England’s pool of talent is drying up, warns Southgate
AS well as all but calling time on the international careers of the three eldest members of his World Cup squad, Gareth Southgate appears to have retired one or two items of clothing.
Ashley Young, Jamie Vardy and Gary Cahill have gone but so, too, he suggested at St George’s Park yesterday, has the waistcoat and what he essentially describes as easy caps. ‘I’m not sure I’ll ever wear a waistcoat again quite frankly,’ said England’s manager with a smile.
He was frank on a number of subjects, walking into his first posttournament press conference with something of an agenda.
He made the point that a further reduction in English players starting in the Premier League — at the weekend it was down to 30 per cent — was only going to make his job more difficult. But he also wanted to deliver a message that selection for his squad is going to prove harder to secure.
When trying to identify where progress can be made after guiding his side to the World Cup semifinal, Southgate explained that he wants to increase the competition for places. It was why, he said, he had not simply opened to the door to exciting young prospects like Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho.
‘What have they done to warrant an England senior call-up?’ he said. ‘We’re as excited by them as anyone, but given the profile of some of those lads at the moment we’ve got to be really careful. There are issues. How much are they going to play for their clubs?
‘If I’m going to elevate them internationally I have to ask, is that realistic? It should be harder. It’s been too easy to get into the England squad for some of the youngsters over the last 36 months.
‘The comparison is Spain. Next week we’re playing Spain, who have to replace David Silva and Andres Iniesta and the question is — is it Koke, Fabregas, Saul or Thiago Alcantara? It depends how good we want to be and what level we want to challenge at.’
It is a powerful argument but not an entirely flawless one when the squad includes players such as Adam Lallana and Fabian Delph who have had very little football this season. Southgate responded by claiming it would be unfair to make widespread changes.
Luke Shaw returns to the fold at the expense of his Manchester United team-mate Young. Interestingly, Southgate said it would be ‘unfair to say Ashley was happy’ at his decision, before acknowledging that Shaw has not always made the best lifestyle choices.
‘In terms of his maturity, he has been a little later than some,’ said Southgate. ‘But the great thing is that he has taken that on board. It was great to hear him talk about wanting to be one of the best leftbacks in the world.’
Southgate, of course, wants England to rank among the best teams in the world but Premier League statistics highlight his challenges. ‘It’s been a while since we came out of a tournament without a rootand-branch review of English football,’ he said jokingly. ‘But last season we were 33 per cent of the league and this year we are down to 30. In the top six teams we are on a graph, which is a real concern.
‘I can’t rule out players in the Championship now as our pool is getting smaller and smaller.’