England eye chance to make a statement with perfect send-off to Euros
Says players know they need to impress against Poland hsouthgate whittling down potential picks for summer
There is a constantly updating list Gareth Southgate keeps of the “batting order in every position, a depth chart, at any given time” of who is in and who is out of his 23-man England squad for the forthcoming European Championship.
But while the England manager was careful to stress that today’s final competitive fixture ahead of the tournament, against Poland, was about taking a significant step towards qualifying for next year’s World Cup, Declan Rice was a bit more revealing.
“It is a chance to go out and make a statement and put on a good performance,” the midfielder said. He added that it was the “last chance” to stake a claim for inclusion, and especially because Poland represent a step up in competition and are “closer to the opposition we will be facing in the Euros” after routine victories over San Marino and Albania.
There is little doubt that whichever permutations Southgate is looking at,
Rice will make the final cut should he remain fit. But, of course, that “should” is a heavy qualification given the demanding workloads on the players and that no one knows where we will be in terms of the pandemic. Southgate does not just have his chart, but is also working towards three scenarios as to how he can best prepare his squad ahead of kicking off against Croatia at Wembley – we expect – on June 11. To put it simply, these are the “best and worst case, and somewhere in the middle” depending on the virus. In other words – normal life, a halfway house or lockdown.
“We know everything is changing all the time and changes within hours. We are no different to anyone else in our country. We are having to adapt to changes weekly and hourly. It is an ever-moving feast,” Southgate explained.
His plan is to name a squad in eight weeks, a day or two after the end of the Premier League season, although that may prove even more problematic given the strong chance that at least one English team, and possibly more, might feature in the Champions League final in Istanbul and the Europa League final in Gdansk. Where will we be at with “bubbles” and travel, and restrictions and exemptions by then? Players could go from one limited environment to the next while the country is opening up.
Uefa wants a final 23-man squad to be submitted by June 1, with England playing warm-up matches against Austria on June 2 and Romania on June 6. Even then, Uefa has not decided what scale of dispensation nations will be allowed should players drop out because of Covid-19, and whether they should be able to call up players outside their bubbles or even have enlarged squads. This is all part of Southgate’s meticulous planning, while the old complaint about England squads – that they struggle with boredom when isolated – has gone by the way, given what everyone has been through in the past year. That is one unexpected bonus, although England expelled that nonsense with their togetherness in Russia three years ago.
“There’s all those different criteria that you have to work your way through to reach the best possible decision,” Southgate said of his final squad selection. “It’s not as easy as picking the three 100metres runners for the Olympics. The three with the best times get selected.
“Selecting a football squad or team is much more nuanced and, of course, that’s going to cause debate or disagreement. But I think our processes and the way we track the players is as thorough as it can be.”
The re-emergence of John Stones, “who can handle these kinds of occasions”, and Luke Shaw – not just in the squad, but in the team – has changed things, although Southgate is cautious enough to know he cannot be dependent on certain players. Injuries may dictate. Still the idea that he is wedded to a 3-4-3 has gone – even if he may take this approach against Poland – with the 4-3-3 also easily morphed, with Kyle Walker becoming a third centreback and Shaw stepping forward.
Even without Robert Lewandowski, Poland will provide a test, and anything short of a convincing victory for Southgate will feel like a damaging setback to not just reaching the World Cup but his Euro plans. Southgate has already suggested he is working with a core group of 31 – the 24 he has with him at present, maybe 23 without goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, plus seven or eight others who, presumably, are drawn from Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Jordan Pickford, Jack Grealish, Jordan Henderson, Jadon Sancho and possibly Harvey Barnes, Danny Ings, Tammy Abraham and Trent Alexander-arnold. He has whittled it down already.
England could do with an uplifting performance against Poland. It might make Southgate’s choices easier, but also less open to debate.