It was notable that Gareth Southgate grouped Jude Bellingham and Mason Greenwood together when explaining why two of England’s most talented teenagers had not been called up to his latest squad.
“They don’t come as a pair but they’re both similar situations in that they’re young players with a heavy load at the moment,” the England manager said.
It piqued curiosity when Greenwood, the Manchester United striker who turns 20 on Friday and has scored three times in eight games this season, was left out of Southgate’s last squad for the same reason and this time it raised eyebrows that Bellingham, 18, was omitted alongside him, two days after providing the assist for the only goal in Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League victory against Sporting Lisbon.
It’s extraordinarily rare for an English midfielder to be regularly playing in central midfield – such a crucial role in a team that requires intelligence, maturity, a certain coolness under intense pressure, coupled with advanced technical ability – and Southgate has been following Bellingham’s career closely, particularly since his £20million move from Birmingham to the Bundesliga.
But England’s manager is thinking longer term, he explained. “We have to remember that these lads are still physically growing,” Southgate said. “So when we’re talking about young player development we’ve got to be really careful how we handle them and make sure that these are two players can be really exciting players for England for the future, but we don’t want to overload them and we’ve got the making sure we make the right decisions.”
Bellingham, Southgate pointed out, played a full season in the Bundesliga then went straight to the European Championship and is back in the thick of it again with his club. And Southgate has plenty of options vying for the two deeper-lying midfielders he mainly likes to play.
Breaking the firm grip of West Ham’s Declan Rice and Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips – who were first-choice on England’s route to the Euro 2020 final – on those two spots is not easy for an 18-year-old. Liverpool’s vastly experienced Jordan Henderson, a player who refuses to succumb to the restraints of age, is back in the squad after returning from injury.
Mason Mount and Jesse Lingard would be considered more attacking central options, and it seems uncertain where Phil Foden, Manchester City’s talented youngster, named as a midfielder in the squad, fits in: he could play as a deeper central midfield, or as a No 10, or on the wing, as Southgate has played him at times.
So Southgate is happy giving Bellingham a bit of a break, a decision he had made in consultation with the player and his family, as was the case with Greenwood. “They’re very much decisions that have been with me having conversations with the players and their families, rather than any sort of deal with the club,” Southgate said.
Southgate intimated that players of their age would usually be playing with England’s U18s, 19s or 20s and that agreements are sometimes reached with clubs in those cases.
“But the profile of these two boys is much higher, they’re both playing very well, so I can understand why people would raise their eyes,” he added. “It’s not the case we don’t think the players don’t deserve to be in the squad. We’d be picking them if we didn’t have those longer term aims and ambitions in mind.”
England squad for Andorra and Hungary qualifiers
Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: Conor Coady, Reece James, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Phil Foden, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice
Forwards: Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Ollie Watkins
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2WvPB6C
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