It is tempting to assume that Gareth Southgate has found the way forward. The England coach chose for the first time on Monday a Front three of Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka and the results were devastating: a hat-trick for Saka, two more goals for Kane and Rashford a performance that suggested that a starting place on the left was to lose.
North Macedonia had no way of managing the imagination, speed and cunning of England’s action. For a while, the theory was that Southgate’s best actioning trio was Rashford-Kane-Saka, but that had never been put into practice. Rashford was too prone to minor mistakes and the suspicion is that Southgate’s faith in him is not unshakable. Trust must be built. Rashford is in the middle of this process and despite his outstanding performances for Manchester United last season, it should be noted that he only started once at the World Cup.
For Rashford, that didn’t quite happen in Qatar. He scored three times in the group stage – once after coming off the bench against Iran, twice to kill off Wales – but was a reserve in the knockout stage. Saka and Phil Foden started on the flanks and Rashford remained on the bench until the 85th Minute, when England lost to France in the quarter-finals.
The feeling was that England had missed an opportunity to use their most effective forward line. The beauty of Southgate, however, is that he doesn’t have to limit himself. Although Kane thrives when surrounded by pace, England can also turn to the more subtle touches of Jack Grealish, Foden and James Maddison.
“There will be games where different attributes will be useful,” Southgate said. “That’s the challenge for the team. I’d rather have this situation than say it’s a headache. It’s a brilliant Position.”
Although there is so much depth, the tendency is to prefer Rashford and Saka. You are fit to play with Kane, who happens to be the best scorer In England and your best N ° 10. Rashford offers more candour than Grealish and Foden on the left and Saka won’t let up on the right either.
The meaning is that Rashford, Grealish, Foden and Maddison are actioning on the left. The change in status is clear. Saka is the rising star and if she continues to click Rashford, there is less need for Raheem Sterling, whose pace and completion once made him a must-have starter.
Southgate is not ready to write Sterling off. But the winger suspended this Camp to recover after a difficult first season at Chelsea, and he struggled to regain his place. “He’s a actioner,” Southgate said. “In the past he was the name on the team sheet – we knew his goals were crucial. There is more competition there now, but I expect him to react. The part he needs to do well this summer is his fitness and I would expect him to fly next year.”
Sterling was crucial two years ago when he led England to the Euro Final, setting the standard for other wingers. Apart from Kane, no one could match Sterling in the final third. He scored big goals and was tactically decisive in stretching the teams by overtaking the defenders and making sure that England did not falter due to Kane’s lack of explosive speed.
His problem is that Saka and Rashford can do all this and more. Rashford has more layers in his game and Saka is special. The Arsenal winger can make those diagonal runs like he did when he ran to Kane’s wide pass and completed his hat-trick against North Macedonia, and then there’s the relentlessness of his dribbling. The quality of his last ball. The conviction in his strike.
Southgate knows this, although he has avoided calling Saka an automatic starter. “We have to make the other members of the team feel important,” he said. “We would be stupid to give someone half a percent that could make him take a step back.”
