After England broke its penalty curse against Colombia, coach Gareth Southgate and the Three Lions are rejuvenated with a new hope. Though England goes against Sweden on Saturday at the Samara Stadium in Russia, there is a question that begs itself to be echoed in the ears of all who cheer for England:
Will Southgate and the lads crumble or will they survive and step one foot closer toward their destiny? And that is to win the World Cup.
But what exactly has Southgate given the England team and what does he intend to do come match time against Sweden? England and Manchester City defender John Stones recently expressed his thoughts on Southgate.
“Gareth lets us express ourselves,” Stones told Sky Sports. “Sometimes you can get too bogged down with messages from staff, players, wanting you to do things, play certain passes and you can’t really express yourself. Gareth gives us that freedom and that is a massive thing as a player.”
The straight-faced, 47-year-old Southgate has also commented on his players and the possible tactics for the match against Sweden. Southgate commented on Harry Kane, who’s leading the race for the Golden Boot with six goals in the World Cup so far, expressing his hope in Kane’s future to contend against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“There are some really exciting young players right across the world who are announcing themselves,” Southgate said, as reported by Sky Sports. “To do that, you have to do it on the world stage. That is why it is so fantastic for Harry. To score goals on the world stage is another level. We are delighted for him that he's individually performed well and that is of course helping us enormously as a team."
Take a look at some of the goals Kane produced this World Cup season here.
We're ready. Let’s Go! #WorldCup #QuarterFinal #ThreeLions #ENG pic.twitter.com/k9TnIk4PRc
— Harry Kane (@HKane) July 6, 2018
As for other players, Southgate has his eyes on utilizing more Dele Alli. Even though Alli damaged his thigh during the Tunisia match earlier in the tournament, Southgate wants this “fantastic” talent on full duty soon.
“In terms of Dele, I thought his performance against Tunisia was as good as he’s had since I’ve been England manager,” Southgate told Sky Sports. “He is at his best when he’s making those forward runs and really threatening opponents with those forward runs from midfield.”
Dele Alli will most likely play instead of Jamie Vardy given Vardy’s groin injury against Colombia, which also forced him to miss team training. Southgate has called Vardy’s situation “doubtful” and stated Vardy trained “slightly separate to the team.”
Vardy recently tweeted about the Moo Pa football team stuck in a Northern Thai cave.
— Jamie Vardy (@vardy7) July 4, 2018
Southgate looks to fortify the defensive line and spike up the attacking power with Kane and Alli. The aggressive Harry Maguire looks to be the main block for the defensive backbone given his often-questionable diligence in defending the lines. The problem with England is simple to identify and difficult to solve since the midfield segment seems to be the strongest link yet fails to channel that power down the field from defense and up the field to attack.
Southgate on the other hand isn’t fazed.
“We feel that we're controlling games with the ball but we can create more chances and we can defend better, but we have to continually look to improve,” Southgate said to Sky Sports. “(Saturday) is another great test for us on a fantastic stage and we have to focus on those things.”
We’ll see if England can survive against the big boys on Saturday.
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