England squad for Italy, Germany shows form is no reliable guide

Gareth Southgate named his full squad for the England national team’s upcoming matches later this month. The Three Lions have a big talent pool to choose from. Therefore, top talents did not make the cut for the pair of games this month.

Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho, Arsenal’s Ben White, Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins all failed to make the team. Sancho has two goals so far this season starting every Premier League match for the Red Devils. White featured in every XI for the league leaders so far, as well.

Gallagher and Watkins perhaps face better competition in their positions. The Chelsea midfielder misses out on a call up due to Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice having a firm grip on their roles. Watkins, on the other hand, has to compete with Harry Kane, Tammy Abraham, and Ivan Toney.

Southgate acknowledged that he picked some players despite their lack of playing time. This ultimately goes against his previous claims that players need to be regular starters to be chosen for the national team.  “Clearly, we have a number of players including Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, and Kalvin Phillips who are not playing a lot of minutes with their club,” stated Southgate.

“It is not ideal, but we feel they have been, and can be, important players for us.  It is not a perfect situation but there is still a lot of football to be played before Qatar.”

Maguire has not started a Premier League match in over a month. Phillips has managed to play just one minute for Manchester City during league play this season. The defensive midfielder has not even been in the squad for four Premier League games as well. Shaw has failed to play a single minute of action since August 13th.

England squad for September fixtures

Here is the full England squad to face Italy and Germany in the upcoming Nations League matches.

Goalkeepers

Dean Henderson, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale.

Defenders

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.

Midfielders

Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse.

Forwards

Tammy Abraham, Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Ivan Toney.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Sportimage