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Glen Williams

Pundits pile into England ahead of Wales showdown as Southgate calls baffle everyone and Harry Kane 'looks absolutely shattered'

Another Battle of Britain awaits on Tuesday as Wales take on England in the last remaining Group B game with qualification to the World Cup knockout rounds on the line.

England head into the tie in pole position, sitting atop the group with Wales languishing at the bottom. It would take something of a minor miracle to see Wales go through. They have to beat the old enemy for a start, while other results have to go their way, too, which you can read more about here .

After England looked unstoppable against Iran, winning 6-2 against the team which downed Wales on Friday, Gareth Southgate's men suddenly look a little more fallible after they put in a lacklustre performance against the USA in a 0-0 draw.

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The result means all four teams still have a mathematical chance of going through, depending on how results pan out on Tuesday, but that all-British tie between Wales and England is the pick of the bunch.

The Welsh have had their fair share of critics following a dismal first-half display against the USA and a totally feckless performance against the Iranians on Friday. However, there is hope that, at some point, this might just all click together. They have rarely let their country down too often in recent memory, to their credit.

While England, who were riding the crest of a wave after beating Iran on Monday, have just showed a few chinks in the armour and, according to some revered pundits, their manager displayed some tactical naivety, which Wales will no doubt be desperate to exploit if they are to pull off a miracle.

Pundits and former players were seemingly alarmed by England's disappointing display against the Americans, with a common theme arising over Southgate's substitutions and lack of ideas, while some of the players were branded tired and ineffective.

Jamie Carragher wrote on Twitter: "It was baffling that [Phil Foden] remained on the bench when the game was crying out for his creativity. If you had told me before the tournament that Foden would only feature for 19 minutes of the first two World Cup games, my initial thought would be he must be injured... He is too much of a special talent."

Gary Lineker tweeted: "Interesting substitutions." He later added: "Poor performance from England, but that happens at a World Cup at some stage. The big question, even with such a talented bunch, is whether the manager can change things positively with his tactics and substitutions when it’s not working."

Michael Owen , meanwhile said: "Astonishing that we've used 14 players so far, yet our most talented player is still sat on the bench."

During the coverage, Gary Neville said on ITV: "For Phil Foden not to be playing in England’s starting XI is a real shame. He is a massive talent, I think he’s our best player, our best talent by a mile in this country and he should be playing in that team.

"I’ve got lot of respect for Gareth and what he’s achieved - he’s achieved the most since Alf Ramsey. But we’ve got a couple of talents sat on the bench in the form of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Foden who are capable of opening up the game.

"Alexander-Arnold has some of the best deliveries you’ll ever see from full-back and on that right side when Rashford came on, he had Henderson and (Kieran) Trippier so he was blocked from getting that delivery in. I think those two coming off the bench is a little bit disappointing, if you’re trying to win the game, they’re world class talents."

On the BBC, Jermaine Jenas said: "I thought [Harry] Kane looked absolutely shattered today up front. I thought [Raheem] Sterling wasn't as sharp as he was (against Iran), [Mason] Mount wasn't as effective. That's going to happen when there is fatigue in the squad. But we have the players and the depth and that previous experience in the Euros of it costing us later on down the line.

"I thought the changes would comes sooner. But he trusts a certain truth, Gareth, and always has done. I just think it got to a point when he wasn't trying to win it. England fans are looking at the talent on the bench and are thinking we should be on the front foot.

"Whether that was keeping Harry Kane on or not, I don't know, but he looked leggy from minute one Harry, I thought."

Roy Keane said on ITV: “England looked leggy, they looked one-paced, they looked short of ideas. Set pieces you never felt they had a goal in their locker from that. It was actually a terrible performance."

Micah Richards said on BBC 5Live: "We talk about creativity, who is the first player that comes to mind? It is Foden.

"Mount didn't have his greatest game and I don't want to blame it on him, but it was a game where we couldn't get the rotations going and get the passing quick enough - and we had one of our best talented players on the bench. I couldn't understand it.

"It is not about one player making the difference, but how many times do we see him - week in week out - get in those little pockets and make something out of nothing? For him to not come on to the pitch was a massive mistake."

Also on 5Live, Rob Green said: "It was a really underwhelming performance. England got the attacking flair in the first game and the defensive solidity in the second game. If you put those together it is a good performance, but it just felt a million miles apart."

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