Quotes from Southgate:
But Southgate was unrepentant about selecting Stones against Belgium and said that other leading nations did similar with senior players during this international break.
"We did [with Stones] what Holland did with Virgil van Dijk tonight, what Norway did with [Martin] Odegaard and also what the Dutch with Nathan Ake , but it [criticism] only seems to fall on us.
"Of course I am disappointed if he [Stones] has a problem. It seems to be in the adductor area, so we will have to wait and see.
"But John hadn't played for two weeks before joining up with the squad, so it is not an overload problem. But I hate sending players back to their clubs not fully fit."
And therein lies the problem. They did this so why can't we? No Gareth, each player is different and needs to be managed accordingly. You had Gomez and Branthwaite who could have played but you chose to start a player who hasn't this season started two games in such a short space of time. Just because he hadn't played for two weeks isn't a reason to flog him to death. Whatever England do to players in training / conditioning is an issue. Kalvin goes to a World Cup and comes back heavier and unfit compared to when he went, how does that happen?