Live bar, June 23 - England star Leo Ferdinand believes that England coach Southgate's decision not to let Sancho play in the first two games of the European Championship is to show a "small club mentality".
Sancho, 21, was excluded from the 23ers' squad in England's Group D opening game against Croatia and did not appear on the bench in a white-rolled match with Scotland five days later. Southgate defended his decision not to let the Borussia Dortmund star play so far, pointing out that although Sancho contributed 16 goals and 20 assists in the Bundesliga in the 2020-2021 season, he lacked experience in the big game.
Sancho has only started 10 games for England, but Ferdinand insists that this should be nothing considering he has played more games in the top flight than regular main players Foden and Mount.
Ferdinand said: "There are inexperienced players who have not participated in the big game, and such players are everywhere. You'll look at what they've done at the club and in the last three years, and in terms of contribution on the pitch, Sancho has been the second best player in terms of being involved in goals for the last three years and he's done that at Borussia Dortmund. So to speak of experience... He has played more games in the top level than Foden, Mount and Bellingham. ”
The former United star believes this has led Southgate to adopt a "small club mentality" that he must eliminate. Ferdinand said: "I just feel that sometimes as a manager you have to be brave and not make the mistake of being overly cautious. From Southgate's own point of view, he must also be brave, because I think he is a conservative person himself. From our point of view, we would think, 'Just let him (Sancho) play!' ', because we've seen Sancho play at the top level. ”
"But if you're sitting in Southgate's place, you have to go against your own will. Do you know what problem this goes back to? This can be traced back to the problem of the big club mentality. Southgate is building a small club mentality. The manager with the big club mentality would go into the game and say 'we're going to grab this bull, control the rhythm of the game, camp on the edge of the opponent's penalty area and force them back into their own half', but we didn't do that. ”
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Southgate said: "We have some very explosive options, a lot of them are young players who are playing in the big game for the first time. Therefore, as a coaching staff, our personal expectations of them are based on reality. Sancho is among them. He's trained well over the last few days and of course we have those options and decisions to do. ”
In the third round of the group stage against the Czech Republic, Sancho came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute to make his personal debut at the European Championship. England eventually won 1-0 against the Czech Republic, accumulating seven points from two wins and one draw in the group stage, and qualified for the round of 16 as the first in Group D.
(One Plus Seven)