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England's national team has seen some significant improvements under Gareth Southgate. They managed to secure 4th place in the World Cup for the first time since 1990. Aside from their magical World Cup run, England also had played well in UEFA Nations League group stage, beating World Cup finalist Croatia.
Now Southgate has selected his latest roster to feature for the upcoming international fixtures. There are several surprises in the selection including Kieran Trippier who still makes the side despite recent injuries and a series of a poor run of form while new names such as Declan Rice also included.
However, there are also several players who have performed outstandingly this season that did not receive their deserved call-ups. Here we will take a look at 3 of them.
James Ward-Prowse
Ward-Prowse has been one of the best Southampton players in recent weeks. The 24-year-old is the key to the Saint's Premier League survival. He had scored 6 times in his last 10 matches and has caused problems for the big boys such as Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
He is known for his lethal free-kicks, which he demonstrated against two of the aforementioned teams. Had Southgate called him up, the 24-year-old could serve as an alternative to off-form Trippier in executing a free-kick or as a backup to injury-prone Ross Barkley.
Chris Smalling
Not including Chris Smalling in the squad could be a huge mistake for Southgate. The imposing England defender has been one of the most solid performers for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and has become key in Manchester United's recent resurgence under the Norwegian.
He played for 90 minutes to keep PSG at bay at Parc des Princes and completed the Red Devils's unlikely comeback in the Champions League. Apart from disappointment against Arsenal, the 29-year-old has still performed well overall because he could keep a clean sheet against Chelsea and Liverpool in previous matches.
Smalling also has nearly doubled most of John Stones defensive stats including the number of aerials won, tackles, and intercepts with the same amount of starting appearances in the Premier League.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Wan-Bissaka is perhaps one of the most underrated fullbacks in the Premier League this season. His consistently impressive performance for Crystal Palace has led interests from many English giants such as Manchester City, United, and Chelsea.
He is known for his outstanding defensive display as he has amassed an average of 4 tackles and 2.2 intercepts per game for Palace. His defensive stats is surely one of the best in the league and, it could be a mystery of why Southgate decides to bring 2 offensive minded fullbacks such as Kyle Walker and an off-form Trippier instead.
