84
(^) Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019
Football
W
HEN England’s
World Cup came
to an end in
Moscow in July
2018, Gareth
Southgate claimed to be
certain of the path ahead.
‘We have a core group of young
players in this squad we believe
will take us forward and others
coming through the age-group
teams,’ said the England head
coach. ‘We are starting to see
success through the age groups
but it’s an ongoing process. This
team is nowhere near the level
they are going to be capable of.’
It was an easy thing to say and
to believe. Southgate and his
players had given us so much to
cheer during that summer in
Russia, we would have swallowed
just about anything.
But it so happens that South-
gate may have been right. A year
or so on, his England team — his
core of 16 or 17 key players — are
not without fault but, just as he
suggested after that defeat
against Croatia in the World Cup
semi-final, his squad has started
to evolve, improve and move
naturally forwards.
At the start of a season that ends
with a European Championship
tournament, which England will
play largely at home, there is a feel-
ing that phase two of Southgate’s
time as coach starts now. Last sea-
son gave us the virgin Nations
League, which we broadly liked,
and then some drearily familiar
free-hit Euro 2020 qualifying
games, that England literally could
not lose and did not.
Now, though, the road to
Wembley — where England
will hope to contest next
summer’s semi-final and final
— begins properly and
Southgate will today
announce a squad that has a
nod both back to the achieve-
ments of last summer
and forwards to a
future that will look a
little different. At
club level and in international
football, player form waxes and
wanes. Sometimes, careers that
look set securely on the right tra-
jectory can stall.
Arguably, that has happened
since Russia 2018 to players like
John Stones, Dele Alli and Eric
Dier. Equally, players like Kieran
Trippier and Jesse Lingard have
questions to answer while dear
old Ashley Young may have to
accept that, for all his exceptional
years of service, he is 34 now.
Five of those six players started
against Croatia and Dier came on
as a substitute. With the excep-
tion of Young, they are players
approaching their peak years —
their average age is 25 and a half
— and there is no reason why they
should not return to prominence.
But Southgate’s point as he
spoke after Russia was that Eng-
lish football now has a production
line through the age groups that
is moving again. The acad-
emy system would appear to
have finally provided the
England team with a plat-
form on which it can refresh
and renew.
When players falter or suf-
fer injury, they can be
replaced. With that in
mind, last season’s
international foot-
ball was notable for the fast-track-
ing of Jadon Sancho of Borussia
Dortmund, Ruben Loftus-Cheek
of Chelsea, West Ham’s Declan
Rice and the promotion of players
like Leicester full back Ben
Chilwell and Tottenham’s ball
player Harry Winks.
Add to that the gifted Liverpool
defender Joe Gomez, whose sea-
son was curtailed prematurely by
injury, and the gradual and
welcome return to form of Ross
Barkley and the choices available
to Southgate — especially in
creative areas — are very clear.
This time, as Southgate selects
for what should be straightfor-
ward home games against Bul-
garia and Kosovo, the names in
vogue are James Maddison of
Leicester and Mason Mount of
Chelsea (left). Personally I think
the time is now for the former and
too early for the latter.
Not all who saw Maddison play
for the Under 21s in a disappoint-
ing European Championships in
Italy in the summer feel the
Leicester player showed enough
drive and determination in a
struggling team. But his form so
far for Leicester suggests he is
ready for the next step. The
22-year-old was called up a year
ago but did not play.
Mount’s time will also come, we
hope. He has impressed in
patches for Frank Lampard’s
Chelsea but is yet to contribute a
consistent 90 minute perform-
ance. He may yet have to show a
little more if his steady rise
through the ranks is to reward
him with full England honours.
It is worth remembering, of
course, that we did not win the
Nations League. UEFA were
delighted with England’s pres-
ence in the last four in Portugal in
June because of the profile it lent
the finals in their inaugural
year. But in terms of the football,
England were disappointing in
losing to Holland and then win-
ning a shootout in a dreary and
pointless third-place game against
Switzerland. If anyone needed a
reminder how high the bar remains
in Europe, it came in Porto.
