I’LL PROVE GARETH IS WRONG TO DROP ME ‘I find it hard to take but I’ll still be cheering on England’ ‘If you look at the stats, I deserve to be on the plane’
RYAN BERTRAND EXCLUSIVE
RYAN BERTRAND was enjoying the second evening of an end-of-season family holiday in abu Dhabi when the phone call from Gareth Southgate came.
The Southampton defender has become part of the england furniture in recent years. He was in the squad at euro 2016 and started six consecutive games under Southgate last year, yet here came the shattering news that he would not be on the plane to russia.
Instead, the england manager explained, ashley young, Danny rose and Fabian Delph would vie for the left wing-back berth.
‘It was a short getaway to be back in time for england,’ Bertrand says. ‘Then the phone rang... it was more shock, silence and reflection. The chat wasn’t too long. He broke the news, there were some awkward silences and then it was over.
‘I didn’t try to convince him he is wrong. That was pointless, it was done, the decision was made.
‘It was nice that he had the respect to call me. I never presume but I was pretty confident I would be on the plane. I had been heavily involved, so it was a surprise. There were no hints during previous meet-ups that I had to change — or that I would be left out.’
The next morning brought a more emotional conversation with his mother Debbie. ‘That was hard,’ he admits. ‘She was upset. She was the one always there on the touchline with me as a kid. On those cold Sunday mornings and wet Tuesday nights when I was at Gillingham, we dreamed about World Cups.
‘But we are realistic. She doesn’t think I’m Messi! The whole thing has put me into a state of reflection, questioning ifs, buts and maybes. Should I have done this or that? I analysed my season. I was in a relegation battle, which is not ideal.
‘But on individual comparisons, I deserve to be on the plane. I assessed my game time and contributions against my rivals and I was very competitive, if not leading in the statistics. s. I did not really understand the e logic. With the numbers, it did not t really add up.’
The statistics do show that t Bertrand played more games, s, made more tackles, crossed more balls and headed more away than any of his direct england d competitors.
asked last week to name his s most difficult opponent in the e Premier League, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva immediately name-checked Bertrand.
The versatility of young and d Delph has been mentioned as a reason for their inclusion.
Bertrand counters: ‘But I played d wing-back in a five at the end of the season, which is how england d play. I also played in a central three e for Southampton with Virgil van Dijk and Jose Fonte, and we went on Southampton’s record clean sheet run, six on the bounce.
‘ I played left midfield in a Champions League final for Chelsea. It is perhaps an oversight in the manager’s analysis and I find that hard to take.’
earlier this week rose said that Bertrand would be entitled to feel ‘very angry’. any anger has now subsided. ‘It is deflating,’ Bertrand says. ‘I can dwell on these things, it affects my mood and I’m a deep thinker. But now I pick myself up and show what I’m about. It is in my mentality to show everyone how wrong the manager was by being even better next season.’
Bertrand is sincere in his views. He is determined rather than arrogant. He will work hard to push o on — as he always has. as a teenager, he spent summer holidays laying floors for pocket money.
His business interests are extensive. He has dabbled in stocks and shares, developed and sold a Fintech company and is now making incursions into the e-sports industry. In his Marble arch office, he spends long hours on his laptop, dreaming up new concepts for his businesses.
‘I look at my younger self and sometimes think what a shambles I was,’ says the 28-year-old.
‘you are headstrong as a kid. I look back and think, “I thought I knew everything”. now I want to pass on my experience to younger players so they don’t repeat the mistakes of my generation.
‘Management appeals but business interests me more; how to run a football club. Gerard Pique
did a course at Harvard University — a diploma in the sport and entertainment industry. I would love to do that.’
We meet in Bertrand’s beautifully designed house in Surrey. At heart, however, he remains a south London boy and childhood memories stirred his senses in the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster.
‘I felt an urgency to help,’ Bertrand says. ‘ There are so many disasters in the world that pass us by but this was on our doorstep. It could have been my family or my friends. I grew up in similar circumstances in Peckham.
‘I have family in tower blocks. I spoke to those who survived, those who lost loved ones. I want to help them get back on track.
‘We have a project in the pipeline. I thought, “How can I do more and use who I am to benefit somebody else?” I have seen stories of people being relocated. But those areas are very community-driven.
‘Those people need each other. I read that some were still in hotels — it is not good enough. These people need a base, an address. Not knowing where you will be tomorrow is a horrible thing.’
The streets and football cages of Peckham are where Bertrand’s talents first emerged. He smiles: ‘If there were two lamp-posts a decent width apart, it was enough for a game. Jumpers for goalposts. Peckham at night was like our Wembley.’ As Bertrand looks to reclaim his England place, questions emerge over his future. Bertrand has been linked with Manchester City.
It is reasonable to wonder whether Southampton’s flirtation with relegation damaged his England aspirations. Bertrand ended last season as captain following Van Dijk’s departure.
‘When I walked into the dressing room for the big win at Swansea, I was locker No 26. It made me think of John Terry and I took energy. It was a huge game.
‘The Champions League final for Chelsea in 2012 was a beautiful pressure; everything to gain. It ended with us on a rooftop hotel and Didier Drogba throwing me into a swimming pool. But this game for Southampton, it was so big because the club had made great strides and it was all at risk.’ He diagnoses Southampton’s shortcomings with honesty.
‘As a club, we suffered from complacency. In one sense, it is good that it happened because we now get back on track. At one point, it seemed there was no accountability, no light, no way forward. Then Mark Hughes came. We trained at a higher intensity in the week and the attitude was back on track.
‘When I first arrived, you could sense the ambition at the club. We were top four at Christmas one year, we won games at Old Trafford. We used to be arrogant but a nice arrogance where we went to places and big teams thought, “Southampton could do us here”. We lost that mindset a little bit. Did my club situation influence Gareth’s decision? It probably had some sort of sway.
‘But the flipside is a manager could assess it and think, “If X player is doing that much in an under-performing team, how much could he do in a team dominating games and attacking non-stop?” Surely those numbers would only improve.’
And as for his future? ‘There is paper-talk. It is flattering but it is not the reality. I am a Southampton player.
‘This summer, I will be watching the World Cup and cheering on the England team. But I will be working on myself, getting fitter.
‘I want to prove my competitive side, go out and show again I am up there with the best.’