Southgate explained during his pre-match press conference before the kick-off that it was important to bring in fresh legs and pace to the derby
By Kehinde Okeowo
England head coach, Gareth Southgate, prior to the Three Lions’ last group game against Wales. explained why he made some alterations to the side which started the first two games.
Having selected the same starting XI in England’s matches against Iran and USA, Southgate opted for some changes in Tuesday’s final group B clash against Wales.
He made four changes to his team that performed so poorly against USA, Rashford, Foden, Jordan Henderson and fit-again Kyle Walker coming in for Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka, Mason Mount and Kieran Trippier.
Rationalising his team selection against Wales, Southgate said at his pre-match press conference before the kick-off that he felt his team needed an injection of pace and fresh legs.
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He went on to say he also wanted to give Manchester City’s right back, Kyle Walker some game time, so he could get up to speed.
He said, “We think [Foden and Rashford] can cause Wales problems and we felt it was important to get some freshness in the team as well.
“They have both trained really well and we are looking forward to them playing tonight.
“Kyle is ready to start now and we think it is good to get him in the team. We want to get the result tonight that takes us into the next round. For Kyle to get, some football will be helpful.
“We have not talked about it being a derby. There has been a lot of noise around us and around this game, but we’ve got to focus on our football and make sure our work rate and endeavour is higher than the opponent.”
