Trevor Steven: England v Belgium is a free hit so Gareth Southgate should ring the changes for final World Cup group game
Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has made clear that he intends to make several changes to his team to face England at the World Cup on Thursday – and I’d like to see Gareth Southgate do the same.
Yes, we want to win the final Group G match and beat Belgium to top spot but that isn’t the be-all and end-all. So why not take some risks, try new things and be confident on the ball? Whatever happens England are through, so this game is effectively a free hit.
It’s true that there may be an advantage to finishing second in the group, as it would likely send England into the opposite half of the draw to Germany and Brazil, but I think it’s dangerous to second-guess other results in what has been a very unpredictable World Cup so far.
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Potential last-16 opponents Colombia have looked dangerous so some might argue for trying to avoid them, but England shouldn’t be concerning themselves with other teams. They need to just focus on their own performances and being as good as they can be.
There are any number of potential changes Southgate could make for this fixture but the top priority must be resting Harry Kane.
There is too little at stake in Kaliningrad to risk an injury to captain Kane, who has scored five goals in his first two games, and see him miss the last 16 tie.
It might also be worth giving Jesse Lingard a breather, given how important the Manchester United midfielder has become to the team.
Eric Dier can come in for Jordan Henderson in central midfield, while Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy are obvious attacking options. Dele Alli, having missed Sunday’s thrashing of Panama through injury, could be worth recalling if fit again to give him match practice.
Harry Kane could be in line for a rest after his blistering start (Source: Getty)
It comes down to who Southgate feels would benefit from playing. On that basis, I’d leave Ruben Loftus-Cheek in as the youngster was a bit quiet against Panama and may improve with another run-out. For the same reason, he may decide to retain Raheem Sterling in the starting XI.
I’ve mentioned before that I think it might be worth trying a different system, and this is an opportunity to do that. Let’s see how adaptable England are. The players know the 3-5-2 tactic well anyway and greater flexibility may come in handy later in the tournament – for instance, if injuries rule out a few players.
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While the results have been great, performances so far have not been brilliant – they were OK against Tunisia and very efficient in front of goal against Panama – so it’s not as if making changes will disrupt the finished article. I don’t think England will be that at this World Cup, which is why I have my doubts that they will go all the way.
It’s an unusual decision for an England manager to have to make. In my tournament experience at World Cups and European Championships, the manager made changes because we started badly. This is very different.
But Southgate won’t learn anything from playing his best XI against Martinez’s second string. This is a chance to show that England’s squad players are as good as or better than their Belgian counterparts and to see who is ready to play when called upon.