Gareth Southgate’s decision to rest eight players for the Group G defeat by Belgium had the backing of his England squad, according to Harry Maguire.
England finished second in Group G after losing to Belgium and will now face Colombia in the last 16 in Moscow. But Maguire insists the players trust in Southgate’s brave style of management.
“Gareth is a top manager and a man of great knowledge,” said central defender Maguire. “Everything he has done up to now, since I’ve been in the England set-up, has been spot on. We are fully behind all of his decisions and we look forward to the knockout stages.
“He explained everything. Everything he does, he does it really well and really professional. He is a really good man manager. He fills you with confidence no matter what decision is made. We all trust him as a group and, hopefully, it’s the right decision in the long run.
“He’s a brave manager and he makes big decisions at big times. Roberto Martínez made the same number of changes. I think they were both probably looking at the bigger picture and know that the next game is the biggest one of them all.
On the challenge England will face against Colombia, Maguire added: “They are a top team. You’ve seen in the group stages that if they had 11 men on the pitch in the first game, they probably would have won all three games and got nine points.
“They are a top team and it’s going to be an exciting game. We will really focus on ourselves. We feel like if we perform like we did in the first two games of the group, then we will give ourselves every chance.”