You best not mess with Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate stamped his authority on the England squad the day he dropped Wayne Rooney in Ljubljana, according to defender Danny Rose.
Southgate was leading his country for only the second time, and on an interim basis, when he decided to axe the Three Lions’ record goalscorer for a World Cup qualifier in Slovenia in October 2016 – a move which proved he was “not to be messed with”.
Rooney had captained the team in a 2-0 Wembley win over Malta just three days earlier and expected to do so all the way through to Russia.
But Southgate had already started to realise the squad’s biggest star did not fit his plan for a young, hungry and athletic team. England drew the match 0-0, with Rooney a second-half substitute, but the die was cast and he retired from international duty the following summer with 53 goals from 119 caps.
“I definitely didn’t expect the manager to drop him against Slovenia. We all then knew that gaffer was not somebody to be messed around with,” said Rose ahead of tomorrow’s Group G opener v Tunisia.
“He’s dropped, arguably, one of the best England players ever and the top goalscorer as well. It was a huge shock for all of us, especially when Wayne announced he was retiring.”
It set the tone for a series of hard calls Southgate has made since taking charge, with Craig Shakespeare and Sammy Lee eased off the coaching staff, Joe Hart left behind in England despite starting nine out of 10 qualifiers, and Chris Smalling and Jack Wilshere overlooked.
Worries about Southgate being too nice to take the tough decisions have emphatically been put to bed.
“His first camp, he didn’t employ
certain people,” said Rose.“You know he has a nice side to him, but he also has a side you don’t want to cross. It literally is buy into what he and his coaching staff believe or he won’t choose you.
“You either want to be here or you don’t. If you are here, you have to get on board with everything, and I think that’s what everybody’s done.”
Rose was part of the starting XI beaten by Iceland at Euro 2016 – a seismic event which he appears to lay at the door of then manager Roy Hodgson and his coaching staff.
“Some of the preparation for the Euros I would have liked to do differently, especially for the Iceland game,” he said.
“What we were doing in training was completely different to how Iceland played in the game,” he added, seemingly holding back from saying more. “I can say now everything we’ve done in training here is exactly what we’ve seen in the videos from Tunisia. There can be no excuses, no arguments. The gaffer has given us all the right tools to be ready.”
Reflecting on the occasionally bumpy road which has taken England to Russia, Rose added: “Looking back from the Euros, it’s mad that we’ve had two managers since then. Now we have a new captain as well. I don’t know, it’s pretty surreal when you think about it. We’ve all had to move on and who better to captain the side now than Harry Kane?”
Nick Pope has given his seal of approval to England’s penalty-takers after getting a front-row seat in training.
Manager Gareth Southgate knows better than most about the pressure of shoot-outs due to his famous miss at Euro 96 – and has ensured his squad have had plenty of practice from 12 yards.
Pope has joined Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford in trying to keep the ball out of the net, but has been impressed by the quality of the strikes.
“It’s looking good. I’ve faced them and I’ve not got near too many,” said the Burnley man.
“We’ve all had a strike, all 23. The standard has been really high to be honest.
“It’s an enjoyable thing to do at the end of training. There’s always a winning team and a losing team lined up on the halfway line. There’s always something on it.
“Penalties are a skill, you’ve got to practice. It’s just like you practice your passing and your other drills.”
Pope, who edged the experienced Joe Hart for a place in Southgate’s squad and won his first cap as a sub against Costa Rica earlier this month, is likely to start the tournament as third choice. Jordan Pickford looks certain to pip Jack Butland, having been handed the No. 1 shirt.
“Jordan had a great season at Everton,” said Pope of the 24-year-old. “Obviously, they started sticky, but he was one that really shone throughout that period and carried on when the team’s results picked up. That’s a great measure of his character.”