Will Twitter ever stop questioning Gareth Southgate’s England team selections?
Yet again, social media exploded when the team news was confirmed against Germany.
The switch to the back five was deemed too negative and every time Jack Grealish doesn’t start, it sparks an online outrage.
Southgate deserves immense credit. He stuck to his guns and outwitted Jogi Low to give England fans up and down the country an evening they’ll never forget.
But tonight’s game against Ukraine provides a different test. England will likely dominate the ball and the onus will be on them to break Ukraine down.
That should mean a return to the 4-2-3-1 from the group stage, with a midfielder coming in for a member of the back five.
The Telegraph report Kieran Trippier is struggling with a hamstring issue, which makes him the most likely to go and we’ve got Mason Mount coming into the number ten position.
There has also been talk about the England players on yellow cards.
Harry Maguire, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Phil Foden are all a booking away from missing the semi-final if England get there.
Maybe Southgate won’t tinker with the Rice-Phillips axis which shone once more against Germany. But we think Jordan Henderson could replace the Leeds man here.
The next conundrum is whether Bukayo Saka or another of Southgate’s exciting options rounds off the front three.
In a game where England need to make something happen, we’ve got Jack Grealish in from the start, with Raheem Sterling moving over to the right.
Sterling was the number ten in the only game Grealish has started so far – the 1-0 win over Czech Republic, and that’s an option here, with Foden or Saka on the right.
It’s important to stress – we don’t know what Southgate will do, but here’s out best guess.
But whatever team he does choose, Southgate has proved he deserves better than the predictable Twitter outrage which will follow.
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