England manager Gareth Southgate was booed by his own fans and slammed by pundits after ignoring superstar talent Phil Foden as England limped to a stodgy 0-0 draw with the USA.
Three Lions fans have long been critical of a perceived cautious approach from Southgate, with some expressing their disappointment vocally as the final whistle blew.
He left Manchester City star Foden on the bench for the entirety of the game and England looked a lot better once Jack Grealish entered with 20 minutes to play, but it was too little too late in a second half that Southgate had allowed to drift. Trent Alexander-Arnold, too, remained unused.
England are now all-but through – they would have to lose by four goals to Wales to miss the knockouts – though their performance was underwhelming and left the door ajar for another side to top the group, which would force them into a potential Round of 16 clash with the Netherlands.
“I was disappointed not to see Foden,” said England legend Gary Neville on the UK coverage. “For me that talent is huge. I have not seen anything like that. For Foden to not be in that and to not come off the bench is interesting.
“It was poor, we’re all disappointed. We wanted a lot more from England. Sometimes our midfield didn’t click, we looked tired at times. I didn’t feel as though we connected in combinations in midfield.”
His fellow pundit Roy Keane agreed that Foden should have entered the game.
“We were surprised watching it and, obviously, Gareth doesn’t agree,” he said. “Of course he’s the manager and knows the players better than anybody. But we expected Foden to come on and the subs who did come on didn’t really have an impact. They did well the other day but they lacked pace and looked short of ideas.”
It was a highly tactical game, with both sides ebbing and flowing, but ultimately a draw was fair. England’s defence never looked overly troubled, but at the other end, they also failed to make much of an impact.
“It was exactly the sort of game I thought it would be,” said Southgate. “Some of the quality in the final third could have been a little bit better, but we’ve shown great resilience to defend against opponents who kept asking questions.
“This is tournament football, we’re not going to roll through a tournament, and sweep through everybody without having nights like that, when you’ve got to show different qualities to get the result.
“It will be a totally different game against Wales. Silver medal today was a point. It puts us in a really strong position in terms of qualification. If we can win our last game, we win the group.”
England have a poor record against the USA in World Cups – a famous loss in 1950 and a poor draw in 2010 – and for long periods, this looked like would sit alongside those two results. In the context of the group, this is far from a disaster
They struggled badly against an American side that was far more coherent for long periods. The criticism of Southgate’s men has been that they focus too much on defensive solidity at the expense of attacking flair, despite having the talent to play more progressively.
That looked moot after a crushing 6-2 win over Iran in their opener, but returned with a vengeance here. For the most part, they look uninspired. Granted, they withstood plenty of American advances with relative ease too – Harry Maguire was England’s best – but the inability to threaten remains the biggest worry.
The United States now go into their final game with Iran knowing that a win will be enough to see them through. They will take plenty of hope, though the Iranians performance in defeating Wales suggests that they will also have confidence.
England began the brighter, with an early chance for Kane deflected wide, but the greater levels of organisation from the Americans began to come to the fore.
Once they managed to halt England’s progress along the right through Bukayo Saka and Kieran Trippier, the USA emerged as the dominant force and would have been unhappy not to have scored in the first half.
Weston McKennie blasted over from six yards out, Christian Pulisic hit the bar from range and then sent a header wide. They were nearly made to pay, too, with Mason Mount forcing Matt Turner into a low save from distance.
(Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
Whatever Southgate said at half-time went unheeded. America kept coming and were able to force a series of corners, though England’s defensive resolve is well-established and their set piece work, as ever, excellent.
Southgate finally made his move. Jordan Henderson and Jack Grealish entered for Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling. The momentum immediately shifted, with England dominating the ball and running everything through the Manchester City midfielder.
Nothing transpired, however. Both sides played between the boxes and, as time ticked away, seemed more than happy to share the spoils. Kane missed a header in stoppage time from a free kick, but it flew wide. When the USA got a similar opportunity, they took the ball to the corner and ran time out.
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