Gareth Southgate defends Marcus Rashford World Cup snubs despite Man Utd form

Gareth Southgate has defended his decision not to play Marcus Rashford more at the 2022 World Cup in spite of how good the Manchester United star has been this season.

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Rashford was in great from in Qatar, scoring just 49 seconds after coming off the bench in England’s opening win against Iran, before netting a brace in the final group game against Wales.

But that match would prove to be the only start the forward got at the finals, and many fans and pundits were left baffled when Southgate waited til the 85th minute to introduce the 25-year-old in the quarter-final defeat to France, with Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling bizarrely coming on before him.

Since the end of the World Cup, the United talisman has been in sensational form for his club, scoring 10 goals in his last 10 appearances to propel Erik ten Hag’s side toward an unlikely title charge.

Southgate’s tactics have therefore come under even more scrutiny than before but the 52-year-old says he has no regrets over the matter.

‘I think people are looking at his form post tournament as much as anything,’ the Three Lions boss told ITV News.

‘Had Marcus played and the result being like that, they’d have been saying Phil Foden should have played, or Jack Grealish, so I’ve got peace with what we did and how we went about it.

‘I also know that’s how the narrative always works after our games.’

While Southgate has been England’s second-most successful manager in history, having guided them to the semi-finals of World Cup 2018 and final of Euro 2020, the failure to win in Qatar led many to question whether he was the right man for the job.

And the manager revealed that he came very close to walking away from the national team, only for his family to convince him to stay.

‘They left Doha saying you’ve got to give this one more go and try to get this trophy,’ he added.

‘There was negativity about me being in charge [following the 4-0 defeat to Hungary last summer] and the last thing I wanted was for that to be the over-arching feeling going into a World Cup when you need the fans and everybody behind the team.

‘You need that energy; you need that sense of togetherness. And if the debate was only going to be about finding flaws in what we were doing, in order that I go at the end, then that would have been very difficult for the team to perform at their best.

‘I’m in a job with the chance to make some history and I have the privilege of leading the national team. It’s been an unbelievable experience.

‘I think we’ve made progress with the team across the years we’ve been in charge, and I’m determined to try and drive the team that next step.

‘I think now we’re in a different landscape to any previous England team I guess, because of the success we’ve had. In our own minds winning is probably the only thing that’s going to fulfil us.’

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