Show some respect to Sterling and Southgate! England silence critics with deserved win over Germany

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The Three Lions qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 with a 2-0 victory over their big rivals which justified their manager’s approach

England 2-0 Germany: Match statistics

Gareth Southgate has faced a barrage of criticism for his decisions at Euro 2020, not least for persisting with Raheem Sterling as England have so many other attacking talents.

The Three Lions manager must have felt fully justified when the Manchester City forward returned his faith by scoring his third Euro 2020 goal in Tuesday night’s 2-0 win over Germany in front of a boisterous crowd at Wembley.

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Many fans had called on Jack Grealish, Phil Foden or Jadon Sancho to take Sterling’s place on the left wing but, again, it was the latter who made the breakthrough when England needed him most.

Sterling didn’t just complete the move either. It was he who ran a run down the middle that ended with a low cross from Luke Shaw just 15 minutes from the end of this latest clash.

Harry Kane’s late header on a Grealish cross saw someone other than Sterling make it to England’s scoresheet for the first time in this tournament, which would only have made Southgate even better to stick with his struggling center-forward.

England had to thank debauched strikers from Germany for recording their fourth consecutive clean sheet at the Euro. Timo Werner shot Jordan Pickford directly when he was scored by Kai Havertz in the first half, before Thomas Muller missed an even simpler face-to-face moments after Sterling’s opener.

However, Southgate’s decision to play a 3-4-3 formation similar to Germany’s paid off, with England taking control of the competition after a slow start.

Games like this are often decided by big players and Sterling has made a difference. Not that it should be a surprise.

Granted, he ended his club campaign out of form and at its lowest, with City beaten by Chelsea in the Champions League final last month, but Sterling’s value continued to rise with England, for whom he has now scored 15 times in his last 20 appearances. .

He is an inspiration, not only to a younger generation of fans, but also to the more inexperienced members of the dressing room, the 26-year-old having become Sancho and Foden’s mentor.

Strangely enough, he remains underestimated by many, but he underlines his importance to the English cause with his performances at a stadium located in the same region where he grew up.

It is a timely return to form. He only has one year left with City and there is growing speculation that he will be sacrificed if his employers manage to sign two of his English colleagues, Kane and Grealish, this summer.

However, if Pep Guardiola now considers Sterling a consumable, let’s hope all of England now realize how important he is to the national team.

As midfielder Declan Rice told the BBC after the game, Raheem Sterling is proving that so many people are wrong. “As is Southgate.

The England manager has faced mounting criticism for a conservative style of play which only yielded two goals in the group stage. There was an undeniable fear that the Three Lions would obediently withdraw from the tournament without using the full power of their offensive arsenal.

Southgate however remained determined, as did his team. He has ignored all the social media attacks and boos from his Wembley replacements.

He also has the support of the Football Association regardless of what happens in this tournament, having modernized England behind the scenes, but he wants to be judged by results which is why this latest win was so important for the manager. and its players.

They are all united and fully believe in Southgate’s approach. It doesn’t produce smooth football, but England reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship without conceding a single goal and are now bursting with conviction after a deserved victory against great German rivals.

Is “football coming home”? It’s still too early to tell, but it’s high time the skeptics showed respect to Southgate and Sterling.

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