England called up two players on Monday, four days after naming a 23-man squad which featured one player who was never going to be fit for the upcoming internationals, according to his club manager. Elsewhere, Claudio Ranieri’s Watford appointment also breaks the internet, while Kylian Mbappe is doing what players do during the international break.
WHAT’S GARETH UP TO EH?
Oh no, not an England squad rant. Trying. To. Resist. But. Can’t… And Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram going down hasn’t helped either…
Right. Shall we all just take a moment to consider what it takes to get into Gareth Southgate’s England squad? If you’re Ben Chilwell, 231 minutes of football this season warrants a call-up – which includes just the one Premier League appearance. Hmm.
If you’re Tammy Abraham, four goals to kick-start your Roma career in style also warrants a call-up. Deserved.
All this after Reece James was initially named in the squad despite Thomas Tuchel revealing last week he was training in the swimming pool and no one at England had thought to contact Chelsea.
All this after Reece James was initially named in the squad despite Thomas Tuchel revealing last week he was training in the swimming pool and no one at England had thought to contact Chelsea.
He’ll compete with captain Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins for a start, but where was he originally?Southgate already openly admitted Jadon Sancho does not deserve a place based on current performances, but feels “invested” in the Manchester United winger and wants to help him go up another level.
So what exactly is the criteria? His explanations create a web of confusion for those knocking on the door but getting no reply. There seems to be little reward for the actual in-form English players. Conor Gallagher, Demarai Gray, Ivan Toney and Andros Townsend immediately spring to mind, and the quartet all feature in the top 50 Premier League players in terms of rating this season so far on WhoScored.com. Yes, yes, by no means a barometer Southgate is consulting, but of the 11 English players in the top 50, only Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jack Grealish and Declan Rice are in the squad (Dwight McNeil, Jarrod Bowen, Mason Greenwood and Aaron Wan-Bissaka the other overlooked players).
If he doesn’t consider form, though, then Abraham’s inclusion contradicts this, to tangle matters, but it’s getting difficult to keep up. There’s also Jude Bellingham and Mason Greenwood, who both missed out.“They don’t come as a pair but they’re both in similar situations, they are young players with heavy workloads at the moment,” Southgate had said last week, which seems fair of course, although Sancho is only a year older than Greenwood, and also played the Euros when the latter did not. Again, consistency is somewhat lacking, and okay I’ll shut up now.
WELCOME CLAUDIO
Some say Watford’s media team are already drafting the “we wish Claudio Ranieri well for the future” article and social media posts.Yes indeed, it’s another very original take on Watford’s hire-and-fire policy, but is anyone expecting this to last the season?
If Watford slip further down the Premier League table, Ranieri won’t be hanging around, if they remain 15th – and yes, they’re still 15th and not rooted to the bottom of the table – then it’s unlikely Ranieri will hang around either.
