It says something about this underwhelming goalless draw between England and the United States that one of the abiding images was Harry Maguire heading away a succession of Christian Pulisic corners. It felt like there were 10 of them in a row during a second-half spell and the England centre-back dealt with them all bar one which had Jordan Pickford flapping.
This was a game about resilience and, quite aptly, Maguire came to the fore. It proved to be his type of match. Along with the headers came blocks and clearances. The 29-year-old was England’s man of the match as he stood tall amid growing USA pressure.
Maguire dominated his penalty area and, for the second successive game, rewarded the faith placed in him by manager Gareth Southgate. No English player has been derided as much as Maguire and even some of the England staff worried about the effects of the constant criticism. It takes a strong individual to rise above it and focus solely on his football, but Maguire has achieved it.
For a player who has started only five games for Manchester United this season, been booed by some of the club’s fans at Old Trafford and even jeered by part of the Wembley crowd when featuring for England earlier this year, Maguire has demonstrated remarkable composure and level-headedness to come straight into the World Cup and perform.
Before the game, Maguire described how he harbours “great belief” in himself and that clearly he would “want to be playing every week” but is going to “fight to get back into the team”. He put in extra shifts at the training ground to be ready for the World Cup, his second with the national team after a sharp rise in 2017/18.
This was Maguire’s 50th appearance for England and although there have been bumps along the way — not least the unconvincing showing against Germany in England’s final Uefa Nations League match before travelling to Qatar — he has rarely let Southgate down.
The partnership between Maguire and John Stones, who also put in a commendable shift against the US, is rightly Southgate’s ‘go-to’ central defence. And the England manager’s unwavering support has no doubt helped them during their ups and downs at club level.
And it was while Maguire and Stones were stepping up to keep the USA away from Pickford’s goal that one sensed England needed to change something. Clearly Plan A wasn’t working. Southgate had stuck with the same team for the first time since the 2018 World Cup semi final, but it didn’t deliver. There was little of the attacking verve that brought about Monday’s 6-2 thumping of Iran.
A change was needed
Bukayo Saka was England’s brightest spark early on and Harry Kane missed the best chance late on when he headed Luke Shaw’s free-kick wide. But there was no control from England, USA were comfortable and created the better openings.
Southgate was rightly praised for his substitutes in the opening game. Then it was a case of the replacements carrying on the work of their predecessors. England were operating at a higher level than Iran and Southgate threw on Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish and Callum Wilson who all had an impact and made the scoreline emphatic.
However, against the US, Southgate needed to turn the game, send on substitutes to reverse the flow. He waited, bided his time and first plumped for Jordan Henderson in the 69th minute. If ever a substitution highlighted a manager’s thinking, then here it was. Southgate obviously sought control in midfield.
But perhaps the game demanded more attacking substitutes. Grealish and Rashford both eventually came on, but there was no involvement for Phil Foden, who surely would have prised open an opportunity or two given the chance to run at a tiring USA defence.
Southgate’s reasoning was: “Obviously, whichever one of our forwards we didn't put on if we didn't win the game, I was going to be sitting here answering questions about why I didn't put them on.
“We wanted to change the wide areas, we didn't think it was a game for Phil in the middle because he doesn't play there for his club and defensively it was a really complicated game for the midfield three to work out.”
Foden featured for only 19 minutes against Iran and was conspicuous by his absence on the pitch at Al Bayt stadium. It should be remembered that he is the only World Cup winner in the England squad, having triumphed with the under-17s in India in 2017.
It is fair to acknowledge that Foden has not yet produced his Manchester City form for the England seniors but as for the reason why, that might be a question for Southgate to answer. The England manager hasn’t ignored Foden, he does give him plenty of opportunities, but while England were toiling they were crying out for Foden’s directness and bravery.
Mason Mountis a great player, with plenty of room to develop further, and crucially he is a Southgate favourite. The Chelsea player hasn’t hit the heights in the opening two group games and was largely anonymous during the second half against the US but remained until the last. Meanwhile, Foden kicked his heels on the bench.
“Without a doubt we love Phil, he’s a super player,” Southgate added. “We could have gone with Phil and maybe things would have been different, but that was the choice we made on the night.”