Trevor Steven: England must ring the changes for Wales World Cup game
England’s 0-0 draw with the USA at the World Cup on Friday was a wake-up call which raised several issues that Gareth Southgate can’t ignore ahead of their final Group B game with Wales on Tuesday.
I was surprised that Southgate named exactly the same team that had beaten Iran four days earlier. The USA were always going to be very different opponents. The Iran match became easy because they lost their goalkeeper early on and then lost their way after going behind, but even still it revealed some vulnerabilities in the England team.
Maybe they were too buoyant before the USA. If not complacent, they were certainly second to everything. The decision making was poor and, on the whole, it was a tired performance. England’s fitness is a concern because playing every few days at a World Cup takes it out of you physically and mentally.
Harry Kane in particular looks weary, yet Southgate persisted with him for the whole game. I think he was tired even before the World Cup and then picked up a knock in the Iran win. He looks desperate to score, which means he is probably impatient to play even when he might be better resting.
England have such a good squad full of talent that Southgate ought to show more trust in some of the other players. They should beat Wales and top the group but in any case are almost certain to qualify for the last 16 so we will surely see some changes on Tuesday evening.
Jude Bellingham was poor against the USA, who offered far more intense opposition than Iran, but I would like to see him get another chance against Wales. Show faith and let him know that you can have one bad performance, but I would like to see him operate higher up the pitch than he did on Friday.
I would also bring in Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford. It’s crazy that a player of Foden’s quality has only played 20 minutes so far in Qatar so I’d give him a game on the right, with Grealish playing centrally and Rashford attacking from the left wing. And why not allow Kane a break and try Wilson up front?
In defence, I’d use Tret Alexander-Arnold at right-back and try another centre-back alongside Harry Maguire, probably Ben White. Those on the bench are hungry for action so Southgate should have a look at them now.
In my experience of World Cups, it’s normal for the team to change as the tournament goes on. By the third group game of Mexico ‘86, we had a three different midfielders to the opening match: myself, Peter Reid and Steve Hodge. Gary Lineker scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Poland, we advanced to the second round and that is how the team stayed. There are lessons to be learned from that.
England are not going to lose to Wales by four goals on Tuesday, so their qualification is pretty much bullet proof. Southgate, then, has the safety net to make changes and should see it as a positive: a chance to improve the fitness of the whole squad and inject some hunger into the side.
Trevor Steven is a former England footballer who played at two World Cups and two European Championships. @TrevorSteven63.