Get in - chuffed for them both and fully deserved. Must say I am surprised by JWP - I know Southgate rates him very highly from his time in the U21 but still didn't expect it. Let's hope they both get some game time.
Great to see JWP and Ings in there. Outside of that though, what the hell is Southgate doing with Centre Backs? Mings in ahead of Conor Coady, both Burnley CBs, both Sheffield United CBs and Dunk. He also picked Michael Keane who had a terrible season. Also 3 Right Backs, why? He’s also neglected to call up a single left back...
Yeah really crap defence in this squad. Keane should be nowhere near it, I wouldn't swap him for Stephens. 3 right back but 0 left backs - logical. Why not choose Bertrand/Shaw/Cresswell/Taylor/any English premier league left back instead of Trippier?! Very odd.
Think Bertrand blotted his copybook by putting out an article that was scathing about Southgate for not selecting him for 2018 (Southgate got it right on that occasion). But like you say when there are plenty of serviceable English PL left backs to select 0 is ridiculous, they might be average (relatively speaking), but it’s better than playing an RB out of position. I think Taylor might be Welsh mind.
Southgate is a strange one for LBs, only a couple of years ago he picked and played Ashley Young at LB and never picked Bertrand???
Based on ability, he should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Mount and foden are both young and have potential, but Grealish is playing more than both, and a team leader to boot. Baffling.
Not yet, apparently Gareth will give him the nod as soon as he joins a Top 6 team. Although to be fair, he has selected a few from lower end teams.
I think Grealish is incredibly overrated personally. Was completely anonymous for large parts of last season as I remember. Foden looks like twice the player to me.
Yeah - with JWP, Ings, Mings, Rice, Phillips & Pope in the squad I can't see that being the case. Comparing Grealish to JWP/Foden isn't really relevant imo as he plays a very different game to them. IMO he should be in the squad but instead of the likes of Mount or Abraham (not that he is a striker - just that with Kane, Ings, Greenwood & Rashford we have enough up front) Southgate really does stay loyal to players from previously successful squads - look at Trippier for example. He only gets a call up because we got the the world cup semi final 2 years ago.
I agree, I think he must have filled that space with that in mind. To me though, Grealish led villa to the PL, is their captain and leader and his stats for this season put him as the most creative English midfielder. He also tracks back and shows defensive discipline too. He is a really complete midfielder IMO. To call him overrated means you just haven't watched enough villa games. My best mate supports them, so I've watched them loads and he is like a stronger more athletic version of Adam lallana in his prime. Don't be fooled, villa have been terrible this season because of injuries, and the reason they are safe is because of him. Foden is an amazing talent and prospect, but I think I'd have called them both up. Foden has still only played a handful of games.
Grealish could well choose to go play for the ROI now instead, could cost England in future in terms of attacking midfield, however that is one of England’s strengths. The more I look at that squad the weirder it gets. 3 RBs / 0 LBs. Selecting Mings, when there are many MANY better English CBs. Selecting 5 Strikers when he uses a 1 Striker formation. Not selecting Grealish, who we need to compete with ROI for. 5 Central Midfielders. Just looks like an unbalanced rag of a squad.
Southgate has said previously that they effectively have a file on each England player which has a section about how they behave outside of football and their professionalism. It might be that Grealish hasn't been picked because of what he's got up to in previous off seasons, and when he ignored lockdown measures (although so did Kyle Walker and he's in). I'm not completely sold on Grealish though. Foden is several years younger and a much better prospect playing a similar role, in my opinion. The defence and midfield look poor to me. How has Coady not been picked yet?
