Trevor Steven: Marcus Rashford shows England’s youngsters are being held back by lack of game time
Marcus Rashford scored both goals and was the stand-out player in England’s defeat by Spain and win over Switzerland, but his performances also served to underline a growing problem.
Rashford is undoubtedly a talent, but he doesn’t get on the field enough. He’s in a difficult situation at Manchester United: he’s not going to get to play centrally because of Romelu Lukaku, so he is often used on the left-hand side, or from the bench.
You’ve got to wonder how he’s going to improve, because you need minutes to do so. If you only get limited exposure your progress is going to be stunted. His natural ability will work its way out, but it might take longer.
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Compare him to Kylian Mbappe, who plays every game at Paris Saint-Germain and France. The two have similar attributes, but obviously, despite being a year younger, Mbappe is well ahead.
Rashford is still inconsistent with his finishing, despite taking his winning goal against Switzerland well. He has a long future with England, but he’s far from the finished article, so how will he get there if he’s not given the opportunities?
Kylian Mbappe's development has been helped by regular football at Monaco, PSG and with France (Source: Getty)
The 20-year-old is in the unfortunate position of being behind Lukaku at his club and Harry Kane with England. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place with his development.
Having scored in consecutive games for England his confidence will be high going back to United this weekend – but how long will that last if Jose Mourinho doesn’t trust him to play regularly?
It’s a similar problem for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who failed to grasp his chance on Tuesday night. The midfielder has played just 33 minutes in the Premier League this season, yet was expected to get on the ball and drive the side forward.
England are lacking a technically gifted player who is comfortable operating in tight areas under pressure. In the last two games there were far too many turnovers of possession.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was substituted on 61 minutes against Switzerland without having made an impact (Source: Getty)
That’s one of the reasons why I would like to see Manchester City’s Phil Foden given a call-up. He’s got the ability to get on the ball in central areas and make things happen.
He has barely featured for City this season, which is understandable given their depth of quality. But if Loftus-Cheek, Rashford, Fabian Delph and Danny Welbeck can be called up despite minimal game time, why can’t Foden?
The 18-year-old is a different kind of player – like a young Jack Wilshere – who can make an impact, see difficult passes and knit together play up the pitch. I think not giving him a run-out against Switzerland was a missed opportunity by Gareth Southgate.
Phil Foden (right) has a unique skill-set which England are lacking (Source: Getty)
It was difficult for Southgate, who had to weigh up trying to prevent a fourth consecutive defeat with trying out fringe players.
It’s easy with hindsight, but only Danny Rose made an impression, with Jack Butland, James Tarkowski and Delph disappointing.
Southgate wants to make England the best team in the world. To do so they need to improve on areas of weakness and not just play to their strengths.
When they start fast, move the ball quickly and engineer counter-attacks they’re excellent – but they need to work on breaking down settled defences.
Raheem Sterling missed England's latest matches through injury (Source: Getty)
Jesse Lingard has been the brightest spark for some time now. Dele Alli is somewhat out of form and the last two games showed how much England rely on Raheem Sterling.
Southgate has given the side an identity, settled on a formation and brought through several players. But until England identify and nurture an outstanding technical player in midfield in the mould of Paul Gascoigne I feel they will continue to fall short of their lofty aims.
The problems young players like Rashford, Loftus-Cheek and Foden are experiencing, and the exodus of those moving to foreign leagues for game time, emphasise just why Southgate’s task is so difficult.