sport news IAN LADYMAN: Attacking flair and technical ability means England will head to ... trends now
After a series of difficult telephone calls, Gareth Southgate left one until last that was different altogether. The final number the England manager tapped into his mobile on Thursday morning belonged to James Maddison.
‘The phone calls I made have been to the two lads that are coming back from injury, the boys I have left out of the squad and then to James,’ explained Southgate.
‘I had some very difficult calls that were emotionally at the other end of the spectrum so it was nice to give myself a little bit of an enjoyable end to all that.
Gareth Southgate has put together an England squad full of ability and attacking flair
‘James was delighted and the nature of those conversations, good and bad, reminds you how important it is to go to a World Cup. It is a great day.’
Whether November 10 does turn out to be remembered fondly depends very much on how England perform in a World Cup that begins for Southgate and his squad with a game against Iran a week on Monday.
For now, though, it would appear the manager has chosen a squad that, broadly speaking, many of us would have wished for. It is a squad short on defensive depth but that is nobody’s fault. Injuries have struck England hard across the back. But it is also a group of players long on technical ability, attacking flair and big tournament experience.
Southgate, 52, is not a manager fond of expansive predictions. Not for him talk of a golden generation. But he can at least board the plane to Doha on Tuesday knowing that, on paper at least, he has with him a group of players capable of making inroads in the tournament.
Southgate would have had some difficult calls to make to players who didn't make the squad but he would have enjoyed the one to James Maddison to confirm his World Cup call-up
Southgate will have to hope his enduring faith in Harry Maguire pays off in Qatar
Memories of poor recent form will travel with England, of course. They have not won a game since March, a run of six fixtures.
At the last pre-match press briefing he delivered prior to this one, back in September, Southgate was pressed into admitting that his time in charge of the national team will come to an end if his team do not deliver in the desert.
But with the dawn of a big tournament comes optimism. It is always the way. Sometimes, it is not realistic but if Southgate chooses to look back on two successful tournaments — the last World Cup and last summer’s European Championship — for inspiration rather than what had undeniably been a difficult 2022 then it would be hard to blame him.
This is a squad that draws hard on those positive summer experiences. With that in mind, it was heartening to see Kalvin Phillips back on the field after injury this week and
