TODAY, Gareth Southgate officially announces his 26-man squad for the Euros, just 24 hours before England take on Austria in a friendly at the Riverside Stadium, with Romania to follow at the same venue
His final selection will be whittled down from the extended 33 revealed last week, with Southgate initially concerned of injuries potentially hitting those still to participate in the Europa League and Champions League finals, but now that thankfully all have emerged unscathed a debate can briefly be had as to who ultimately makes the cut.
Will Trent Alexander-Arnold be omitted to the surprise of Liverpool fans who have seen the 22-year-old rediscover his form in the last third of the season? Who loses out in midfield from Jesse Lingard, Jude Bellingham or James Ward-Prowse, the latter an invaluable asset for his set-pieces? Will Bukayo Saka’s versatility secure him a spot or is the teenager one youngster too many for the conservative England manager?
❌ Saka
❌ Godfrey
❌ Ward-Prowse
❌ Watkins
❌ CoadyDanny Mills names the seven players he expects to miss out on the final 26-man England squad pic.twitter.com/u67tHkiqly
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) June 1, 2021
It is always fun to play such guessing games, of course it is, but with our focus primarily on this week’s friendlies as opposed to the tournament they are preparation for, such fringe decisions are of little interest. What really matters is who Southgate considers his first choice XI.
To explain why, we must go back three years to the summer of 2018, when England – exactly like on this occasion – had two warm-up fixtures directly ahead of a major competition with the toughest of the pair – exactly like on this occasion – scheduled first.
Then it was Nigeria and Costa Rica and what jumps out from Southgate’s line-ups then are two factors that could well be replicated in the days to come.
Firstly, only third-choice keeper Nick Pope didn’t feature in either game as the Three Lions boss essentially played two different sides for each. More pertinently, it was against Nigeria where Southgate went strong, selecting nine players who started England’s World Cup campaign a fortnight later.
This potentially spells bad news for Austria who can therefore expect to face Stones, Foden and Kane in the North-East. Romania meanwhile will presumably have it a bit easier this Sunday, lining up against Mings, Phillips and Calvert-Lewin.
Jack Grealish – 7 goals 12 assists.
Harry Kane – 33 goals 17 assists.
Phil Foden – 16 goals 10 assists.
Mason Mount – 9 goals 9 assists.
Jadon Sancho – 16 goals 20 assists.( All comps)
England have some serious attacking options. pic.twitter.com/rvIrNPEaWh
— Will⭐️⭐️ (@Will_CFC_) June 1, 2021
At least this is the theory, but as is often the case, theories come with caveats.
Will those who participated in the Champions League final on Saturday be granted a few days extra recovery time? After all, a game of such magnitude doesn’t only impact on a player physically but takes a significant emotional toll too. There is also the fitness issues of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson complicating matters. Both will ideally get some game-time as they tentatively return to action but surely not too much, with maybe a late appearance to get some precious minutes.
Still, overall, the feeling is that it’s Austria who will see the best that England can offer on Wednesday evening and this should be assimilated into your betting with Harry Kane a decent shout at 16/5 to be the first goal-scorer while any temptation to back Calvert-Lewin, Greenwood or Watkins in the same market should be held back until the weekend.
If Kane does indeed get England off the mark it will be the striker’s third consecutive game for his country hitting the target and memories of his six-match dry spell – which for the prolific hit-man constituted a drought – will further fade. It should also be noted that England have kept seven clean sheets in their 11 fixtures since football’s enforced shut-down and their opponents here are steady but hardly ruthless up front, averaging 1.6 goals per game from their last ten.
Even without their mainstay Maguire, England to win to nil is an attractive 27/20
Yet, for balance, it needs acknowledging that Burschen (The Boys) are anything but international mugs. Franco Foda’s side deserve credit for turning around a disastrous start to their Euro qualifying campaign and eventually finishing second behind Poland and quite comfortably so. In their Nations League pursuits meanwhile, they easily topped their group to secure promotion to Group A. In fact, it was all going swimmingly for the team ranked 23rd in the world until they got pummeled 4-0 at home to Denmark recently and it will be intriguing to see how that result has affected them.
Even so, it is relevant that Austria are unbeaten in eight on foreign soil and there are some half-decent teams among those bettered while in David Alaba they possess a player of the very top tier who is heading to Real Madrid next term after winning a cabinet full of silverware in Munich. Look out too for 6 ft 2 forward Adrian Grbic who is goal-shy at club level for Lorient in Ligue 1 but has shone on the international stage, scoring four in nine since making his debut last August.
A second victory likely awaits the Three Lions on Sunday but if Austria will cause problems, Romania won’t offer up much resistance.
This is anything but a vintage Romanian side and though they reached the Euro play-offs the Tricolorii are inconsistent to a fault, showing resolve in the slenderest of defeats to Germany but losing to Armenia in their most recent World Cup qualifier. They possess experience at the back in the form of ex-Spurs and Napoli defender Vlad Chiriches while Alexandru Maxim will bedevil England’s shadow side but it surely won’t be enough against players who will view this friendly as a last 90 minute audition to catch Southgate’s eye.
Don’t be afraid of a big score-line here even if instincts scream 3-0. In eight of the last ten times England have faced opposition ranked 40th or lower they have won by four-plus goals.
