Erik ten Hag has clearly been in a mischievous mood since agreeing to work as a pundit on Dutch TV during Euro 2024.
The Manchester United manager fired subtle barbs at Gareth Southgate, who he knew had been under discussion to replace him, about his negative tactics against Serbia in England’s opening game of the tournament.
Now, after repeated reassurances from Southgate that Luke Shaw could be fit to play some part in the group stages, Ten Hag has claimed that his left-back will not play until the knockout stage.
Who to believe?
Southgate had said on the eve of the Serbia game that he was considering giving Shaw some minutes from the bench to aid his return to first-team football, but only if the player was ready. Shaw did not come on.
In fact, Shaw was a conspicuous absence from the players warming up on the pitch at the Veltins-Arena ahead of the game, even though he had been out training with the squad all week.
The defender had been out since 18 February with a hamstring injury, but had been progressing well and was building up speed in training.
He had a setback ahead of the FA Cup final, but reports from the England medical team suggested Shaw would be able to play some part against Denmark tomorrow, provided he kept “hitting the markers”, as Southgate put it.
It was, in Southgate’s view, his one big gamble worth taking, and the tense, tight win against Serbia showed why.
Shaw is the key that unlocks not only Phil Foden, but England’s entire system.
Foden’s underwhelming performance on Sunday night was the all the more confusing because it is so at odds with his exceptional displays for Manchester City in 2023-24.
It amounted to one chance created and one cross. He had no shots. Perhaps more alarmingly, one of the game’s maziest and most mesmeric dribblers didn’t even take the ball around a single Serbian opponent.
Mindful that the team is built around Jude Bellingham as England’s No 10, Southgate has tried to get the City out of Foden by allowing him to play, effectively, as a second 10.
Foden may start on the left, his name written above left-wing dot on the formation sheet, but his positions and where he touched the ball against Serbia frequently overlapped with Bellingham.
For that to work, it requires one of two things. Well, ideally two of two things: the No 10 to rotate in an out of left wing, or the left-back to play much of the game as a left-winger.
Bellingham has actually worked effectively in this way for his club, covering on the right for Real Madrid when Vinicius Junior is encouraged to play more centrally. But Bellingham was pretty busy on Sunday night: being a No 10, an eight, a six, attacking, defending, clearing corners, sparking moves and finishing them, serving fans bratwurst, learning Japanese, reading War and Peace.
The responsibility, instead, fell to Kieran Trippier, who is a marvellous professional, isn’t bad foraging forward but is clearly on more solid ground as a defender. And Trippier is still a 33-year-old right-back, not an attacking left-back.
When Shaw is fit, there are few better players in the world at left wing-back. He is tall, well-built, fast, a great dribbler and has fantastic technique to cross and pass. Academy coaches at Southampton remember a player who could well have morphed into a winger, following the trajectory of fellow St Mary’s graduate, Gareth Bale.
Shaw was one of the stars of Euro 2020, setting up three goals and scoring in the final. And no England player created more chances at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Southgate will be desperate to get Shaw back. But the player admitted he rushed back too early from injury in February. Will Southgate’s calculated risk want to take another one?
He will, at best, make an appearance from the bench against Denmark. It will be fascinating to hear the thoughts of Ten Hag then.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/4EtvVPm
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