Gareth Southgate risks copying one of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s crucial mistakes with his England team.
Eriksson admitted that he tried to pick the best individual players in his starting eleven, even if it meant having square pegs in round holes.
This led to Paul Scholes playing out of position on the left side of midfield.
Probably England’s best technical player was wasted.
And Southgate risks doing the same with Phil Foden.
The magic midfielder needs to have the ball for as long as possible, but will see less of it if pushed down the flank.
England should dominate possession against teams like Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia.
We have seen Foden time and time again for Manchester City collect the ball between the lines and score from the edge of the area or feed Erling Haaland.
He can do the same in the Three Lions shirt, he just needs to be played as a number ten.
Why go for Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield when you can have a trio of Declan Rice at six, Jude Bellingham at eight and Foden at ten?
Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze are interesting options on the left and will free up Foden to be England’s danger man.
England draw
ENGLAND have been very lucky with the Euro 2024 draw and should be a safe bet for the semi-finals.
The Three Lions do not have to face another group winner until the semi-finals if they top their own group.
But finishing second could have devastating consequences: a clash with hosts Germany in the round of 16.
