Well, that’s an interesting theory.
Much of the discussion around the England camp in recent days has been based on the controversial photograph of assistant manager Steve Holland’s training notes which, it was claimed, gave away Gareth Southgate’s starting XI for the second group game against Panama.
It was suggested that Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli would drop out of the team, with Marcus Rashford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming in for Sunday’s Group G clash.
Great spot from @SnapperStenning
Gareth Southgate's notes suggest Raheem Sterling will be dropped for England's World Cup 2018 clash against Panamahttps://t.co/7I8RKsntCL
— Johnny Goldsmith (@MirrorJohnny) June 21, 2018
Current players, former players and reporters are all talking about the debate between the media and the England camp.
Gary Neville spent some time arguing with journalists on Twitter on Friday about the role of the media, while Kyle Walker has admitted that it would be helpful if English reporters kept any inside information to themselves.
An interesting theory has since come about courtesy of former England striker Alan Shearer, who has suggested that it’s entirely possible that this whole situation has been manufactured by Southgate to keep the conversation away from the football itself.
They didn’t go rifling through any cupboards though did they? It was an OPEN session for press and photographers. Btw don’t be surprised if Gareth has done this deliberately to take away from talking football. He’s not daft! https://t.co/2a1zoSNnbK
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) June 23, 2018
The media scrutiny on the England team is unlike the coverage of most other teams at the World Cup and if Southgate decided to take the focus away from the players or any negative takeaways from Monday’s victory over Tunisia by instructing his assistant to give photographers at the open training session a glimpse of his notes, then it could well prove to be a masterstroke.
