SOUTHGATE SET TO CALL UP DYNAMIC DUO FROM LEEDS
ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate has revealed he is seriously considering call-ups for young Leeds aces Kalvin Phillips and Benwhite when international football resumes in the autumn.
The pair had been influential in Leeds’ drive towards promotion to the Premier League before the pandemic struck – and now they have an extra incentive to shine as they start playing again next weekend.
Southgate was impressed when he monitored their performances through the winter, and by speaking publicly about these two players he is also sending a message to current England stars that nobody’s place in the squad should be taken for granted.
Before the world changed, today was due to be England’s opening fixture of Euro 2020 against Croatia.
Phillips andwhite would not have been playing. But in a year’s time when the European Championships are staged next summer, who knows?
“There’s a group of around 30 players who have been in the frame for the last 12 to 18 months,” said Southgate.
“But now there will be some guys who could come in late. We’ve talked before about people like Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden, but it could be Benwhite or Kalvin Phillips at Leeds, who haven’t played Premier League football yet.
“Those sorts of players could come into the frame.”
Phillips, 24, is a holding midfielder who has been transformed under the management of Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds this season. It is the position in which England have the least strength in depth.
White, 22, who is on loan from Brighton, is the kind of modern and athletic central defender comfortable on the ball that Southgate prefers.
If they can help Leeds into the Premier League it will only boost their England hopes, and Southgate says playing regularly in the top flight is crucial.
He added: “When we’re analysing our players – and we’ve done quite a lot of in-depth analysis over the past months, position by position – we talk about potential a lot.
“The danger is when you’re still talking about potential at 24 and 25. For players like Greenwood and Foden it depends on what their season starts to look like.
“If they have a season of opportunity, like Mason
Mount did this year, playing in the Champions League, in a top four side, playing under pressure, then it can be a great development year for them. Phil (Foden) is definitely a different sort of player, with attributes that are rare in our game.
‘‘In the last few weeks we’ve seen a lot of retro footage of 1990 and 1996, and looking at them you see how Paul Gascoigne was so different to anything else we had.
“But the obvious thing for Phil is that he’s got to play. If he can break into the Manchester City team, he will be in our squad without a doubt.”
Southgate has enjoyed watching the games of history, and added: “There was a re-run of the 1966World Cup Final, which I had never seen. that was fascinating.
“The thing which struck me most was that at 2-1 up, ten minutes to go, we played the ball back to the goalkeeper and the whole crowd started booing because we were wasting time, chanting ‘We Want Three’.
“It shows we have never been a cynical enough nation perhaps to have success at international level.
“Where does our team sit in comparison? Well, I think the teams that played in 90 and 96 were vastly experienced; far more than us. But I think our team is coming, our group is showing more maturity.
“Lots of them have shown that during this lockdown. they are taking responsibility in areas off the field that are part of their development as leaders.
“You have people like Harry Maguire who two years ago was taking baby steps into international football with only four or five caps going into a World Cup.
“He is now the captain of Manchester United, and the additional responsibility and expectation a role like that brings can only be good for our development as a team.
‘‘I think we have an opportunity.”