It speaks to Gareth Southgate’s confidence in this England team that he had decided his formation and starting XI for the France match on Monday morning. While so many others around the squad were worrying about Kylian Mbappe, and wondering whether Southgate would agonise over a big choice on how to approach him, the manager had already long made up his mind.
That came after a 9am presentation on France from FA head of coaching Steve Dittmer that just confirmed what the England manager was already thinking. Southgate is now so confident in his team that he doesn’t feel they need to compromise for a player like Mbappe in the way he used to.
