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da blaze casino： We may be only two weeks away from England’s first group game at the 2018 World Cup, but some positions in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI are still contentious, not least including the left wing-back berth.
On paper, Danny Rose is the strongest and most natural candidate for the role. But after a season in which he was limited to just nine Premier League appearances due to injuries and uncertainty over his future at Tottenham Hotspur, the No.3 jersey now appears Ashley Young’s to lose.
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In contrast to the Spurs defender, the Manchester United veteran’s 2017/18 was one of rebirth and reinvention, emerging as Jose Mourinho’s must trusted option on the left-hand side of defence having failed to be won over by Luke Shaw and producing impressive form in the process.
Defensively, Young’s inevitably a little suspect as a former winger but to an extent, the wing-back role seems to eradicate that problem within the England team, or at least reduce the risk of the 32-year-old’s positional naivety truly punishing the Three Lions.
Rose will likely get his chance to respond on Thursday, when England face Costa Rica in their final friendly before the tournament in Russia, but Young’s performance against Nigeria on Saturday has surely put him in the driving seat.
After all, the United ace played a key part in England exerting their dominance during the first half, regularly finding space out wide to stretch a shaky and disorganised Super Eagles defence. That allowed Raheem Sterling the space to find Nigeria’s pressure points, largely between centre-back and full-back, eventually resulting in the Manchester City forward setting up Harry Kane for England’s second.
Before being subbed off in the 67th minute, Young also registered three tackles and two interceptions – allaying fears that a lack of natural defensive nous could go on to cost England dearly this summer – and reminded Southgate of his technical qualities with two accurate crosses, one created chance and a pass completion rate of 92%.
But England will face bigger tests at the World Cup than Nigeria; in fact, their group contains one of the tournament’s favourites in Belgium. So, is Young capable of conquering superior opposition or does Rose deserve to come back into the starting XI? Let us know by voting below…
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