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England boss Gareth Southgate has named his 23-man squad for next month’s World Cup this afternoon and there are a couple of surprises in there from the young manager. The likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Jordan Henderson have unsurprisingly been named, but eyebrows will have been raised with the inclusion of Liverpool youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Elsewhere there have been some high-profile casualties, as some of the Three Lions’ most experienced players have been left at home wondering what might’ve been.
Here are 5 players who didn’t make the cut for England’s World Cup campaign.
#1 Joe Hart
Despite being drummed out of Manchester City by Pep Guardiola and then being dropped for the majority of this season while on loan at West Ham, it was expected that veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart would be named in Southgate’s 23-man squad, most likely as the third choice behind Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland.
As it turns out, Hart has been left at home with Burnley’s Nick Pope going in the #3 goalkeeper spot instead. Most fans seem happy with the decision, too – Hart was seen as a liability in England’s disastrous Euro 2016 campaign and has hardly improved his reputation in the two seasons since. And despite three tournaments’ worth of experience, two of those (Euro 2016 and World Cup 2014) ended in abject failure.
The West Ham keeper is reportedly extremely disappointed with Southgate’s decision, and although it has been suggested that he took the cut in gracious fashion, he’s also believed to be blaming David Moyes – who has been fired by the Hammers today – for his downturn in fortunes.
#2 Ryan Bertrand
In arguably the most surprising call from Southgate, Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand has been left at home despite appearing in the majority of England’s qualifying games for the tournament. Bertrand being cut is a shocker as nobody was really calling for his removal and he didn’t appear to have done much wrong in his recent performances for the Three Lions.
The most likely reasoning for his exclusion is that Southgate wants to use a system in which his wing-backs provide the majority of England’s attacking play, and in that sense, Tottenham’s Danny Rose and Manchester United’s Ashley Young appear to be stronger choices despite Rose only appearing in 10 Premier League games for Spurs in 2017/18.
Add in the fact that Fabian Delph has returned to the squad as a midfielder, but only after playing the majority of the season as a left-back for Manchester City, and it becomes clear that Southgate simply felt that England have enough cover in the position. It seems harsh on Bertrand but it’s a call that probably makes sense.
#3 Jack Wilshere
When looking at the 23 men selected for the World Cup, it becomes clear that one area England appear to be lacking in is in the creative midfield department.
It was expected by many fans that Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere would be selected to fill that role, but instead, the much-touted midfielder has been left at home, seemingly due to the inclusion of Fabian Delph and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Like with all of his decisions though, Southgate appears to have a good sense of reasoning behind the decision. After being in the international wilderness for the best part of two years following Euro 2016, Wilshere was selected for England’s squad for their March friendly games with Italy and the Netherlands, only to withdraw late on due to a reoccurring knee problem.
The likelihood is that this withdrawal probably cost Wilshere a spot in the squad – Southgate likely feels that the Arsenal man simply wouldn’t be able to cope with the rigours of tournament football, in a similar way to how Ledley King broke down on Fabio Capello at the 2010 World Cup.
His absence might mean England will be lacking some creativity – but it also means they bring a more robust squad to Russia.
#4 Chris Smalling
Despite making 29 Premier League appearances for Manchester United – the side with the second-meanest defence in the league, conceding just 28 goals – central defender Chris Smalling has become another casualty of Southgate’s somewhat ruthless selection policy. This one hardly comes as a surprise though given Smalling wasn’t selected for March’s friendly fixtures either.
Southgate’s reasoning? In his own words from an interview in March: “I have huge respect for Chris. He is a player playing at a big club. We want to play in a certain way and the players I have brought in I want to see using the ball from the back and building it up in a certain way. And that is a style thing I want to look at. I know what Chris can do.”
Reading between the lines, this suggests that Southgate believes Smalling doesn’t have the passing ability to play a role in his England side – and the stats appear to back this up. Smalling’s pass success percentage of 87% this season is lower than that of John Stones (95%), Phil Jones (91%) and Gary Cahill (89%).
It is higher than Harry Maguire’s (79%), but Maguire’s tackle success percentage is higher and he attempts more passes per game.
Again, it’s another decision that has a lot of thought behind it.
#5 Adam Lallana
While Liverpool’s creative midfielder Adam Lallana has made the list of players on stand-by should one of the first 23 drop out, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that he hasn’t made the full squad for the tournament.
Lallana was widely viewed as England’s best player in the initial games following Euro 2016, scoring three goals in games against Slovakia, Scotland and Spain in late 2016.
The crux of the matter most likely comes from Lallana’s fitness, or lack thereof. 2017/18 has seen him miss long periods with a reoccurring hamstring injury, and this lack of fitness coupled with the great form of Liverpool’s other attacking players has meant that Lallana has only completed 235 minutes of Premier League football all season.
In comparison to England’s other attacking midfield options – Raheem Sterling (2593 minutes), Dele Alli (2972 minutes) and Jesse Lingard (1823 minutes) – Lallana simply hasn’t played enough football to justify being selected, particularly when you consider the rigours of an international tournament. He’s been terribly unlucky, but those are the breaks in international football.
