Had this European Championship gone ahead on the dates planned, three of the players who started against Germany would not even have been in the squad.
No Kalvin Phillips, Bukayo Saka or Jack Grealish, none having made their England debuts by summer 2020. This is how open Gareth Southgate is to youth and fast-track promotion.
Michail Antonio, at 31, may feel his best chance of playing at a World Cup lies with Jamaica but Mason Greenwood will have taken leave of his senses if he even picks up the telephone to entertain that call.
Mason Greenwood should not represent Jamaica when he can play under Southgate's England
It used to be imagined that Southgate had an affinity with England’s young players because he coached the Under 21 team. John Stones, Harry Kane, Jesse Lingard — these were his boys from the 2015 European Championship.
Yet Saka did not play for the Under 21s until last September. Phillips did not play for age group England teams at all.
This is not about familiarity. This is a philosophy and a deep-seated belief that the culture of a team can be forged by players who approach representing their country through fresh eyes.
It is why Southgate eased out senior figures such as Wayne Rooney. He wanted a squad that could be shaped and taken in a new direction. He wanted a connection with the country, he wanted players who would buy in. And he found it in the Premier League’s generation Z. What young player would not want to be part of this movement?
Matters of national qualification are becoming ever more complex. Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said last week that 80 per cent of players in England’s age group teams had dual nationality.
And there will be some who are lost because their natural affinity lies elsewhere.
Jamal Musiala was born in Germany and plays in Germany. He can hardly be blamed for feeling German. Greenwood was born in Bradford. He came through a Manchester United development school in Halifax.
He has Jamaican parentage, but so do more than 100 footballers playing in England including Mason Holgate, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and, yes, Phillips. Yet if Greenwood did feel at all impatient for his chance, Phillips is the example of what can be achieved with Southgate’s England.
Midfielder Kalvin Phillips is the example of what can be achieved with Southgate’s England
He does not play for a Big Six club, he did not represent his country at junior level and this time last year he wasn’t even on the radar for a place in the European Championship squad.
An agent, Devon Porter, approached him on Jamaica’s behalf. ‘The possibility of consistently playing for Jamaica far outweighs that of playing for England,’ said head coach Roy Simpson.
It was the argument initially used to sell Ireland to Grealish and Declan Rice.
Yet Southgate has changed that presumption of exclusion. He has made a future with England not just attainable, but preferable. And in doing so he has changed the culture, too.
In a market where 80 per cent of young footballers have a choice, Southgate will win many more than he loses.
WHY LIVERPOOL WILL GET TO KEEP MOHAMED SALAH OUT OF OLYMPICS
Liverpool are likely to win their dispute with Egypt over Mo Salah’s presence at the Olympic Games this summer, but clubs in Spain may not be so lucky. This is because Spanish law does a better job protecting the Olympic football movement than FIFA, who plainly see it as a threat.
In Spain, clubs are compelled to release players if selected for the Olympics. Barcelona may wish to resist the call-up for Pedri who, in his first full season, played 52 domestic club matches, eight internationals and every game at Euro 2021.
But unless the player asks to be withdrawn, Olympic coach Luis de la Fuente has the final say.
No such principle exists in Egypt, meaning Liverpool can pull rank because the men’s Olympic football tournament is not included on FIFA’s international match calendar.
Liverpool are likely to get their way, with Mohamed Salah unlikely to represent Egypt in Tokyo
Of course it isn’t. FIFA would not want to bolster any competition that could be viewed as a rival to their World Cup.
They are happy to have an Olympic presence, but not to give the competition any clout.
JUST THE TICKET FOR COVID
In the days when English football hooliganism was a constant problem, those travelling abroad to matches could expect to be challenged at the airport departure gates.
Police would check their records for evidence of football-related convictions and ask to see proof of a match ticket. Anyone without legitimate means of entry would not be allowed to board.
And yet 20,000 Scottish football fans were allowed to travel to London amid a pandemic, despite only 2,600 tickets being available.
Now, approaching 2,000 cases of Covid in Scotland have been linked to that unnecessary excursion. The fans weren’t hooligans but they certainly congregated without social distancing and against all advice.
What was to stop police in Scotland’s major cities adopting the airport policy at stations? Why are you going to London? Do you have a ticket for the match? If not, you can’t board. The police, like the Scottish government, talked a lot but did nothing.
WHAT OPTION AWAY FROM MADRID DOES GARETH BALE REALLY HAVE?
Having played an unnecessary game of tease over his future, Gareth Bale reacted rather childishly when asked about it this week. There was hardly much mystery anyway.
What club would pursue him, having seen Tottenham meet a significant portion of his wages in the hope of being propelled to glory, only to end up in the UEFA Conference League?
Chinese suitors wouldn’t pay a transfer fee and once Bale reiterated that his season was all about getting fit for this tournament and Wales, he stopped being a saleable commodity in Europe.
