So why would any of them want to play for him now?

IF YOU were one of the England players Gareth Southgate does not think good enough to be in the squad, why on earth would you bother turning up? What an outrageous thing for a manager to say. I can only assume he’s getting his excuses in early. We will all have our suspicions about who he may have been talking about. But look at the 26-man group — you could find fault with more than half the squad. Players talk and this will create paranoia. There is enough pressure as it is playing for England without the manager adding another unnecessary layer of scrutiny. These comments highlight Southgate’s inexperience as a manager. Few people expect England to win the World Cup but in one sentence he has removed any confidence he has built up in the players. He has risked losing their respect — it’s hard to imagine a player wanting to play for a manager who does not think they are good enough. I cannot remember a single manager I played for saying something as damning as this. Kenny Dalglish and Martin O’Neill would always back you publicly even if you’d had a rotten performance. The consequence was that we would run through brick walls for them. After this, I cannot imagine the England players doing the same for Southgate.