Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has hailed Gareth Southgate over his decision to drop Chelsea’s Mason Mount from England’s starting XI
Mount started the Three Lions’ first three group games against Iran and the United States but was dropped by the manager who opted for the services of Jordan Henderson in their knock-out game
The Three Lions were beaten 2-1 by France as they crashed out of the tournament in the quarter-finals. Harry Kane missed a penalty that would have dragged the game to extra time.
“Gareth made good decisions about selection and tactics, seeing things that perhaps the fans don’t see sometimes,” Rooney told The Times.
“If you said to supporters that you were going to take Mason Mount out of a starting XI and put Jordan Henderson in, most would think it a negative decision.
“Thanks to tweaks like that, the team improved, and the 4-3-3 helped produce attractive, attacking football.”
The FIFA World Cup cotton will be drawn in Qatar later today when Argentina confront defending champions France in the final