If there is an achilles heel in the
Southgate prototype then it con-
cerns the defending. For all their
control of the ball in advanced
areas, England are unreliable at
the back and, though Harry
Maguire’s summer transfer to
Manchester United will only
accelerate a good player’s
progress, the fact that Stones
was not a regular pick for City
last season is something that will
concern the manager. If Gomez is
to become a regular under South-
gate then the opening is likely to
come as partner to Maguire
rather than at full back.
There is no such thing as a squad
without conundrums, however,
and with just less than 10 months
to go until the start of the Euros,
Southgate is pretty much where
he hoped he would be.
‘We have a great opportunity to
get to a World Cup final,’ he said
on his way back from Russia last
July. Next summer’s stepping
stone already looks and feels like
a pretty big one.
@Ian_Ladyman_DM
IAN
LADYMAN
Football Editor
GAZZA: MADDISON IS ONE OF OUR BRIGHTEST STARS
PAUL GASCOIGNE wants James
Maddison to shine for England
because the Leicester schemer
stands out from the ‘robots’.
‘I don’t know what these
coaches are doing to our young
players, because we don’t have
many players like Maddison
coming through,’ said
Gascoigne, 52. ‘He wants to be
on the ball, he is creative, he
takes people on.
‘There are too many robots,
definitely, because there is so
much pressure on players
and managers not to lose the
game — they’re frightened
to lose.’
LINE-UP FOR
ENGLAND v CROATIA
World Cup semi-final
(Moscow, July 11, 2018)
HOW THREE LIONS ARE MOVING ON...
ENGLAND
EVOLVING
TOTTENHAM midfielder Harry
Winks is set for an England
recall when Gareth
Southgate names his latest
squad today.
Chelsea youngster Mason
Mount is also pushing hard
for a second call-up after his
brilliant start to the season —
as is Leicester midfielder
James Maddison, who scored
with a fine free kick against
Newcastle in the Carabao Cup
last night. England play
Bulgaria and Kosovo in Euro
2020 qualifiers and there will
be a number of midfield
omissions from Southgate’s
previous squad, which could
open the door to Winks,
Mount and Maddison. Fabian
Delph will miss out due to a
groin issue, while Dele Alli
and Eric Dier have just
returned from injury and are
yet to play this season. In
defence, Southgate is waiting
on the fitness of John Stones
and Ben Chilwell. That could
open the door to a first
call-up for Manchester
United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka
— particularly given
Southgate is planning on
naming an extended squad.
Competition at right back is
intense with Wan-Bissaka,
Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-
Arnold and Kieran Trippier all
contenders. But with left
back Luke Shaw injured and
Chilwell’s availability unclear,
Southgate could select more
than two right backs so one
of them can provide cover on
the opposite flank. Aston Villa
centre back Tyrone Mings,
who is left footed, could also
come into consideration.
In goal, Burnley’s Nick Pope,
who was injured for the
majority of last season, is set
for a recall alongside
Southgate’s No 1 Jordan
Pickford and Tom Heaton.
If Southgate selects four
goalkeepers, Dean
Henderson and Angus Gunn
are in contention.
Hopes are high that Southgate’s
squad is developing into one that
can storm the Euros next summer
PICKFORD
WALKER STONES
YOUNG
MAGUIRE
LINGARD
TRIPPIER
ALLI HENDERSON
KANE
(3-5-2)
PICKFORD
ALEXANDER-
ARNOLD
MAGUIRE
WINKS
CHILWELL
RASHFORD
MADDISON
STERLING
HENDERSON
KANE
(4-3-3)
GOMEZ
IAN LADYMAN’S TEAM FOR
ENGLAND v BULGARIA
Euro 2020 qualifier
(Wembley, Sep 7, 2019)
STERLING
Winks recall to boost
midfield for qualifiers
SAMI MOKBEL
Rising star:
Winks in
action for
England
last year PA