The importance of England doing a professional job against Panama has grown since Belgium battered Tunisia by a 5-2 scoreline on Saturday.
theScore chatted with former Crewe Alexandra, Norwich City, West Ham United, and England striker Dean Ashton about Sunday's test against the World Cup debutant. Subjects covered include the fans' perception of Raheem Sterling, experiences and lessons from playing a supposedly inferior team, and when players find out the starting lineup.
We were messaging about Argentina's astonishing 3-0 defeat to Croatia and you described La Albiceleste as "a team of individuals." Were you getting flashbacks of England's Euro 2016 campaign?
Dean Ashton: Yeah, definitely. What this tournament has already shown is that you can have some of the best individuals in the world, but if you don't have the right system and work as a unit then teams will be able to get the better of you. We've seen other nations that weren't so fancied (before the World Cup), but they work together and know exactly what they're doing, and they're getting a lot of joy.
You got a lot of flak for choosing Raheem Sterling as your man of the match against Tunisia. Why do you think so many people disagreed with you?
DA: I just think Sterling's one of those players that a portion of the England fans haven't taken to for the way he lives his life, because they thought he was greedy at Liverpool, or the fact that, at times, he can look a bit scrappy and not take the chances when they come along. I see past that. He's got electric pace, he's got great movement, he can link very well, gets himself into so many great positions, and his goalscoring record for Manchester City has shown that. If you have faith in him, he will come good.
It's been well reported that Sterling isn't going to be playing against Panama. Do you think he could have his work cut out getting back into the starting lineup?
DA: Possibly. If that's the case, he's got to fight to make sure he keeps his place. But I certainly don't think we should be writing him off in the tournament - probably after Harry Kane, he's our best player.
How damaging would it be if Dele Alli's injury dragged into the Belgium game and potentially beyond?
DA: He's going to be missed because, at his best, he's a quality player and our best goalscoring midfielder. But I think we are quite strong in that position. If I looked at any position within England's squad, I would say that attacking midfield is where we've got players that can come in. So I don't think it would be a crisis if Dele Alli didn't make it - I probably wouldn't have started with him in the first game.
Do you think Ruben Loftus-Cheek could establish himself as a starter with a good performance?
DA: He's really impressed when he's played. In the friendly against Costa Rica, I thought he was outstanding. When he came on just for 10 minutes the other night against Tunisia, I thought he really made an impression and looked relaxed. If he does get his chance, I really do feel he could be one of the stars that comes out of this World Cup for England.
Panama didn't look great against Belgium. Would you have been tempted to make more changes to the starting XI for Sunday?
DA: When you've got a difficult tournament to play in, people would say it's a good chance to rest players. Personally, if it was me, I would play my strongest team in every single game. I don't think England has been good enough in recent tournaments to warrant resting any players whatsoever. We should try to beat Panama as convincingly as possible.
Do you think there's a danger of complacency creeping in?
DA: Of course. Whenever you play a team that's ranked lower than yourselves, it's very easy to get into that mental space where you believe everyone saying it should be an easy win. And that's all it takes - it takes you, as the better team, to be off it by 10 percent and Panama, for example, to have one of their best games ever and a bit of luck. Before you know it, you're very embarrassed. It's critical that England start in the right manner and approach the game properly.
During your club career, was there an instance where complacency did set in before playing a smaller team?
DA: When I was at Crewe we played a non-league team (the now-defunct Telford United) in the FA Cup when we were in the Championship. We all thought it was going to be one of those games - as a striker you think 'great, this should be shooting practice. Hat-tricks here if you want them.' We lost the game 1-0. We were dreadful, we got outworked, and that's what can happen if you are complacent.
I think England's intensity needs to be right and I think that's why (Jordan) Henderson can be so important for us. He sets the tempo.
There's been plenty of controversy in England after journalists saw assistant manager Steve Holland had the team sheet for the Panama match and leaked it to the press. Do you think this can have a negative effect on the team?
DA: I don't think it matters. I think Gareth Southgate would've spoken to the players about who would be starting and who wouldn't be. Obviously Dele Alli's injury means no one would question that omission, but the Sterling one is the big story. I know a lot of people didn't think he played well in the first game - personally, I thought he did and deserves to start again - so that would be the big call, to leave out Raheem Sterling and pick his replacement. I know a lot of England supporters are pushing for (Marcus) Rashford to be in the starting lineup.
How far in advance would a manager tell you what the starting lineup is, or does it differ from manager to manager?
DA: It differs from manager to manager massively. At times a manager could give you almost a week to let you know whether you're going to be playing, and then wants to work on that throughout the week. Other managers like to leave it until a couple of hours before putting the team sheets in, just to keep players on their toes and make sure they're training properly. Personally as a player I would've liked to have known so I could prepare mentally as to whether I was starting or if I was going to be on the bench. I think it's always better to know.
How about a score prediction for the Panama game?
DA: I'd be amazed if Panama did score, so I would expect England to keep a clean sheet. I don't think it's going to be particularly easy - I actually see it being exactly the same as the Belgium score. I would look at 3-0, but I can see us scoring earlier than Belgium.
I thought that first 20 to 30 minutes (against Tunisia) was as good as we've looked in tournament football for a good three or four tournaments. That's certainly the most relaxed I've seen us play in the first half in any tournament I can ever remember.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
