4 players that Southgate should have picked for his squad

Probably the most notable and controversial absence from Southgate's squad is Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham especially after his impressive start to the season, registering 4 goals and 1 assist in 5 appearances for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea. Abraham’s impressive goal scoring record goes further back to last season where he was instrumental in Aston Villa’s promotion to the Premier League, scoring 26 goals and assisting 3 in 40 appearances in all competitions. With recent talk of Abraham switching his allegiance and opting to play for Nigeria it would have been wise for Southgate to show more faith in Abraham and bring him into the squad.

Another attacking option available to Southgate was Manchester United’s promising youngster Mason Greenwood, and with his impressive record last season where he registered 26 goals and 8 assists in 30 appearances. Despite playing the majority of his football for United’s U18s and Academy last season Greenwood’s natural scoring ability is clear to see, and has carried on demonstrated his goal-scoring ability for United’s first team, scoring 2 goals in pre-season for United. United fans have been impressed by Greenwood’s attacking attitude where he is always eager to get forward and confident to have an attempt on goal, and are looking to Solskjaer to give more game time to Greenwood. Southgate is spoilt for choice with quick attacking players with the likes of Sancho, Sterling and Rashford, however, he could have provided Greenwood with an opportunity to show what he can do at the big stage and increase the options available to him when picking his squad for the Euros next year.

Another player who was instrumental in Aston Villa’s promotion back to the Premier League is Manchester United centre back Axel Tuanzebe who was on loan at Villa Park for the 18/19 season. It’s clear that Southgate favours centre-backs who are comfortable on the ball and confident to play out of defense, with Harry Maguire, John Stones and Kyle Walker being his first choice centre-backs for the 2018 World Cup. With a pass completion of 83.5% in the Championship last season, Tuanzebe would be a good fit for Southgate’s system as he is comfortable under pressure and always looking to play the ball out of defence and would complement the playing style of the current England center-backs.

It’s clear that Everton’s Jordan Pickford has cemented his place as England’s number 1 having featured in both the World Cup in 2018 and the UEFA Nations League finals in earlier this year, and with Aston Villa’s Tom Heaton and Burnley’s Nick Pope being alternatives, it appears that goalkeeper is England’s most competitive position at the moment. However, after an impressive loan spell at Sheffield United last season, Manchester United’s Dean Henderson (who has returned to Sheffield United on loan) should be considered for the squad by Southgate. Keeping 21 clean sheets and winning the 18/19 Golden Glove, Henderson played a crucial role in bringing Sheffield United back to the Premier League for the first time since 2007. Naturally after having poor tournament for England’s U21s there is doubt whether Henderson is good enough to represent England’s first team, but to have a young and hungry goalkeeper in the squad would only benefit Southgate, as it would put pressure on Jordan Pickford to maintain a high quality with a young goalkeeper who is hungry for a chance to prove his quality ready to step in if he doesn’t.