OUR KIDS ARE TOO GOOD TO WASTE

As Loftus-Cheek fails to fire for England, a plea for more game time at club level

THIS weekend Gareth Southgate will take the opportunity to attend two games in the space of a few hours, making the short journey from Wembley to Watford.

He will do so as part of what is becoming an increasingly difficult search for the endangered species otherwise known as the English Premier League footballer.

Southgate has already noted the drop in the number of English players now commanding a start- SPAIN embarrassed World Cup finalists Croatia with a six-goal masterclass to top England’s Nations League group. Saul Niguez headed in the first and Marco Asensio scored the second before a Lovre Kalinic own goal made it 3-0. Asensio then set up Rodrigo for the fourth before Sergio Ramos and Isco completed the rout. It was a Croatian nightmare and makes England’s loss to Spain seem respectful. ing place for their clubs in the top flight. He pointed out two weeks ago that it was down to an alltime low of just over 30 per cent.

So on Saturday the England manager will dash from what promises to be a fascinating game between Tottenham and Liverpool to watch Watford take on Manchester United.

It does make sense when he might actually get the chance to assess young players of the quality of Will Hughes and Nathaniel Chalobah in action for Watford. A more worthwhile exercise, say, than watching Chelsea.

So far this season only one English player, Ross Barkley, has started for Maurizio Sarri’s side, and only in two of their four Premier League games. But it is two more starts than the one Chelsea player who is in this England squad, with Ruben Loftus- Cheek limited to two substitute appearances.

While Southgate has ignored Barkley on this occasion, LoftusCheek has kept his place and understandably so given the contribution he made at the World Cup in Russia.

But when Southgate bemoaned the fact that he was picking players for this friendly with Switzerland because some of them needed precious minutes on the pitch they have been unable to secure at their clubs, he did so with individuals like Loftus- Cheek in mind. One should not condemn a 22-year-old midfielder for backing himself to break into the Chelsea team rather than spend another season on loan.

But already the signs are not promising, his failure to get on the pitch until the 68th minute of one game and the 79th minute of another suggesting his ambition is not going to be realised any time soon when Sarri has such strength in depth in midfield.

If Loftus-Cheek wants to remain central to Southgate’s plans, it might not be long before he has to think about moving away from Stamford Bridge. Especially

DANNY ROSE revealed that England held a half-time dressing-room inquest before labouring to victory over Switzerland. Gareth Southgate made nine changes to his starting XI and England were lucky to come in level at the break. But an improved second-half showing and Marcus Rashford’s second goal in as many games ensured the win. ‘Our first-half performance was embarrassing but it’s great we can shout at each other to change things,’ said the Tottenham defender, who impressed as England bounced back from Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Spain. ‘We could have been 2-0 or 3-0 down at half-time,’ Rose added. ‘It’s great we can all shout at each other and tell each other to improve like we did. In the end, we are over the moon to keep a clean sheet and get back to winning ways.’ England coach Gareth Southgate welcomed the exchange. ‘I wasn’t in there at that moment,’ he said. ‘We always give them the first three or four minutes to themselves and encourage them to have a voice. It’s important they feel close enough that they can get on to each other. Then we have to make sure that doesn’t boil over. But it was quite calm by the time we got in there. That’s a good sign there’s some leadership in the group. ‘We know the performance could have been better. It’s not been a perfect week by any means, but it’s a win.’