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One of the biggest success stories of the 2019/20 season so far has been Chelsea’s young striker Tammy Abraham. The London-born hitman has been on fire from the off in the Premier League, and he’s currently second in the leaderboard when it comes to the race for the Golden Boot, with 10 goals scored in just 11 starts.
It comes as no surprise that Abraham’s tremendous form has been recognised by England boss Gareth Southgate, and the 22-year-old has been named in the Three Lions’ squad for their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Montenegro and Kosovo after making his competitive debut from the substitutes’ bench last month against the Czech Republic.
England have one of the most potent attacks in all of international football right now – 26 goals across their 6 qualifiers prior to this week’s games says all you need to know – but is there a case to be made that Abraham should start at least one of the upcoming fixtures? I’d say there is.
Here are 4 reasons why Tammy Abraham should start for England against Montenegro or Kosovo.
#1 Reward for his fantastic form
Of all the recent England managers, Gareth Southgate has prided himself more than any of the others on rewarding good club form, regardless of the size or stature of the club that a player might represent and the player’s age and experience. Sure, he’s largely loyal to players who have performed well for him in the past, but we’ve also seen him look outside the box on plenty of occasions in the past.
Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings, for instance, was rewarded with his first England cap last month after an excellent start for his club despite being nowhere near the international scene in the past, and Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi was called up with only a handful of senior games to his name thanks to his stellar performances in those matches.
And right now, if Southgate wants to reward form, then surely Abraham has to start at least one of these upcoming fixtures. Outside of Jamie Vardy – who has retired from international football – no English player has scored more goals than Abraham’s 11 in all competitions this season, and what’s more, the Chelsea hitman also has 3 assists to his name, proving that he’s an excellent team player too.
Not picking the top English goalscorer in the Premier League simply seems ridiculous, and surely that’s reason enough for Abraham to start against Montenegro or Kosovo.
#2 The games are largely meaningless
Despite some fans pleading for Gareth Southgate to blood more young talent in their most recent fixtures, the England boss largely stuck to his tried and tested players, and to be fair he had reason for this: Southgate has always stated that the sole aim of the Euro 2020 qualifiers should be to ensure a spot at next summer’s tournament, with any other plans kept largely on the backburner.
With two games to go, though, that spot is practically set in stone. England have won 5 of their 6 games, have a hefty goal advantage over every other side in the group, and need just a single point against Montenegro this week to ensure qualification.
Given Montenegro were thumped 1-5 in their own backyard by the Three Lions in March, it’s hardly a stretch to assume that Southgate’s team shouldn’t have an issue in collecting all three points in the game, let alone the single one they need for qualification.
Essentially then, the two upcoming fixtures ought to be largely one-sided affairs in favour of England – almost akin to friendly fixtures. With that in mind, what would be the harm in replacing Southgate’s favoured central striker Harry Kane with someone newer like Abraham? It’s not like the upcoming fixtures are similar to say, England’s do-or-die trip to Rome for a World Cup qualifier in 1997, after all.
If he wanted to play it really safe, Southgate could even start the usual suspects against Montenegro to ensure qualification before changing things up for Sunday’s match with Kosovo. Either way, experimentation is hardly a risk in these games – and so it makes sense for him to deploy Abraham in them.
#3 Prevents Harry Kane from suffering Rooney syndrome
For years, England fans debated over whether former captain Wayne Rooney deserved the apparently special treatment he often received. A force of nature in his early days, dropping Rooney during his prime years of 2004 to 2010 seemed unthinkable, but as his star began to wane, it seemed like then-manager Roy Hodgson was still unable to let go and run with someone else in Rooney’s spot instead.
Essentially, this meant that England went to two major tournaments – World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016 – with a largely off-form, past-his-prime Rooney leading the line.
Rooney is now long gone of course, but the aura of invincibility that once hovered around him is threatening to move onto England’s current captain, Spurs striker Harry Kane. Right now it’s hardly a fair comparison – Kane is in the prime of his career and is continually scoring goals for England, including 8 in the current Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.
But Kane also hasn’t been in the best form for Tottenham as of late, while Abraham has been banging goals in regularly for Chelsea while playing at an outstanding level. Southgate’s loyalty to the players who have performed well for him in the past is admirable – and few if any have been better than Kane – but starting Abraham over the current captain would certainly send a message that nobody’s England spot is guaranteed.
Even if Abraham replaces Kane for just one of these games, it’d prevent any Rooney-like discussions from surrounding the Tottenham striker, and make it known that Southgate isn’t willing to make the same mistakes that his predecessor did.
#4 It’d give Abraham vital experience should injuries occur
Imagine for a moment this hypothetical situation: England continue to start every game with Harry Kane as the central striker whenever the Spurs hitman is available, and qualify for Euro 2020 with aplomb. The Three Lions then win their friendly matches in March with Kane continuing to score – but come April, disaster strikes and Kane’s ankle gives out again.
What would then happen? We’d likely get a media circus as we saw in 2002 and 2006 when then-key players David Beckham and Wayne Rooney faced a race against time to get fit for the two World Cup tournaments that lay on the horizon. But does that have to be the case? Most definitely not.
Essentially, Beckham and Rooney – although both were world-class players – had become indispensible to England not only due to their skills, but because then-manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had never looked at proper alternatives to them.
Gareth Southgate cannot allow himself to fall into this trap. With Jamie Vardy – England’s next-most experienced striker – now retired from international football and Marcus Rashford largely exposed as an inadequate central striker, it’s important that the Three Lions identify their main backup for Kane – likely Abraham – and get him some valuable international experience before it’s too late.
Starting Abraham in the two upcoming fixtures, and in March’s international friendlies – or at least giving him plenty of game time – should be paramount for Southgate just in case the worst does happen to Kane next summer. After all, when it comes to England, nobody wants history to repeat itself.
