Why has it taken this long to sort out whether he's banned or not? That's nearly as ridiculous as calling him for games he can't play in. Someone at the club really needs to deal with these national teams better. A number of them are taking the piss with us.
Congratulations to Walker-Peters. Well deserved. Mitchell's had an excellent season, too. I'm sure that's been noticed.
Oh, are we on another sabbatical again just when we’ve reached the business end of the season again? Great
Sam Johnstone and Ollie Watkins have also been called up. Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Tammy Abraham dropped out. England squad Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope Defenders: Conor Coady, Marc Guehi, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Tyrick Mitchell, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kyle Walker-Peters, Ben White Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse Forwards: Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Raheem Sterling, Ollie Watkins
Fixtures for this break: England: Switzerland (H) Saturday 26th 5.30pm, Ivory Coast (H) Tuesday 29th 7.45pm. Scotland: Poland (H) Thursday 24th 7.45pm, TBD Tuesday 29th 7.45pm. Wales: Austria (H) Thursday 24th 7.45pm. World Cup Qualifier. Northern Ireland: Luxembourg (A) Friday 25th 7.15pm, Hungary (H) Tuesday 29th 7.45pm. Republic: Belgium (H) Saturday 25th 5pm, Lithuania (H) Tuesday 29th 7.45pm. All matches are friendlies, barring the noted match between Wales and Austria. Scotland were due to be playing Ukraine in their 2nd fixture, which was also a qualifier. It's not clear if they're going to have another game or not at the moment.
Key fixtures to keep an eye on 24th March South Korea vs Iran Sweden vs Czech Republic Uruguay vs Peru Colombia vs Bolivia Wales vs Austria Italy vs North Macedonia Estonia vs Cyprus Sierra Leone vs Turkey 25th March France vs Ivory Coast Argentina vs Venezuela Senegal vs Egypt 26th March England vs Switzerland Denmark vs Netherlands Ireland vs Belgium 27th March Sierra Leone vs Liberia 29th March England vs Ivory Coast South Korea vs UAE France vs South Africa Denmark vs Serbia Ireland vs Lithuania Holland vs Germany Senegal vs Egypt Estonia vs Cyprus Sierra Leone vs Congo-Brazzaville 30th March Argentina vs Ecuador Uruguay vs Chile Colombia vs Venezuela
I don't see the point in playing Kane. He's about the most nailed on player in the team and will start in the WC. What benefit is there playing him in friendlies?
I imagine he simply wants to play. He’s captain of his country and you wouldn’t put it past him to go 2nd in the scoring charts even if he only plays one of the games. They’re friendlies though so I imagine he’ll only get on the pitch for one of the games, and not for 90 mins.
I suspect that Kane will be looking to have at least 49 goals by the end of this fixture batch, In terms of starting, the quality of opposition will determine the starting XIs (given that Southgate should be trying to look as many current tier 2 prospects as possible without getting a thrashing) .
I agree with you but Kane like most top players just wants to play as much football as possible. His annual ankle injury is overdue isn’t it
They’re friendlies in a WC year and he has multiple new and inexperienced players in the camp. He won’t want to lose games but he’ll want to see how the likes of Watkins and some of the others do against decent opposition. Kane will probably start one game and come on in the other, given there’s only 2 9s in the squad.
Hasn't he done enough of that? I think that's the difference with him and some other players. He's always got something to target. It's better than thinking you've made it as soon as you sign your first contract.
The law of averages says two home friendlies means a couple of goals for him. The thing about high achievers in sport - particularly those who can break the numbers stats (most goals, most runs etc) - is that they are insatiable. He wants that top goalscorer for England accolade, make no mistake. And it’s one he should hold for a decade at least, if not very much longer.
He needs 1 to catch Bobby Charlton and 5 to catch Rooney. With some tough Nations League games coming up he probably wants to get as close as he can now. I doubt he'll get too many chances against Germany and Italy, though Hungary may be easier.
When somebody asks the two captains "Whose country is a corruption-riddled dystopia run by a populist far-right demagogue?" please log in to view this image
