The Times - UK (2021-11-11)

74 Thursday November 11 2021 | the times

SportFootball

There was a time when Gareth South-
gate did not have Harry Kane to rely
upon. In 2016, at the start of his tenure
as England manager, he had to wait
nine months before he could select a
player who would go on to become his
captain and talisman.
Typically, Kane scored a 93rd-
minute equaliser against Scotland in
his first appearance under Southgate to
set the tone for much of what has
followed. Four goals came in his next
two appearances.
Yet it could serve as a useful exercise
for the England coaching staff to recap
how they fared in the absence of the
Tottenham Hotspur forward when it
comes to planning for the World Cup in
Qatar, qualification for which should
be achieved over the coming days.
In the six games that Kane missed at
the start of Southgate’s reign, England

the squad only after Marcus Rashford

again missed out. Illness, on this occa-

sion, prevented the Manchester United

attacker from joining up and it must be

a worry for Southgate that Rashford

has played only 158 minutes for

England in 12 months.

In contrast with the plethora of right

backs at Southgate’s disposal, England

appear to be a striker light, notwith-

standing that Dominic Calvert-Lewin,

Patrick Bamford and Danny Ings are

also all injured.

Ollie Watkins has been overlooked

and Mason Greenwood has, controver-

sially, cut a deal with Southgate and

Ben Chilwell assimilates easily Gareth
Southgate’s espousal of the All Blacks’
principles around team-bonding.
Chilwell’s New Zealander father
instilled in him an understanding of the
rugby team’s culture and even tried to
teach him the haka.
During the Euro 2020 finals, South-
gate asked Owen Eastwood, the per-
formance coach with Maori ancestry,
to work with the England players,
drawing on the All Black philosophy of
what it means to represent your coun-
try. Chilwell knew all about it.
England discussed the Maori
concept of whakapapa, forging an
identity and an unbreakable shared
culture with ancestors, hence the
legacy numbers sewn into players’
shirts, 1235 in Chilwell’s case.
Southgate was particularly interest-
ed in the All Blacks’ “sweep the sheds”
mindset, essentially not being too big to
do the small things. Chilwell’s father,
Wayne, who came to England in 1993 to
work as a builder, helped to instil that
Kiwi mentality in his son.
“I’ve definitely been made aware of it
by my dad,” Chilwell, 24, says. “He’d like
to tell me all the time that the All Blacks
are the best team to ever play sport and
the way they go about things is very
proper.
“The way he tried to bring me up was
on a lot of their ethics and morals. Just
doing everything right, not taking any
shortcuts, being respectful, and just
whenever you put your mind on some-
thing, doing it 100 per cent.
“My dad can speak Maori. I was
watching a game against the [British &
Irish] Lions ten years ago and asked him
what it [the haka] meant and he trans-
lated it. I loved playing rugby at school.
“Being a New Zealander, he loves
cricket and rugby — they’re his two
sports. My dad got me into cricket. I
could have gone on to be a successful
cricketer. I was always probably better
at cricket [than football]. Batted at No 3,

first-change bowler, bit of pace. I was at

Northants Academy at 13, 14.” He was

even invited to an ECB “young England

talents” event.

At 15 and shining in Leicester City’s

academy, he and Wayne discussed

which sport to pick. “I just said that I

loved football and didn’t enjoy cricket

anywhere near as much as I enjoyed

playing football.”

His love of football made even more

frustrating his spell in isolation at the

Euros after he and Mason Mount chat-

ted to Scotland’s Billy Gilmour, their

Chelsea club-mate, who subsequently

tested positive for Covid. “If I thought

like that, it would just eat at you,”

Chilwell says. “Billy is a good friend and

had a good game and I wanted to

congratulate him. Of course it ended up

having a big impact on my summer.

“It’s not nice having to isolate,

especially when all your friends are

outside playing football. All the staff did

a brilliant job ensuring we were as

involved as we could be. Ed Sheeran

came in [to do a small gig for the

players] and we got to sit in two separate

rooms and the window only opened

about three or four inches, but we still

got to hear a bit of it and he shouted up

to me and Mase if we wanted a song

because we couldn’t be there. It was

nice to be involved.”

On returning to Chelsea after the

Euros he struggled to get back in the

team with Marcos Alonso doing so well

at left wing-back. “You think, ‘I’m going

back to Chelsea, it’s a new season and

the last game I played was the

Champions League final,’ so it was

disappointing,” Chilwell says.

“You can’t afford to get complacent.

When I step on to the pitch, or the train-

ing pitch, that’s when I want to show

that I’m better than them and they’re

trying to show they’re better than me.

I’m confident that, when I do play, I can

bring a lot to the team, which Marcos

thinks as well. Of course I get on with

him.”

Wayne instilled in his son a respect

Injuries and Kane conundrum give Southgate extra

Leading top-flight league goalscorers in England squad

E Smith Rowe (Arsenal), Reece James (Chelsea)

T Abraham (Roma), M Mount (Chelsea), P Foden (Man City), B Chilwell (Chelsea)

J Bellingham (B Dortmund)

H Kane (Tottenham), Trent Alexander-Arnold, J Henderson (both Liverpool),

C Coady (Wolves), R Sterling, J Grealish (both Man City), B Saka (Arsenal),

D Rice (West Ham)

4

3

2

1

won three, drew two and lost one. They

scored nine goals and all the goalscor-

ers — Daniel Sturridge (two), Jamie

Vardy (two), Adam Lallana (two), Dele

Alli, Gary Cahill and Jermain Defoe —

are no longer part of the set-up.

