England so far have been one of the best teams in the World Cup, scoring 8 goals and conceding only two. And all of their players have received rave reviews from the pundits and the media alike.
All, apart from one.
The only criticism that people have had with Gareth Southgate’ team selection is the fact that the manager has been playing Kyle Walker in the three-man backline despite the Man City being a natural right-back.
Kyle Walker gave away a rash penalty during England’s tournament opener vs Tunisia which could have cost the Three Lions 2 crucial points had it not been for Harry Kane’s injury-time winner.
After the match, Walker received a lot of criticism from Rio Ferdinand and now before the Belgium match, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also had a thing or two to say about the right-back.
Wenger said: “He’s not a real defender and especially not a central defender,
“He can be subject to making defensive mistakes which he would not pay for when he plays on the right.”
We understand why Gareth Southgate has been picking Kyle Walker over his first choice central defender. Walker has great pace which has immensely helped England during the Tunisia and Panama games.
But Belgium are different and Roberto Martinez’s side has the capabilities of opening up England’s back-line.
Gareth Southgate is expected to make a couple of changes to his first XI with the likes of Dele Alli and Marcus Rashford hopefully coming into the team. But we don’t think that the manager will bench Kyle Walker and play around with his back-line.
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