Rice and Mount may lack glamour but they do a steadfast job for England | Jacob Steinberg
12-Oct-2020 14:12:30 | Guardian
Although not entertainers in the Jack Grealish mould, the midfielders deserve respect for their diligence and resilience
Declan Rice and Mason Mount were the obvious fall guys when Belgium were busy giving England the runaround at Wembley. They were incontrovertible evidence of Gareth Southgate’s conservatism when Belgium were ahead in the first half. They were the villains: just the latest example of an England manager stopping his team from adopting a more expansive style by starting two sloggers and leaving the entertainers on the bench.
Admittedly the Southgate sceptics had a strong argument for much of the first half. England were uninspired in a 3-4-3 system that had room for seven defensive-minded players but no space for Jadon Sancho or Jack Grealish. Belgium were outnumbering Rice and Jordan Henderson in central midfield and it was threatening to turn into the same old story for England against slicker opponents.
Related: England sink Belgium in Nations League thanks to Mount's lucky break
Related: Gareth Southgate stumbles upon perfect tactics to take down Belgium | Jonathan Liew
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