Young axe opens door to Shaw
United defender in line for an England recall Southgate to unveil his new-look squad today
Ashley Young has been dropped from Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the games against Spain and Switzerland, which has opened the door for an international recall for Luke Shaw.
Shaw has taken Young’s place at left-back for Manchester United this season and is now expected to fill the 33-year-old’s England spot when Southgate names his first post-world Cup squad today.
An England recall for Shaw, ahead of Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand, would cap an encouraging start to the season for the 23-yearold, despite United losing two out of their first three games. He was singled out for praise by United manager Jose Mourinho after the 3-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night and his hard work has also been noticed by Southgate.
The squad for the Uefa Nations League game against Spain on Saturday Sept 8 and the friendly with Switzerland on the following Tuesday will take on a new look from the one that finished fourth in the World Cup.
Other than Shaw’s potential inclusion, the decisions of Gary Cahill and Jamie Vardy to stand aside leave gaps in the centre of defence and up front.
Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, who missed the World Cup through injury, will come in for Cahill and there may be another space in defence because of the injury Phil Jones suffered against Spurs.
Martin O’neill, the Republic of Ireland manager, this week revealed that Southgate had convinced Declan Rice, of West Ham, to consider switching allegiances to England, while Burnley’s James Tarkowski has been watched.
With Eric Dier able to drop into defence, the injury to Jones could also open up a place in midfield, with Phil Foden (Manchester City) Leicester’s James Maddison and Watford pair Will Hughes and Nathaniel Chalobah in contention.
Vardy’s absence leaves Southgate with a dilemma. Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson has scored twice in three appearances this season, while Danny Ings has already got off the mark for Southampton.
Jadon Sancho, alternatively, could come in, even though he would not be a like-for-like replacement for Vardy. The 18-year-old is a winger, but he has impressed at Borussia Dortmund and, along with Manchester City’s Foden, is a young player Southgate has his eye on.
While Everton’s Jordan Pickford is Southgate’s undisputed No 1, Southgate must decide whether to stick with Jack Butland now he is playing in the Championship and on the best alternative to the injured Nick Pope. Southampton’s Alex Mccarthy seems the most likely beneficiary of Pope’s absence.
A recall for Shaw would give the former Southampton player his first England cap since March last year, when he made a late substitute appearance against Germany. Before then, he had not played for his country for almost two years, but Southgate made it clear Shaw was very much on his radar when he picked him last year.
“Generally, we’ve tried to pick players who are playing regularly, and one or two have missed out because of that,” Southgate said in March 2017. “Luke is probably the exception. He’s a player we have a lot of belief in. Having worked with him before, we think he can be an important player for the future.”
Despite his age, Young has not retired from international football but it seems Shaw and Tottenham’s Danny Rose are now going to compete for his left wing-back spot.
Rose does not expect to leave Spurs before the end of the month and has thanked manager Mauricio Pochettino for giving him another chance. “I’m good,” said Rose. “I’m not listening to the speculation about my future. If I’m here past Friday, which I’m expecting to be, it will be great. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve.
“Me and the manager have had a conversation [about my future] over the phone, as well as two onehour meetings over the last couple of weeks. We’re both aware of the situation.”
Rose, who started the victory over United at Old Trafford, added: “Monday night was massive for me, even though there is speculation. [Pochettino] still trusts and believes in me to put me into such a massive game, where he didn’t need to change anything. For me, over the last four or five years we’ve worked together, Monday is probably the biggest thing he has done for me.
“I have to thank him because it would have been easy for him not to play me given the speculation. If I’m called upon, I’m going to give everything, like I did on Monday. If I play again, I hope to have a better first half than I had.”