HALF MEASURES RESCUE RAHEEM
Southgate insists he had to haul off £50m winger at the break after watching him flop against minnows Malta
THERE are some moments which probably only an England manager can fully appreciate. For example, when one of your star players has just had a shocking half and merits being substituted at the break.
Every professional player balks at the humiliation of such a change. The only stigma greater is being taken off before half-time.
So, the temptation for the manager must be to give it 10 minutes; take him off after 55 minutes, which at least looks a little more palatable and saves yourself from the post-match fall out.
The truth is though, that Raheem Sterling, after fluffing that secondminute chance on Friday night in Ta’ Qali when a first-time strike would have changed the entire narrative arc of the evening, looked a shadow of the player he can be. And with England toiling, passengers couldn’t be permitted.
‘We thought about that,’ admitted Southgate, when it was put to him that it must be tempting to duck the half-time substitution. ‘But we felt it was the best thing to do. It is always easier with players to give them the extra 10 minutes but I am paid to make right decisions, not decisions that keep everyone happy.’
Southgate was right about that even if he has seemed wrong about his backing of Joe Hart and his decision to play Jake Livermore and Jordan Henderson in an area which needed creativity.
But among his strengths are an ability to say it how it is and take action. His treatment of Wayne Rooney has been a case in point. You don’t have the sense that Southgate sees being liked by celebrities as perk of the job, which can’t be said of all his predecessors.
The more pertinent question though is whether Southgate will be any good at getting these perenial underperforming to perform on a world stage. At the end of the month, it will be a year since the undignified end of Sam Allardyce’s 67-day reign and the start of Southgate inheriting a team and an FA who were a laughing stock.
On the field, the Icelandic meltdown will never be fully erased; off the field the calamitous nature of Allardyce’s dismissal prompted ridicule around the world.
One year on, it is legitimate to ask just how much has changed. And is hard, especially in the light of the opening 53 minutes against Malta, to see much progress. Sterling is a good case in point when it comes to analysing England. He was unfairly scapegoated after Euro 2016 but nevertheless he is a £50million player, the 19th mostexpensive in history. That would suggest a ready-made worldclass star. But, of course, in England, with prices for domestic talent so exorbitant, the fee does not guarantee anything of the kind. It only suggests he might one day become that. The last time an England team looked top class was arguably the 5-1 win against Croatia back in 2009, which gave false hope to an abject World Cup campaign. Dele Alli was 13 then, so an entire generation has grown up expecting nothing from England.
Southgate, understandably, will support the likes of Sterling. ‘He’s a lad we love,’ said the England boss. ‘It’s difficult but he took the decision professionally. He is a player we have a lot of time for.
‘As a creative player, some days everything you do works and some days it doesn’t. It is much harder to be a creative player than a lump like I was. I was just stopping people and that is much easier. To go and beat people, and beat people in tight spaces, some days it happens and some days it doesn’t.
‘He is a strong kid. Mentally he is tough and he has bounced back from things throughout his career. I have no doubt in my mind that he will cope with that and he started the season with Manchester City well and is, of course, at a club where they have an incredible amount of attacking talent, but he is right in the mix with them.’
Southgate needs that to be true. And certainly his side’s problems are not primarily in attacking areas. A look around the international games sees France starting with Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante in midfield; Germany have Toni Kroos and usually would rely on Sami Khedira or Ilkay Gundogan alongside him; Spain started last night Sergio Busquets, Koke and Andres Iniesta
It was difficult but Raheem took the decision professionally. He’s strong... he’ll bounce back
and had Thiago Alcantara on the bench; Italy had Marco Veratti and Daniele de Rossi. Southgate is sticking with Livermore, who is an honest professional but will not compete with those names.
Eric Dier will come back in on Monday against Slovakia but even with a good midfielder such as Henderson alongside him, England are a long way behind the elite.
All Southgate can do is plead for patience. ‘Where there is improvement is in players with a clear understanding of how we want to play, terms of how they feel and their commitment to working and the bond between them,’ he said.
‘Performances are going to take time and the team is going to evolve. There are younger players we want to get involved in this as well but we have to get the wins in the short term as well. We are trying to cover so many different things.’