Devastating debut of Rashford-Kane-Saka attack points way for England

I t is tempting to assume Gareth Southgate has found the way forward. England’s manager picked a front three of Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka for the first time on Monday and the results were devastating: a hat-trick for Saka, two more goals for Kane and, from Rashford, a performance that suggested a starting spot on the left is his to lose.

North Macedonia had no way of handling the imagination, speed and trickery of England’s attack. For a while the theory had been that Southgate’s best attacking trio was Rashford-Kane-Saka, but it had never been put into practice. Rashford has been too susceptible to minor niggles and the suspicion is that Southgate’s faith in him is not unflinching. Trust has to be built up. Rashford is in the middle of that process and despite his excellence for Manchester United last season it is worth remembering that he started only once at the World Cup.

It did not quite happen for Rashford in Qatar. He scored three times during the group stage – once after coming off the bench against Iran, twice to kill off Wales – but was a reserve during the knockout stages. Saka and Phil Foden started on the flanks and Rashford stayed on the bench until the 85th minute when England lost to France in the quarter-finals.

The sense was that England had wasted an opportunity to use their most effective forward line. The beauty for Southgate, though, is that he does not have to limit himself. Although Kane thrives when surrounded by pace, England can also turn to the subtler touches of Jack Grealish, Foden and James Maddison.

“There will be games where different attributes are helpful,” Southgate said. “That is the challenge for the squad. I’d rather have that situation than say it’s a headache.