Wayne Rooney was left 'shocked' by Gareth Southgate's decision that could come back to haunt England at Euro 2024.
England topped Group C to confirm their place in the round-of-16 of Euro 2024, but you'll struggle to find anyone who has been happy with their performances.
Southgate's side struggled in their 1-0 opening game win against Serbia, and looked lethargic and devoid of ideas in 1-1 and 0-0 draws against Denmark and Slovenia respectively.
England's stars were booed by some of their own fans following the Denmark match, while plastic cups were thrown in Southgate's direction inside the stadium in Cologne following the Slovenia draw.
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One of England's problems in the group stage was the limited nature of their play down the left-hand side of the pitch.
Newcastle captain Kieran Trippier started all three games at left-back - something he has done before - but his reluctance to provide overlapping runs and cross with his unfavoured left foot has made England's attacks down the left predictable.
Trippier has been playing at left-back in place of Luke Shaw, who is still recovering from injury problems that have plagued him all season.
Southgate took a gamble by including the Manchester United defender in his squad ahead of other left-footed options like Ben Chilwell.
Shaw has claimed he will be available for England's last-16 meeting with Slovakia on Sunday, but former England captain Wayne Rooney can't believe Southgate didn't pick a fully-fit Chilwell.
"I was very surprised and really shocked that Ben Chilwell didn’t get picked," Rooney said on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast.
"Just for balance of having a left-footed player there. You’re talking about a player at Chelsea. He has been good for England in the past, he’s a good left-back and he’s been at tournaments as well.
"So I was really surprised he wasn’t selected and now you’re left with [Kieran] Trippier or [Joe] Gomez.
Looking ahead to the Slovakia match, Rooney added: "I think at the moment it has to be Trippier or Gomez who plays there.
"Or do you bring Kyle [Walker] across? For me he’s been the best right-back in the world over the last few years so do you take that away from England?
"There’s so many imbalances and questions from that point of view. The left-side of the pitch has been a bit of an issue for me.
"That’s the one area now where I don’t know what he will do. It will be interesting to see what Gareth Southgate does in the next game."
Victory on Sunday would set up a quarter-final clash with either Switzerland or Italy.
Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, Kieran Trippier, Luke Shaw, Wayne Rooney, Ben Chilwell, Football
Alex Brotherton