Southgate salvo over discipline
Fury after Walker red card
GARETH Southgate has warned his England players he will not tolerate any further lapses in discipline after Kyle Walker received the first red card of his reign.
The Manchester City defender admitted after the 1-0 win in Iceland that he feared for his long-term future in the squad; he was as distraught as Southgate was angry after he was dismissed for a reckless challenge midway through the second half.
Southgate will not close the door permanently on Walker, who apologised to the team and is suspended for tomorrow’s Nations League fixture in Denmark, but he would not offer him any guarantees for the long term, given the competition at right-back.
Walker will not face any financial punishment from the Football Association for the sending-off — England’s first since Raheem Sterling was dismissed in a friendly against Ecuador in June 2014 — but Southgate will use the incident to educate his group about how costly errors of judgment can be.
‘We wouldn’t have brought Kyle back into the squad if we didn’t think he could do the job,’ said Southgate.
‘His form for the team who have been the best in England — or the equivalent best in England over the previous two years — was very, very good.’
Whether Walker, who called his sliding challenge ‘unacceptable’, will get the chance to secure his 50th cap remains to be seen.
There had been 15 months between his 48th and 49th appearances and the form of Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander Arnold and Manchester United youngster Aaron Wan-Bissaka illustrate the size of the task which faces the 30-year-old.
‘He knows he made an error that shouldn’t have happened,’ added Southgate. ‘He’s been very open and honest, holding his hands up to that.
‘He’s still a very experienced player. There is competition for places. I think Kieran Trippier did an excellent job at left-back.
‘He was defensively very solid, used the ball securely and allowed us to keep our midfield players a bit higher and our wingers wider.
‘So, yes, there are other players in those positions, there is that competition. I’m certainly not going to rule out Kyle in the long term on that one moment.’
To understand how strict Southgate is when it comes to discipline, the best examples come from his time when managing the Under-21s. He saw three players sent off during his three-year reign; two — Andre Wisdom (September 2013) and Jordon Ibe (March 2015) were never picked again.
‘Players I’ve left out previously from any squad, it won’t have been because of just one situation,’ said the England manager.
‘We were very conscious with the Under-21s to talk to the team about discipline because we’ve learned what had happened with the seniors in the past.’