Jamie Carragher Says The Three Players Gareth Southgate Should Drop For Panama Clash

Jamie Carragher has pulled no punches and told of the three players he feels England boss Gareth Southgate should drop for the upcoming match against Panama.

The former Liverpool and England defender wrote in his column in Telegraph the three players which should be dropped for the Three Lions second World Cup encounter.

"England's system does not suit Sterling - or certainly not in the position he is currently occupying," he wrote. "It is designed to enable Southgate to select more attack-minded, technical players with the added protection of three centre-backs and a holding midfielder.

"He can play the deeper role of a number ten well - four years ago he was outstanding in the position despite England's loss to Italy - but Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard are so far advanced they are taking up the space Sterling would want to be.

"If Southgate persists with Sterling in this role, can he really trust him to provide the goals? Can he really take the recent goal form at Manchester City onto the international stage? It does not help if he is not playing in the position from which he struck those goals."

His column has divided social media:

Carragher says that the knock Alli received means that Loftus-Cheek should make an appearance and that Manchester United player Ashley Young should be replaced by Danny Rose.

"Southgate identified the tactical shift when he made the second-half substitutions, correctly replacing Sterling with Rashford and calling in Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who impressed with powerful running from a deeper midfield position.

"Given Alli appeared to be nursing an injury in the second half, I would start Rashford and Loftus-Cheek this weekend.

"Danny Rose must also be considered to replace Ashley Young. Other than a fitness issue, I am not sure why the left-footed Rose is not being preferred to the right-footed Young."

Carragher's opinion might divide some, but if we're going off the performances against Tunisia, it's hard to look past this.

What's your opinion on Carragher's choices? Let us know in the comments section.

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Topics: Football News, Football, England, World Cup

Jacque Talbot

Jacque Talbot is a journalist and sports writer at SPORTbible. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan with a BA in English and Film. He is a football, snooker, and basketball enthusiast and has been published in the Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Set Pieces, Planet Football and the Morning Star. He’s the greatest thing to come out of Essex since Nick Frost.

@Jac_Talbot