Everyone has a chance of getting called-up, reveals Gareth Southgate

With an international break just around the corner, the squads have been announced and a new look to England’s squad has raised a few eyebrows. Manager Gareth Southgate has called up more than a few youngsters with Chelsea duo Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori getting a chance to earn caps for England, with the latter a surprise shout-out. It’s the first time Tomori has been involved and his call-up comes after he made four Premier League starts for the Blues.

Abraham, on the other hand, has had a sensational start to his career as Chelsea’s number 9 with eight goals in just 7 Premier League games so far. He’s already earned his first cap for the Three Lions and will get a chance to add to that. But while Tomori’s presence did catch a few headlines, Southgate’s omissions also did the same. The likes of Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Eric Dier and Kyle Walker failed to make the cut and Southgate admitted that he did not want to show privilege when it comes to selection.

“When you’re selecting a squad, the players need to see some sort of meritocracy when possible. Who am I going to leave out if I bring guys back in? Does it mean leaving out somebody who is scoring freely and playing exceptionally well just because they’re younger? I think that everyone within the squad would look and say: ‘OK, there’s a privileged access to certain players,’” Southgate said to the Guardian.

"To put them [Alli or Oxlade-Chamberlain] in means I’ve got to leave somebody out who is in form. So a Mason Mount or a James Maddison. Nothing has been as difficult as leaving Wayne out – because of what he’s done in the game and his seniority.”

The 2018 World Cup was arguably England’s best performance in a long long time, but Southgate has included only 11 players from that squad this time around and that has brought about a lot of questions. However, the 49-year-old went on to admit that he expects to see players fight to get their chance to play for the Three Lions and not just expect that they'll be in the squad.

“All of the conversations we’ve had with the players [who have been left out], I’ve got to say they’re very realistic about the amount of football they’ve played and exactly where they’re at. They’ve been very mature in how they’ve responded to that. I don’t expect anything other than a really good reaction,” he concluded.