Gareth Southgate has made the shock decision to include James Maddison in his England squad for the World Cup in Qatar. The Leicester playmaker, who has been in superb form in 2022, feared he was being overlooked by a manager who has used him just once before, as a substitute in the Championship qualifier win Europe vs Montenegro in November 2019.
Southgate also recalled Marcus Rashford, rewarding the Manchester United striker for his return to form, and found space for Ben White, Callum Wilson and Conor Gallagher. Whites will offer a right-back option, with Reece James ruled out with a knee injury, and will also add depth to central defence, where Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guéhi have been ruled out.
Gallagher’s inclusion comes as a surprise as he has started just seven games in all competitions for Chelsea, where he returned in the summer after a successful loan spell at Crystal Palace. Southgate has covered him four times, most recently last June in the dismal 4-0 defeat at home to Hungary in the Nations League, and said he was impressed by how Gallagher had reacted to being left out in the September, including showing an excellent attitude with the Under-21s.
Maddison had been called up in October 2018 and September 2019 without playing and was included by Southgate in October 2019 for the qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria only to withdraw due to illness. He was then pictured in a casino as his team-mates lost in Prague, raising awkward questions for Southgate, who nevertheless selected him for his next squad and gave Maddison his debut against Montengro before name him as an unused substitute against Kosovo.
“That was unfortunate from their point of view,” Southgate said of the casino incident. “It was a bigger problem [for him] than it was for me It wasn’t the drama it seemed to be for everyone else.”
Maddison has 22 Premier League goals this calendar year, a tally bettered only by Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne and Son Heung-min. “He’s playing really well,” Southgate said of Maddison. “He is a good player; we’ve always said he’s a good player, he’s earned the right. We think he can give us something a little bit different than the other attacking players we have.”
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Southgate said of breaking the news to Maddison: “I was delighted. I had some very difficult calls that were at the other end of the spectrum emotionally.” The manager said he had only spoken to Maddison, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips and the players he left out and told those left out: “Things can still change over the weekend.”
Wilson, like Rashford, has been sidelined. The Newcastle striker won the last of his four games in October 2019 but has been on the scoring touch this season and has been preferred to Tammy Abraham and Ivan Toney. “Tammy has had a bad run of scoring form at the wrong time,” Southgate said. There is no place for West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen, who has not hit his stride this season.
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The English World Cup team
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Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal).
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (on loan to Everton by Wolves), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle) . ), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ben White (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (West Ham), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool).
Fronts: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), James Maddison (Leicester), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Callum Wilson (Newcastle) .
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Southgate has selected Manchester City pair Walker and Phillips in his 26-man squad for Qatar, despite the former recovering from groin surgery on October 4. Phillips has barely played this season, mainly due to shoulder surgery at the end of September, although he made his return as a second-half substitute in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Southgate said Walker had not returned to full training but would be available before the end of the group stage and that picking James would have been “considered arrogant in some circles” when the Chelsea player would not have been ready until the last stages if everything went perfectly. Walker, he said, was “way ahead of it.”
There was further devastation in England for James Ward-Prowse as he was omitted, having been cut in the last before the Euros last summer. “With James he is competing [Jude] Bellingham and [Jordan] Henderson and to a lesser degree Conor Gallagher and he’s right behind those guys,” Southgate said.
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Rashford’s previous appearance for England came in the Euro 2020 penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy, when he missed his shot. Southgate had previously counted on him at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the player’s experience helped press his case. As expected, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been included.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte said Harry Kane was “very tired” on Wednesday, prompting Southgate to reply: “I’m sure he is!”