Gareth Southgate doesn’t give off the air of a gambling man but given England have suffered a trying year so far, perhaps he would be better to twist than stick.
The Nations League disaster might have faded into memory but the travails of key players like Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw remain very relevant. Form has deserted some of his regulars and no international squad can carry too many passengers.
So is it time to consider who might be this year’s late bolter for Qatar? On form, at least one of these players should be under consideration when England’s latest squad is named on Thursday.
Harvey Elliott
It’s not been easy to prospect for nuggets of gold in Liverpool’s distinctly ordinary start to the new season but the emergence of 19-year-old Elliott has offered reasons for positivity at Anfield.
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And with a group that includes Iran, the US and Wales, England might be confronted with counter-attacking plans that they need to contend with.
Matt Targett
Luke Shaw’s rapid decline from Wembley goalscorer to Manchester United bit-part player leaves a left-back vacancy for Southgate to fill and, on form, Newcastle’s Targett has a compelling case for inclusion.
He lacks big name cache – to the extent that even some inside St James’ Park were open to recruiting a defender with more capacity to excite going forward – but his consistency in a team that is growing under Eddie Howe has helped grind down the critics.
Targett’s biggest asset is his reliability and if Southgate is picking understudies who are playing well, the Newcastle full-back deserves consideration.
2022 World Cup group stage draw
- Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
- Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales
- Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
- Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
- Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
- Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
- Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
- Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea
James Tarkowski
England’s passage to the Euro 2020 final came courtesy of a defence that ceded just one goal before the final and it’s safe to say Southgate will try to replicate that in Qatar. But his issue is that many of the bedrocks of that tournament have fallen steeply out of form.
If Maguire, Stones, Shaw and others are struggling, there are other English centre-backs who are playing well. Lewis Dunk at Brighton has caught the eye while Newcastle’s Dan Burn has been a rock. But James Tarkowski, playing alongside Connor Coady, has arguably been the best of the rest.
The Everton centre-back already has two England caps to his name but his last was four years ago and he hasn’t been considered by Southgate since being named on the standby list for the 2018 World Cup. His renaissance at Goodison Park – where he moved in the summer as Everton looked for reliability and experience – should put him in contention.
His performances for Everton have been in sharp contrast to the marked decline of Maguire, hewn with authority.
2022 World Cup schedule
- Group stage: 21 November – 2 December
- Round-of-16: 3-6 December
- Quarter-finals: 9-10 December
- Semi-finals: 13-14 December
- Third-place play-off: 17 December
- Final: 18 December
Ivan Toney
Last year it was widely reported that Toney was considering pledging his international future to Jamaica. By Thursday he might just be thankful that he didn’t do anything hasty.
Toney has been portrayed as a traditional English No 9 but those who watch him regularly insist he has the technique and mentality to prosper on a bigger stage. With five goals in six Premier League games, he couldn’t have done much more to catch Southgate’s eye.
As Thomas Frank rightly pointed out, his penalty technique is as good as any striker in Europe. Given that England might well confront their penalty shoot-out nemesis in Qatar, it’s a useful option to have.
If he hadn’t suffered a calf injury, Callum Wilson – a sharp starter for Newcastle – might well have assembling a more robust case for inclusion. Leeds’ Joe Gelhardt’s time will come too.
Anthony Gordon
Is it time to believe the hype? The raised eyebrows when Chelsea were considering a £60m bid for Gordon were probably justified given his body of work before the season started.
But he has shouldered the pressure and then some so far this term. He’s added goals to his all-round play and is familiar with the England set-up as a regular in the under-21 squad.
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