Sam Allardyce was most certainly in the minority with his opinion on England’s formation for this weekend’s clash with Sweden.
Ahead of the World Cup quarter-final, Allardyce offered some advice to his successor, Gareth Southgate, with regards to the system that should be utilised in Samara.
The former England manager advised that either Kieran Trippier or Kyle Walker should be dropped in order to make room for an extra attacking option.
“If I was in Gareth’s shoes, and I know I’m not, I would seriously consider changing the system,” Allardyce said on talkSPORT.
“Defensively we look extremely sound, but I think we need more attacking prowess going forward to try and score more goals from open play.
“I don’t think they need to play with three at the back against Sweden. They could cope comfortably with two defenders, I don’t think they’ve got anything to concern us going forward.”
The suggestion to take out either Trippier or Walker, both of whom have performed incredibly throughout the tournament, did not sit well with supporters.
But it wasn’t just English fans who ridiculed their ex-manager for his opinion as Jamie Carragher has also insisted that Allardyce’s advice should not be taken by Southgate.
The former Three Lions defender has warned that any tinkering with the system that has served England so well in Russia could have dire consequences.
“No, I do not agree with that at all. Changing the systems has been a weakness at tournaments in the past,” Carragher told talkSPORT.
“We have got three attacking players behind Kane so putting Rashford in there may be too similar. It won’t really change the creativity and may upset the balance.”
