Ivan Toney Gives Southgate Advice To Play Two Strikers When England Vs Switzerland

Ivan Toney wants to have a duet with Harry Kane during England vs Switzerland (Instagram/@ivantoney1).

JAKARTA - England will meet Switzerland in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 on July 6, 2024.

Three Lions striker Ivan Toney advised coach Gareth Southgate to dare to play two strikers from the start.

Toney's advice was made not carelessly. He quoted Jurgen Klinsmann's interview with SunSport on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.

Klinsmann advised England to pair Toney and Harry Kane against Switzerland.

Klinsmann's opinion was based on Toney's appearance when he came on as a substitute against Slovakia. At that time, England was 0-1 behind.

However, Toney's movement provided space for Jude Bellingham to equalize. Then, the Brentford striker provided Kane with a pass to score the winner in the extended round. England also won 2-1 in the last 16.

On that basis, Klinsmann believes the 4-4-2 pattern is the right way to deal with Switzerland.

"Of course I want to play with two strikers, but it was the coach's choice. We have to respect that."

"Everyone wants to play, whether it's a pair or not. I will do my best for the team," said Toney.

Suggestions to use two strikers are considered appropriate because the Three Lions have many options in scoring goals. In fact, Toney admitted that he had time to deal with Kane.

The proof, he revealed when formulating a strategy with the captain before scoring the team's winning goal.

Toney told Kane that he was often eyeing the far post. So, the captain had to be in that position because of the chances of scoring a big goal.

Sure enough, Toney headed to the far post and there was already Kane who easily threw the ball into the net.

No wonder Toney has a strong reason to support Klinsmann's advice. He wants to partner with Kane from the start in the quarter-final match later.

"We've played with each other and watched each other a lot. We'll know each other's best skills."

"You put yourself in when there are two people up front. I will return him to Kane and he can only take a few seconds. He was able to do that," said Toney.