Gareth Southgate: Picking World Cup stars no guarantee of England U21 success
Tuesday 30 September 2014 09:50, UK
Gareth Southgate has told Sky Sports News recalling senior England players to the U21 squad would not guarantee major tournament success next summer.
Southgate's side face Croatia over two legs next month for a place in the 2015 UEFA U21 Championship finals having won nine of their 10 qualifying matches.
Victory would reopen the debate about whether Southgate should be allowed to select the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley and Luke Shaw - all members of the senior World Cup squad who are still eligible under UEFA rules.
Southgate's predecessor Stuart Pearce blamed, in part, restrictions on selection for the U21s' poor showing at the 2013 finals, but the current manager says parachuting in star names is not necessarily the solution.
"Roy Hodgson doesn't put any real restrictons on it," he said. "We talk very closely.
"There are players who, in both of our opinions, have moved beyond the U21 set-up even though they're eligible and I think it would be very harsh on the group I've got to take them through the qualifying campaign and not involve them in the finals.
"It's a balance between getting great experience and trying to be successful, but sometimes that isn't always by just having the best players. The dynamic of the group is very important."
Southgate lost John Stones and Calum Chambers to the senior squad last month and is prepared for the possibility Hodgson might come calling again during the next international break.
He said: "One of the things we've set out to do is have a strong squad. We've given lots of opportunities to players and tried to involve all of the squad. We made five changes for the last qualifier and the team played really well.
"Part of my role is to progress players into the senior team - that's what they're aiming for and what we want for them, so it's not a problem for us if they're with the first team. But of course we want as strong a team as we can have as well."
Gareth Southgate is National Ambassador for the StreetGames Football Pools Fives, a programme taking football to disadvantaged communities across the UK.
