Gareth Southgate calls on England fringe players to get rid of victim complex and become first choice at clubs
Three Lions boss knows he needs young players to burst through at club level if they have any chance of winning the World Cup
AFTER a year in the job which sends them all crazy in the end, Gareth Southgate now knows the most maddening aspect.
It is the fact an England manager can work hard and prepare meticulously yet his fate remains largely in the hands of Premier League club bosses — and those in charge of the big six in particular.
A year ago this weekend, Southgate took charge of England’s senior team for the first time in a 2-0 Wembley win over Malta.
Tonight he knows victory over Slovenia will secure qualification for the World Cup in Russia.
In between he has dealt with Wayne Rooney’s wedding crashing and international retirement, two Leigh Griffiths free-kicks for Scotland which almost sent this qualification campaign into turmoil and then the fickle finger of Dele Alli landing his most gifted young player a one-match ban to sour a crucial comeback win over Slovakia last month.
Southgate argues that qualification should be celebrated, rather than taken for granted, and recalls having to support Scotland at the 1978 tickertape World Cup in Argentina because England failed to qualify.
But it is difficult to judge his first 12 months when England’s competitive matches have all been against poor-to-average opposition.
Judgment, as always, comes at a tournament. And so much will depend on which players earn game-time in the most competitive league on Earth.
For instance, none of the five Tottenham men who formed the basis of Roy Hodgson’s team at Euro 2016 were England regulars when qualification was secured nine months earlier.
It is the oldest chestnut of any international break to bemoan the lack of playing time for Englishmen in the Premier League — even reaching as low as 30 per cent on one weekend last month.
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What is refreshing about Southgate is that he will not tolerate home-grown kids suffering from a victim complex over the foreign invasion — and he is challenging them not to live an easy life of luxury as highly paid Premier League fringe players.
Southgate said: “We need Premier League coaches who are brave enough to put young players in, but also young players with the character and professionalism to maximise their careers.
“It is a tough sport and increasingly difficult for our players to get through.
“But we either sit here and complain about it or we do something about it.
“I don’t think every young player in this country can say they are really maximising their potential. It’s up to them to do that.”
It was a successful summer for England at age-group level, led by the World Cup-winning Under-20 side, most of whom are struggling for first-team football.
So as he sat at Tottenham’s training ground, Southgate was clearly hoping for more managers to follow the lead of Mauricio Pochettino — who has provided yet another player for the England squad in 21-year-old midfielder Harry Winks.
Southgate said: “Our young players have proved themselves to be as good as others around the world but there’s a danger that you sign players from a different country because they have had first-team experiences.
“It’s hard for managers. The tendency is to go with players with first-team experience because you have evidence of how they will react.
“But Harry Winks is a great example — from Pochettino it’s, ‘I believe in you’ and ‘I believe you can do the job’.”
Winks is the kind of creative central midfielder Southgate is crying out for.
Should he have a sustained run in the Spurs side, he will go to Russia.
And while Southgate is often caricatured as a Mr Nice Guy and a prototype FA ‘safe pair of hands’, he is not soft on his players.
At last week’s squad announcement, he readily admitted that some members of his squad were not worthy of their places, effectively stating that he was a beggar who could not be choosy.
Yesterday a TV reporter asked him exactly what he meant, as if he might have been taken out of context.
“I meant pretty much exactly what I said,” replied Southgate.
“You want strong competition for places and a few guys aren’t playing regularly for their clubs.
“My job is not to try to keep them happy but to challenge them and create an environment that allows them to be successful.
“I hope to have the dilemma of picking 23 for the World Cup. If that’s 23 from 38, there are going to be some difficult calls to make. Managers don’t necessarily select teams. Players do with the form they are in.”
More likely than not, England will win tonight and Southgate will enjoy some brief celebrations of a job well done.
But then the hard part will start — and the hardest part for the England manager is that he depends on the boldness of other bosses.
Fingers crossed, touch wood, close your eyes tight and make a wish.
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