Southgate discards England’s old guard
Gareth Southgate has finally slammed the door on England’s old guard as he looks to build on his emerging side’s impressive World Cup campaign.
Just eight weeks after their first appearance in the World Cup semifinals since 1990, England manager Southgate will be back on the touchline for tomorrow’s Uefa Nations League opener against Spain at Wembley.
Southgate has opted for a young squad, with 28-year-old Fabian Delph the oldest member after Gary Cahill, Jamie Vardy and Ashley Young were ushered out of the group that went to the World Cup.
“We think we’ve got a strong squad. We’re three games into a new season and we looked through a lot of different players over the last couple of years,” Southgate said.
“We decided that because of the way we want to play and the type of players we want to work with, there are some guys that didn’t fit that model.”
Looking ahead to England’s Euro 2020 qualifying fixtures, Southgate plans to allow more young players to follow in the footsteps of Marcus Rashford, John Stones, Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling and company.
“There’s a couple of others that are still young, that still have room for growth – the Chalobahs, Will Hughes, Ross Barkleys – but I don’t want to bring them in now, three days into the camp,” he said.
“I’d rather do that when we feel they’re ready.”
Southgate’s focus on youth does not appear to bode well for the likes of Ryan Bertrand, Joe Hart, Chris Smalling, Aaron Cresswell and Jake Livermore.
Bournemouth frontman Callum Wilson, 26, has a chance to break through down the line, but 30-year-old Troy Deeney’s Watford performances are set to go without reward.
“I think Callum is another player we worked with in the under-21s, so we know a lot about Callum,” Southgate told Sky Sports.
“He’s certainly one we have to keep monitoring.
“I think Troy is a player who really suits the way that Watford play and I’m a big fan of his.
“But we play slightly differently, and I think that, for me, the next forward players I see that should be challenging are some of the younger ones.” –