Gareth Southgate admitted he is still unsure whether Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell will be available for selection for England’s last 16 tie against Germany.
The Chelsea duo have been training alone and have been forced to spend 10 days in isolation after coming into close contact with Scotland’s Billy Gilmour.
“They’ve been able to work in very small, well-distanced group session but not with the full group,” Southgate told ITV. “And they haven’t been able to take part in any of the full team training sessions.
“The guidance from Public Health England has been very clear, very specific and we’ve had to follow that… There’s not only the training part of that but the psychological part of that as well, of course. They’ve had to spend a lot of time in a room on their own, so very difficult situation firstly for the two boys.”
While Chilwell is more interchangeable – Luke Shaw impressed against Czech Republic – it is Mount’s potential absence which presents Southgate with the greater conundrum, not least with a returning Jordan Henderson to squeeze in alongside Kalvin Phillips and the usually indispensable Declan Rice.
The fact it was the West Ham man hauled off at half time in the final group games, and Southgate’s opinion that the Leeds midfielder represents the perfect blend of cautionary charisma, suggests England could switch back to a three-man midfield to accommodate two central midfielders again, but with Rice dropping to the bench.
Mount, for what it’s worth, believes he is ready. His teammates consider him fit and raring to go, but such is the magnitude of this tie that there may be no room for contentious selections.
The significance of this moment has been made all the greater by results elsewhere, the victor facing a potential run to the final featuring Sweden or Ukraine in the quarter-finals and Czech Republic or Denmark in the last four.
Germany’s most persistent threat in the group stages came down the left, whether through Robin Gosens, Thomas Muller or Leroy Sane. That has allowed Joachim Low’s wingers to combine with Kai Havertz, who has been found in and around the six-yard box. A huge test awaits Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier or Reece James if they are to mitigate that threat.
Before the tournament kicked off, there had been some talk that the Three Lions would shift to three at the back, but this is arguably not the moment lest they either be left exposed, or succumb to dropping into a five-man back line.
Where the 2014 world champions remain vulnerable is on the counter – both Hungary and Portugal exposed them on that front – which hints at Raheem Sterling retaining his place, had his two goals in three matches not already proven enough.
Phil Foden was left out against Czech Republic only because he was already on a booking and could not risk a one-match suspension. The Manchester City forward is expected to return for Tuesday’s match.
How England could line-up against Germany
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/35VqKtW
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