It is tempting to assume Gareth Southgate has found the way forward. England’s manager picked a front three of Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka for the first time on Monday and the results were devastating: a hat-trick for Saka, two more goals for Kane and, from Rashford, a performance that suggested a starting spot on the left is his to lose.
North Macedonia had no way of handling the imagination, speed and trickery of England’s attack. For a while the theory had been that Southgate’s best attacking trio was Rashford-Kane-Saka, but it had never been put into practice. Rashford has been too susceptible to minor niggles and the suspicion is that Southgate’s faith in him is not unflinching. Trust has to be built up. Rashford is in the middle of that process and despite his excellence for Manchester United last season it is worth remembering that he started only once at the World Cup.
