia.
Up front Raheem Sterling’s place alongside Harry Kane had been in real jeopardy before last night, but Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy (left) let him off the hook, although not for want of trying from the latter.
The argument against Sterling is that, for all his pace and brilliance, his end product is not good enough, but Rashford did not do enough to turn the debate in his favour.
Southgate does not fancy a forward pairing of Vardy and Harry Kane. But, with the England captain rested, it was Vardy who did the most to suggest that he would be most deserving of a place next to the five-goal striker.
Vardy took advantage of sloppy defending in just the second minute to get away down the right and almost picked out Rashford with a low cross that Courtois kicked away.
And if Rashford had been more accurate, then Vardy would have finished his first World Cup start with an assist.
Southgate has himself said that never before have the small margins been so important, and Rose and Rashford are likely to find that out for themselves when the England manager names his team for the last-16 game against Colombia.