Southgate tells England stars to behave or face the axe
GARETH Southgate has fired a chilling warning to his England squad after axing Phil Fo d e n and Mas o n Greenwood following their Iceland shame.
Foden and Greenwood were omitted from the 30-man squad for the matches against Wales, Belgium and Denmark after they smuggled two females into the team hotel after last month’s win over Iceland.
Southgate, who also provided a pointed response to Jose Mourinho’s stern remarks over his treatment of Harry Kane, has indicated the pair will be r econsidered f or selection in November.
But he insists his decision to leave them out, including for the Under-21s, should serve as a reminder to his squad over the standards he expects them to keep.
The England boss said: ‘ We have to send a message to all our players in our teams at every age level that that sort of thing isn’t how we do things.
‘Then we’ve got to rehabilitate these two boys. Young people will make mistakes. These lads have suffered enough now. I can speak to them after this camp and it will be just be about their form then.’
Southgate also revealed he would remind his players at St George’s Park next week of their responsibilities.
‘We will discuss the shirt, what it means to wear the shirt and some reminders on how we work, but that’s not a case of reading the riot act,’ he said.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was handed his debut call-up — along with Leicester’s Harvey Barnes and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka — yesterday after his excellent eight-goal start to the season for Everton.
The 23-year- old striker can expect to make his debut some time next week but Southgate has reopened the door for Jamie Vardy to return. The Leicester forward, 33, stood down from international duty after the 2018 World Cup but has continued to score prolifically i n the Premier League.
Southgate said: ‘We know that Jamie is still around and we still communicate a lot.
‘I think at this moment we are i n agreement that i t’ s good to keep looking at these younger players. But I’m not in any way ruling him out if it’s the right thing at the right time.’
Southgate also turned the tables on Tottenham manager Mourinho, who claimed the
England boss has a duty to restrict the participation of his players — particularly Kane — over the coming days because of fatigue.
With next summer’s Euros in mind, Southgate said Mourinho also needed to look after the striker for England towards the end of the season.
A smiling Southgate said: ‘I agree with Jose but al s o know exactly what he was doing. We know we have got to be responsible. We are conscious of the welfare of the players. The season as a whole is a huge challenge.
‘All Jose needs to do is make sure in April and May that he is looking after Harry Kane for us because there are 55 million people relying on that. That obviously works both ways.’
The England boss also revealed that he has held peace talks with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the Manchester United manager criti ci sed his handling of Greenwood.
‘I have spoken to Ole,’ Southgate said. ‘We have talked it through and are very much on the same page. We want to look after the young players.’
Southgate yesterday outlined some of the restrictions that are being placed on players in the England bubble these days. Masks on at all time. No social i nteraction f or l onger than 15 minutes. No leaving the hotel for a cup of coffee.
It will doubtless be wearisome at times and Southgate will be watching.
If he learned something of the i mmaturity of Foden and Greenwood last month, he will hope to see some altogether more encouraging signs from his squad this time.
For players old and new, there are valuable points to be scored.
‘We will learn who is resilient and who is adaptable,’ said Southgate. ‘ We’ll l earn who might bail out when the going gets too tough, who might be a good squad member, who might not be and they will all be useful things for us.
‘As a group of staff, we will be ready. I don’t think we could get more curveballs than we got in September but there will be different ones and that will serve us in good stead when we go to tournaments where you have got to be resilient.’