Soccer

'We've been pretty bold': Gareth Southgate denies being too cautious


Gareth Southgate has defended himself against the accusation he is too cautious by highlighting the goalscoring record of his England team and the risks he has taken in blooding young players.

The manager has struggled for attacking guile this season, with all four Nations League ties blighted by a failure to create many chances in open play. The most recent example was in the 1-0 defeat by Denmark on Wednesday. Southgate’s second‑string side were able to overrun Wales in the 3-0 friendly win last Thursday.

The lack of creativity has brought into focus Southgate’s reluctance to use the in-form Jack Grealish. Although the Aston Villa captain starred against Wales, he has played only 14 minutes otherwise – in the 0-0 draw in Denmark last month, which was his debut.

Southgate has suggested he is following a carefully staged process as Grealish makes his first steps in international football but it has been easy to feel he trusts other players more, that the midfielder’s qualities are not a perfect fit for his system. “We gave another two 20-somethings their [full] debuts against Denmark [Reece James and Ainsley Maitland-Niles], alongside Mason Mount, Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, who has had four games in the Premier League [and three for England] – along with Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford up front,” Southgate said. “So I think we’ve been pretty bold in many of our decisions over a long period of time.

“I think we’ve been top scorers in the World Cup [actually fourth‑top], we were top scorers in the Euro qualifiers and we’ve been to two semi‑finals [the World Cup and Nations League]. We’ve blooded any number of young players. I suppose I would point to that body of work but it’s for others to have that opinion. I’m not really too concerned.”

The Denmark defeat was shaped by Harry Maguire’s 31st-minute sending off and Southgate was asked whether the Manchester United defender, who is struggling desperately for form, might benefit from being taken out of the firing line.

“My view would be that you’ve got to play your way through these moments,” Southgate said. “He’s too important a player for United and us to think about resting him but that would be for Ole [Gunnar Solskjær] and his staff to make those decisions.”

Grealish’s Villa teammate Tyrone Mings, who won his fourth cap against Denmark, said they both had to “bide their time”. “The only thing we can do is try to play well for our club,” Mings said. “We have to pay service to the players who have credit in the bank – the people who have got the England team to the position it is in now.”

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