Southgate warns Hart he is not safe as England’s No1
Butland and Heaton to replace keeper tonight Stones trains in midfield in ‘Venables’ experiment
Gareth Southgate has claimed that Joe Hart remains England’s firstchoice goalkeeper but has ramped up the pressure on him by revealing that Jack Butland will play the second half of tonight’s friendly against France and Tom Heaton the first.
In a further insight into his thinking, the England manager also confirmed that he had been experimenting with John Stones in central midfield during the squad’s training sessions.
With Eric Dier suspended for the next World Cup qualifier away to Malta on Sept 1, because of his booking against Scotland last Saturday, Stones could be used in midfield at some point against France with that next game in mind.
Southgate is also considering reverting to a back three – which showed encouraging signs in the friendly defeat by Germany – against the French.
Harry Kane will again captain England in a clear sign that he will take the role permanently. Butland and the injured Jordan Henderson are his main challengers.
It will also be the first game England have played using the Video Assistant Referee system that is being introduced in the domestic cup competitions next season.
The possible use of Stones highlights the dearth of midfield options available to Southgate, a problem he admitted after the 2-2 draw against Scotland last Saturday. Hart appeared at fault for both of Scotland’s goals – he was slow to react to Leigh Griffiths’s free-kicks – and Southgate said Hart had analysed his performance with goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson.
The apparent errors have sharpened the focus on Hart, who is looking for a new club with his loan at Torino having ended and there being no place for him at Manchester City. But asked who is the “number one”, Southgate said: “Joe Hart. Next season we don’t know who will be playing at which club, who will be in form. Joe has been excellent for us.
“The goals on Saturday were the first he’d conceded in qualifying, and we owe him for Slovenia [Hart made a superb save to preserve a draw]. His contribution around the group has been excellent since I’ve been manager. That said, I don’t want anyone to feel completely comfortable in [their] position because that’s not helpful. We want competition for places.”
Heaton, the 31-year-old Burnley goalkeeper, will make his first start for England with Southgate saying that “statistically he’s probably the highest performing English goalkeeper in the league this year”.
Butland will replace Heaton at half-time, which is a huge blow to Fraser Forster, who is the only one of the four goalkeepers in the squad who will not feature in either match.
“I’ve spoken to him and of course he’s disappointed,” Southgate said. “More so for him because I know he’s travelled quite a bit and not had the number of matches he’d have
liked. It’s very difficult. We’ve got these four guys, Jordan Pickford, and a couple of others who come into the equation when they come up [from the Championship].” That would appear to refer to Brighton’s David Stockdale and Karl Darlow, of Newcastle United.
Butland, who was Southgate’s captain with the under-21s, is highly regarded by the management and, tellingly, has been immediately brought back into the squad despite having played only five Premier League games after more than a year out through injury.
“Jack, I worked with him at under-21s level and I went to an Under-20s World Cup with him and a Euros Under-21s. I know his mentality and the strength he has,” Southgate said.
“I know Jack is a goalkeeper of high potential and I have huge belief that Tom wants that position as well. Let’s see what they do next season with their clubs and the way they perform each week.”
Stones was left out of the Scotland match because, Southgate said, he had not featured “for seven weeks” for his club, Manchester City. He will start against France but the question of where he plays is intriguing, with Southgate revealing he has experimented with using him in midfield.
“I think he could do that,” he said. “We had a look at that in training last week, in fact. I also think we want defenders who can bring the ball out and show composure. I think he could do either of those jobs. When [former England manager] Terry [Venables] did it, it was genius.”
Genius, also, because he did it with Southgate! “You’ve asked me if he [Stones] is an option [in midfield]. I think he is,” Southgate added. “He’s a player who’s very comfortable receiving possession. He has all the attributes and capabilities to play as a holding midfield player. He obviously hasn’t done that yet, really, so that’s a decision we have to make. But do I believe he can play that role? Absolutely.”
Alex Oxlade-chamberlain, who came on and scored against Scotland, is also expected to start alongside Raheem Sterling, with Southgate promising to make a number of changes and use up to six substitutes as he signs off the season. “We don’t have many opportunities to try things, try players, so we have to take those opportunities,” he said.
England have used an alternative base to the one at Chantilly, near Paris, where they stayed during Euro 2016. Fortunately it was fully booked, saving them unwelcome reminders of that debacle.