Martin Keown believes England boss Gareth Southgate failed to make the most of the attacking firepower at his disposal in last night’s 0-0 draw with Scotland at Wembley.
The Three Lions were limited in the final third for much of the game and struggled to find a way past Steve Clarke’s resilient side.
John Stones came closest to finding the breakthrough, but clear-cut chances were in short supply throughout the contest.
Jack Grealish was introduced by the England boss in the 63 rd minute of the match in place of Phil Foden, but Keown is of the view that Southgate should have kept both players on the pitch in a bid to inflict maximum damage on the Scotland defence.
“If you look at what he [Southgate] has done in the last four competitive matches, going back to the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Poland and the two games at Euro 2020, the front six have remained exactly the same. That’s continuity and consistency in terms of the picture, but Grealish is someone that’s going to very strongly come into his thinking because he is too good to keep out,” Keown told the Mirror.
“It was an opportunity last night to play Foden and keep him on with Grealish. Phillips was so good in the first game, but maybe it was a chance to withdraw Mount a little bit deeper and leave Foden on. That would have been even more difficult for Scotland to deal with.
Keown added: “I think we have to say well done to Scotland for what they did. I saw their first match and it was light years away from their performance that day. With Billy Gilmour in the team, he passed the ball really well. Mason Mount tried to test him early on and he stood up to that test. He keeps it simple, but he’s always looking to pass it forward. He became the heartbeat of their team.
“There was a look from Robertson late in the game as if to say, I’ve suddenly now got a group of players that can match my performance. He smelt blood and felt they could win it late on. In the end, England were almost thankful for the point.”
The former Arsenal defender has also suggested that Southgate must start to take advantage of the five-substitutions rule available to him at the current major tournament, in order to go for the kill in tight matches.
Bukayo Saka is one player Keown is confident can make a difference for the team in such a situation, having already proven his quality in England’s Euro 2020 warm-up fixture with Austria.
The 19-year-old suffered an injury shortly after his man-of-the-match display two weeks ago, but was deemed fit enough to be included in Southgate’s final 23-man squad.
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“I think he is a player that can make things happen,” said Keown on the ability of the English youngster.
“I’m a little bit surprised we haven’t seen more of him since his performance against Austria. He showed that he really had that cutting edge in that friendly. We’ll have to see what Gareth has got in mind, but there is such competition for places.
“There are five substitutes that the manager can make, so there will be opportunities to get everyone on. There are going to be occasions, and last night was one of them, where you’re going to have to go for it and play some of those really creative players all at once.”
Martin Keown is an ambassador for McDonald’s Fun Football programme, which is giving thousands of children the chance to play football for free this summer.
“We’re helping these young children take their first steps into the game. There’s a lot of excitement and some really good technique on show,” Keown told the Mirror about the project.
“I live in Oxford and have always felt there has been a clamour for football.
"I’ve been involved in these projects for a number of years now because I believe in what McDonalds and the FA want to do, and that is developing grassroots football. It’s about giving back and recognising the role that these volunteers fulfil up and down the country in developing young footballers.”
