Ian Wright ‘embarrassed’ by Gareth Southgate’s substitutions in England’s Euro 2020 draw against Scotland

The former England striker blasted Gareth Southgate’s decision to remove Harry Kane and Phil Foden in the 0-0 draw at Wembley

Jamie Braidwood
Friday 18 June 2021 17:31 EDT
Comments
Scots watch Euro 2020 match against England - international football's oldest fixture

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Gareth Southgate’s substitutions during England’s 0-0 draw with Scotland at Euro 2020 were “embarrassing”, according to former international Ian Wright.

The England manager took off Phil Foden and Harry Kane as England pushed for a winner against their Group D opponents at Wembley, deciding to only make two changes to his team despite having five available to him.

Winger Jadon Sancho and striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin were among the attacking options to remain on the bench as Steve Clarke’s Scotland side claimed a point.

“What is he [Southgate] taking Foden off for?” Wright said after the game on ITV. “There’s no way Phil Foden should be leaving the pitch today, for me. It’s very disappointing to see.

“You’ve got someone like Jadon Sancho on the bench. 15 goals and 20 assists a season - and he doesn’t even get on. We need to create.

“We could talk about Harry Kane and the chances he could have had or the touch he didn’t have, but at the same time did we really create enough? Did we have enough.

“We [England] are meant to be favourites for winning the tournament... I’m embarrassed for us today.”

England are second in Group D with four points and will still qualify for the last-16 if they avoid defeat to the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

Southgate’s side will top Group D if they beat the Czech’s - who beat Scotland in their opening match and drew with Croatia at Hampden earlier on Friday.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in