Gareth Southgate was at SJP in person to see Newcastle 4 PSG 1 and then thought, you know what…
OPINION
Gareth Southgate was at SJP in person to see Newcastle 4 PSG 1 and then thought, you know what…
4 HOURS AGO 49 COMMENTSSHARE
Gareth Southgate was at it again.
The footballing public stunned BUT not surprised when he announced his latest England squad.
That Thursday announcement (see below) naming 26 players who will be the group to take on Australia in a friendly and Italy in a Euros group qualifier ahead of the finals in Germany next summer.
It appears to have gone under the radar BUT Gareth Southgate was actually there at St James’ Park on Wednesday night, less than 24 hours before announcing that latest England squad.
He watched in person on Wednesday night, as Newcastle United tore apart Mbappe and PSG, then afterwards he thought, you know what… and still picked the likes of Henderson, Maguire, Phillips etc etc.
NUFC hammered PSG 4-1 and nine of the fourteen NUFC players involved (see below) were English:
Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Jamaal Lascelles, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff, Anthony Gordon, Elliot Anderson, Jacob Murphy, Matt Targett.
The first six started the game and played the entire match (well, ok, Gordon was subbed on 93 minutes) and the last three came off the bench.
Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and Lewis Miley were on the bench as well, making it 12 of the 20 were qualified to play for England. If Willock, Wilson and Barnes hadn’t been injured it could have been 15 of the 20 and who knows how many in total England qualified players might have started against PSG???
I’m not saying all the above should have been named yesterday by Gareth Southgate.
However, last season I thought it was farcical that neither Joe Willock or Sean Longstaff got a single call up between them. They were both tremendous as they helped Newcastle finish fourth and indeed they had been excellent for some 18 months, ever since Eddie Howe rescued them from Steve Bruce.
Willock is of course injured but Sean Longstaff has been magnificent again this season, including two quality displays against AC Milan and PSG.
I can’t believe that Nick Pope (one goal conceded in the last six games), Anthony Gordon and Sean Longstaff are going to be watching the England matches on TV, rather than being in the squad.
Do you honestly think for one second that if say they were playing for, let me see… Spurs or Chelsea, that there would be any chance that Gordon and / or Longstaff wouldn’t have been named by Gareth Southgate???
A quick check of the 26 man England squad below, shows the following breakdown of where they are playing their football…
10 at London clubs
7 at Manchester clubs
4 at overseas clubs
The only exceptions are Trippier, Pickford, Watkins, Dunk and Alexander-Arnold.
Even Crystal Palace have more players selected by Gareth Southgate than Newcastle United ones!
What kind of message is it sending out to England hopefuls when Gareth Southgate treats these Newcastle players so badly, players who are playing at such a high level week in week out.
Jordan Henderson is 33 and has gone to play in the Sunday morning Saudi league. He will turn 34 before those Euros in Germany next summer.
Does Gareth Southgate honestly think that playing in the Saudi league this next year and aged 34 is going to deserve a place at those Euros finals???
I know it has been covered by so many people so many times but this Gareth Southgate obsession with selecting AND playing people who never play for their clubs is beyond embarrassing, it undermines the whole England set-up.
Gareth Southgate has said many times in the past that he will pick players based on form and yet he constantly picks players AND plays them, despite them having no club form, good or bad!
Kalvin Phillips has started two Premier League matches these past 17 months and he only got those starts last May because Man City had already won the league.
Phillips has started twice as many games for England as he has done for Man City, since May 2022. This shouldn’t be allowed to carry on surely?
Last midweek Kalvin Phillips got a very rare Man City start in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle United and for me looked pretty woeful. He has gone way backwards from what he was at Leeds and no wonder, he never plays! How can he be expected to play at a high standard for anybody, let alone England, when he never plays football week after week, month after month? Man City have an injury crisis supposedly and yet last night Phillips didn’t even get off the bench in their Champions League match.
Harry Maguire is same story, starting eight Premier League matches these past 17 months, in the same period fifteen starts for England!
Man Utd are a complete mess at the moment, especially at the back, they have injuries in defence, yet Tuesday night he didn’t even get on the pitch as they lost 3-2 at home to Galatasaray. Even with injuries and woeful defending, Erik ten Hag still won’t play Maguire, he even appears to be behind free transfer veteran Jonny Evans! Yet Gareth Southgate still picks him for squad AND no doubt the team this month.
Honestly, I think Gareth Southgate is the luckiest England manager of all time, his team and squad selections are appalling and his negative tactics have in my opinion, stopped England winning tournaments, at a time when the opposition around Europe / The World hasn’t been great.
Gareth Southgate has been saved by top quality players who have managed to get England so far, despite Southgate, not because of him. Now Jude Bellingham has landed in his lap, arguably the best player in the world now, how lucky can you get???
If England had a manager to match players like Bellingham, then I think they would have had at least one trophy, if not more, in recent years, plus they’d be knocking bets for these Euros next summer.
Instead, you just know that next summer England will stumble through their group against weak opposition and then almost for sure, exit once they play somebody decent.
Until Gareth Southgate goes, nothing will change.
This is the full England squad for the October matches, included in this official FA announcement – 5 October 2023:
The England men’s senior squad for our games against Australia and Italy has been named.
Head coach Gareth Southgate has called up 26 players for the double-header at Wembley Stadium, with Australia first up on Friday 13 October before Italy follow in a UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier on Tuesday 17 October.
There’s a recall to the Three Lions squad for attackers Jarrod Bowen and Ollie Watkins, with both players involved for the first time since 2022.
And defender John Stones is back in the group, after missing the September matches against Ukraine and Scotland through injury.
The squad will meet at St. George’s Park on Monday to begin their preparations, before heading south ahead of the first game with the Socceroos. A limited number of tickets are still on sale for this game.
Luciano Spalletti’s Azzurri side then return to Wembley for what will be the fourth game between the nations in just over a year, following last season’s Nations League contests. An extremely limited number of tickets remain on sale for this game.
England remain in first place in their UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying group going into October, currently six points clear of Italy who will play their game-in-hand against Malta on Saturday 14 October.
The final games of the qualifying stage will take place in November when England play Malta at Wembley Stadium before finishing up with the trip to North Macedonia.
The Squad
Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
We have become so used to his ridiculous squad selections but this time I felt really sick. Yes, it is Newcastle United first every time for me BUT we also want our players to get the proper recognition they deserve, to get those call ups for their country when they deserve it.
Leave a Reply