Gareth Southgate now prioritising committed England regulars when it comes to team and squad selection as he seeks to use experience from past tournaments to secure Euro 2024 success; Three Lions boss has handed out just three debuts in past 12 months after 23 in previous two years
Tuesday 6 February 2024 16:33, UK
We've seen a new, football-focused, steely Gareth Southgate since the World Cup - and that could be bad news for England's fringe players, and anyone who doesn't show full commitment to the national team.
Southgate has been England boss for six-and-a-half years, and in that time, he's taken a very rounded approach to the job - understanding and fully embracing his role as figurehead and unofficial spokesperson for the national game.
He's encouraged his young squad to speak their minds, use their profile for good causes, and fight injustice and discrimination whenever they've seen it.
That's why the 'new' Southgate seems such a stark shift from the old.
Still very professional, well-spoken, respectful - that is the mark of the man. But now, if you ask a football question with a moral or political edge, Southgate will deflect it.
He wants to focus on football, and it seems he won't any more be drawn into wider issues - unless they suit his cause.
That's a significant change in the England manager's public persona, but more importantly it coincides with a significant shift in the way he is dealing with the players.
When he took the job in 2016, he spoke passionately and idealistically about his football philosophy: to get a chance with England, you had to be playing regularly and playing well for your club.
"Impossible," was what he now calls that ambition, when I asked him at the start of this international break why so many in-form Premier League players had been left out of his squad. He will pick his "best" players, he said, even if they weren't getting regular club football.
And, as if to reinforce the point, even when this England squad was ravaged by injury and suspension and reduced to just 17 available outfield players Southgate refused to call up any reinforcements.
Too disruptive to the main group, he told me. Too difficult to integrate the late-comers who might be at a different stage of preparedness to the rest.
And so he would rather have plenty of gaps on the substitutes' bench for a Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine than compromise on those principles.
What message does all that send out to the reams of England wannabes in the club game?
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Dunk, Jadon Sancho, Callum Wilson, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse, Rico Henry, Folarin Balogun, Rico Lewis, Solly March, Oliver Skipp…… the list goes on of English-qualified players who were left out but who would have been desperate to be included (or called up late) to the England squad.
The sense you get is that Southgate wants to focus on his core group. The reliables. The regulars.
Ivan Toney made his debut against Ukraine, on his second England call up. Toney is one of only three players (alongside James Justin and Jarrod Bowen) who Southgate has given an England debut to in the last 12 months - that's compared to 10 and 13 debutants in each of the previous two years.
In the past, Southgate has tried hard to get first-timers onto the pitch so that they can adapt quickly to the environment and be more prepared for international football if called upon in the future. Now, not so much.
That could partly be because Southgate is determined to leave his role with the FA at the end of Euro 2024. He wants to manage in the Premier League. And so it would be understandable if he didn't have a long-term plan to bring more talent through in 18 months' time.
It's also because the England manager knows this squad is close to winning a major trophy. And he firmly believes that the experiences his mainstays have had in the Euros and World Cup stands them in good stead to mount a real challenge at Euro 2024 in Germany.
It will be difficult for other players, who haven't experienced those major tournaments to get near the starting XI for the big games.
There may be more new faces and more experimentation in June, when England play Malta and North Macedonia in Euro qualifying. But in the big games, against tougher opposition? It looks like it will be the tried and tested.
You also get the sense that Southgate's patience is wearing thin with any player who doesn't show full commitment to the England cause.
James Maddison got his chance for a first start against Ukraine partly because of his positive attitude and collaboration within the squad in Qatar, when injury robbed him of the chance to get any game time in the World Cup.
The England coaches were equally impressed with Luke Shaw, who stayed and trained with this squad to the very end, even though suspension meant he couldn't play against Ukraine.
Compare those two with Marcus Rashford, who Southgate had a thinly-veiled pop at before the Italy game.
When asked whether Rashford was a big miss for England, because of the exceptional form he's shown for Manchester United, Southgate replied: "when you haven't had him that often then it's different to being a loss."
Southgate qualified his comments retrospectively, saying he had no issue with Rashford or any other player going on holiday to relax if they weren't available to play. But behind the scenes, the frustration is obvious.
Since 2020, Rashford has withdrawn from five of the last six England squads, outside of major tournaments, because of injury. Is that part of the reason why Southgate only gave Rashford one start at the World Cup? The United forward nevertheless scored three goals in Qatar.
It's clear Rashford is a very important player for England still, and he will be welcomed back into the fold in June - assuming he is fit and available.
But what's also clear is that this England team has moved into a new phase, prompted by a new attitude from Southgate, after what the England manager has learned from his years in the job.
That may not be great news for those players hoping to break into the England squad in the future. But it may be very good news for those football fans who want England to finally win something.
