De Bruyne gives Southgate more food for thought
Belgian’s masterclass will worry England coach as World Cup group clash looms, says James Ducker
Nine of the 20 outfield players on show represented England and it would have been half had John Stones been available. Gareth Southgate was not at the Etihad Stadium last night but, with the World Cup finals on the horizon, it must be heartening for the England manager to know so many of his players were lining up in such a high-profile match.
That was the good news. The bad news was that there was a guy from Belgium also playing that none of Tottenham’s England contingent, or team as a whole for that matter, had much of an idea about how to stop.
Kevin De Bruyne is fast turning the Footballer of the Year award into a one-horse race and Belgium coach Roberto Martinez, whose side face England in Kaliningrad in their final Group G match on June 28, must have been purring from the directors’ box as he watched his talisman orchestrate proceedings. No wonder Spurs resorted to kicking him. Is there a better midfielder in world football at this moment? championship-winning team. They never looked like they believed they could come to the Etihad Stadium and win. They had a brief flurry in the second half but committing crass, ugly challenges does not constitute fight. By the end, they had simply rolled over and imploded. Dele Alli has always had a nasty streak in him but there was a serious footballer in the making, too, and it seems fair to wonder where that player has gone this season.
In pure football terms, this was yet another disappearing act from the England midfielder, who contributed next to nothing from a creative point of view, his form so poor it must be causing Southgate, let alone Pochettino, cause for concern. But Alli ensured he was visible in a different sense with a series of crude challenges that, on another day with a more observant referee than Craig Pawson, would surely have yielded a red card.
Alli had already caught Ilkay Gundogan and then Fernandinho on the ankle with tackles that could have merited bookings by the time he careered through De Bruyne with a brutal studs-up challenge that Pawson only considered worthy of a yellow card. Harry Kane had caught Raheem Sterling with raised studs but, while that was late and perhaps also a red card, it lacked the malice of Alli’s tackle. It was a shame in some respects Alli was not sent off. He looks in need of sitting out a few games.