Beat USA and England can focus on the bigger picture
Get the job done. That will be Gareth Southgate’s message to England as they face the United States.
A win will guarantee qualification for the last-16 of this World Cup as they once again take the jeopardy out of the final group game.
That is not to be sniffed at. It will mean that for the third successive tournament – the 2018 World Cup, Euro 2020 and now this World Cup, all under Southgate – England will have qualified with a game to spare.
Given their struggles in previous tournaments, in World Cups in particular, when they made such fraught and painful work of it, it would be a serene achievement for Southgate and one which would permit him to ring the changes against Wales next Tuesday if he wants to.
“It has allowed us to do other things,” Southgate said when asked about the importance of securing an early passage to the knock-out stages in the past and following the thumping 6-2 win over Iran on Monday. “Of course we want to get the job done tomorrow.”
It is not to be presumptuous or suggest either the Americans or Wales will be taken lightly. There is no trace of arrogance. Southgate has been at pains to reiterate the threat the US pose and the respect he holds for them. After the Iran game he immediately warned they would come “full throttle” at England and he followed this up on the eve of the match by praising their “high-energy” and their “very athletic midfield” and how well they are coached by Gregg Berhalter – who has described Southgate as a mentor.
But a win would set England up nicely. Indeed if Wales fail to beat Iran earlier in the day, it means England would be guaranteed top spot before they face Rob Page’s side. Of course there is the added blood and thunder, ‘come on boys’, ‘Battle of Britain’ element to that game but what matters most is the bigger picture: being in the best shape to win the World Cup.
It has been a debate for England in the past. When he was a coach under Roy Hodgson, Gary Neville argued that England often emerged from the group exhausted because they had largely played an unchanged side – only to then come unstuck in the knock-out ties. Not that England were any good under Neville.
Meanwhile Southgate knows he has the best squad he has taken to a tournament and one that Kyle Walker has hailed as more talented than the so-called ‘Golden Generation’. He also has players like Walker and Kalvin Phillips, so important to him in the past, who are working their way back to fitness, and a game against Wales would be ideal for them.
“We’ve got good depth, we’ve got people who are going to push the players who started the other day,” Southgate argued. “They knew that if they don’t perform there’s somebody behind them who’s ready to come in and is hungry and at a good level. Sometimes that is the motivation that’s required as much as what I might say to a player, they know there’s another player to come in and take their place.”
That only works if places are, genuinely, available and, in team meetings, Southgate has reiterated that he intends to not only switch formations at this World Cup – as he did at the Euros – but change personnel.
It is partly because he is acutely aware of the different “work loads” players have had with a tournament mid-season. For example, Harry Kane’s training is tailored because he has already played so many games this campaign.
It also helps that the five substitutes England used against Iran – and Southgate was pleased to be able to bring them on early – all impressed: Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish (who both scored) as well as Phil Foden, Callum Wilson and Eric Dier.
There is still a balance to be struck. In the last World Cup Southgate made eight changes for the final group game against Belgium and was criticised for risking an impetus-breaking defeat. “I understand why people question those decisions but we have to prepare the team in the way we feel right,” he said at the time.
Southgate was vindicated by beating Colombia in the last-16 and England have moved on since then and he made four changes when he selected a team to face the Czech Republic in the final group game of Euro 2020 and was proved right once more with a last-16 triumph over Germany.
Against that is the successful approach of Sarina Wiegman, the coach of the England women’s team, who spurned rotation and kept the same starting XI, and made pretty much the same substitutions, all the way to winning the European Championship.
Wiegman did not feel the need to make changes but it appears Southgate is keen to do so – once the first stage of the mission is complete. “As well as tactically preparing the team, you’re also trying to emotionally manage that group dynamic. We have to get that right,” he said which means eventually giving other players a chance while resting some.
A win over the US not only takes England through but gives Southgate more scope to plan their campaign.