Kane has since gone on to make more

appearances under Southgate than any

other player (48, in which he has scored

36 goals).

But, increasingly, it feels as though

England need to have a Plan B in mind

should the form that has brought Kane

only one Premier League goal this

season continue.

Scroll through the squad for the next

two games, against Albania tomorrow

and the minnows San Marino on

Monday, and it is noticeable that the

players with the most goals in the top

flight this season are Reece James and

Emile Smith Rowe.

James is a right wing-back for Chel-

sea and Smith Rowe was promoted into

John McDermott, the FA technical

director, whereby he will not be consid-

ered until next year by England, to

allow the forward to try to establish

himself with United.

Greenwood has made 119 appearan-

ces for his club and his ability to conjure

something out of nothing means that

he is highly regarded at Old Trafford.

His experience with England

amounts to 12 minutes against Iceland,

after which he was sent home, with Phil

Foden, having broken squad and Covid

protocols by inviting two women back

to the team hotel. That Southgate

named Greenwood in his Euro 2020

party, before the 20-year-old withdrew

because of an injury, highlights just

what he thinks about his talent.

Yet England will head into World

Cup year with uncertainty continuing

to swirl around Greenwood and with

November’s tournament looming large

on the horizon.

Paul Joyce

All Blacks ethos keeps

Chilwell ahead of pack

for team-mates and coaches that helps

him to cope with the rivalry with Alon-

so at Chelsea and Luke Shaw with

England. Shaw’s likely absence,

because of concussion protocol, means

that Chilwell should start against

Albania in tomorrow’s sold-out World

Cup qualifier at Wembley.

“Something strong with England and

Chelsea is that the boys that don’t play

are fully supportive of the team,” Chil-

well adds. “Me and Luke are very good

friends when we’re here. When you’ve

got someone in the same position as

you, it doesn’t have to be, ‘Ah, you’re

enemies.’ You’re fighting for the same

shirt but you can be friends.”

Chilwell’s slow start to the season was

addressed in a conversation with

Chelsea’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel,

who suggested that he might have been

mentally exhausted after the Euros. “It

wasn’t so much mental fatigue,” Chil-

well continues. “I was so eager to get

back playing, it was maybe coming

across that I wanted it a bit too much.

“Me and the manager at Chelsea had

a very honest conversation — after the

first few games — where he did say to

me, ‘You know, I feel like, mentally in

training, you’re pushing a bit too much

to try to get back in the team — we love

you here, we know the qualities you

possess, just relax a little, you’re going

to get back in.’ Which was brilliant to

hear and then it was just about being

patient and making sure that I was

ready, so that when I was called upon to

play I could do my best for the team.

“When you’ve got a manager that

talks to you on a personal level, which

we’re fortunate enough we have here

[with Southgate] and at Chelsea, it

helps because, as a player, there’s noth-

ing worse than not knowing where you

stand. The manager here is exactly the

same as the manager at Chelsea and

that is a very good man-manager, who

wants to keep everyone happy.”

Chilwell soon kicked on, accelerating

from October 2. “Getting that goal

against Southampton, pretty soon after

giving the penalty away, was a relief in

a way — and then to go away with

England, get called into the team a few

days later and go and score [against

Andorra on October 9], that pushed me

on.” Chilwell’s father and the All Blacks

would approve.

Henry Winter

Chief Football

Writer

True all-rounders: other footballers who excelled at cricket

Phil and Gary

Neville

At 15, Phil was the

youngest player to

appear for

Lancashire 2nd XI

and opened the

batting for England

Under-15. Gary played

for Greenmount CC in

Bury and, aged 17,

shared a 236-run

partnership with a 21-

year-old who went to

play for Australia — a

certain Matthew

Hayden.

Joe Hart

The former Manchester

City and England

goalkeeper played for

Worcestershire

academy and for

Shrewsbury CC, until

2005, before deciding

to concentrate fully on

his football career.

James Milner

The Leeds-born

Liverpool and England

midfielder showed early

talent as a cross-

country runner and

cricketer, playing for

Yorkshire Schools

before signing for

Leeds United. He has

spoken of playing for

Horsforth, his former

cricket club, when he

retires from football.

Gary Lineker

One of the nation’s

greatest goalscorers

considered choosing

cricket over football

and, as a teenager,

was captain of

Leicestershire

Schools.

Sir Geoff Hurst

His place in English

football lore is secure

but it could have been

all so different had the

hero of 1966 stuck with

cricket. Hurst made a

first-class appearance

for Essex, against

Lancashire, in 1962.

Y b L s H c r G O g c c a w L S

Lineker batting for the SiG

Bunbury XI in 1995 England v

Albania

Wembley Stadium

Tomorrow, 7.45pm kick-off

TV: ITV

Radio: talkSPORT

15

Ben Chilwell has 15

England caps, four

fewer than Luke Shaw,

his main rival for the

left-back slot,

who has 19