Players like Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire have made a horrible start to the 2022/23 season but Gareth Southgate has still named them in his latest England squad.
The international break starts next week and this will be the final round of games England will play before they head to the World Cup in Qatar. England will play two games in the Nations League, one against Italy and the other against Germany.
This mid-season World Cup has given a lot of players renewed hope. While stars like Rashford and Jadon Sancho have found their form at the correct time, for others like Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish, this has turned into a monumental nightmare.
People like Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Kalvin Phillips were the backbone for club and country last season but right now, they can hardly get a run-in for their respective clubs.
Shaw and Harry Maguire have been warming the benches for Manchester United while Phillips has played only a single minute of Premier League football for his new club.
Mason Mount has played six league games for Chelsea but he’s yet to score or assist even a single goal for the Blues.
However, Gareth Southgate is famous for having his favourites and this time has been no different. Despite, several players having massively underwhelming performances they have been selected in the squad for the two Nations League games.
🏴 Goals so far this season:
𝗝𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼: 𝟯
Phil Foden: 2
Jarrod Bowen: 2
Bukayo Saka: 1
Jack Grealish: 0
Mason Mount: 0 pic.twitter.com/2ffLBxLNiw— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) September 15, 2022
Many would think that the manager would be in two minds when making these calls but the Three Lions boss has bravely come out to claim that these underperforming players have much to contribute to the national team.
Will the likes of Mason Mount, Shaw and Maguire be bench warmers in Qatar?
The defence is an area where Southgate has very limited options and on top of that, he has blind faith in Harry Maguire. Maguire might be a liability for Man United but he’s a key player for England, primarily due to their style of play.
Right now, Maguire is a backup defender for Erik ten Hag but we have a strong feeling, that he will be England’s first-choice centre-back at the World Cup even if his situation does not get any better.
However, the same cannot be said about players like Mason Mount and Jack Grealish because the Three Lions manager has ample options in the attacking department.
As for Luke Shaw, he will have to be really lucky to be able to get into the starting XI because Ben Chilwell is more than a great back for the left-back role.
Mason Mount and Grealish need to get back to form in the next few weeks or else players like Foden and Ward-Prowse will replace them in the blink of an eye.
Foden, Bowen and Sterling can all play in the playmaker role behind the front line so Mount needs to pull up his socks or he will have to play second-fiddle in Qatar.
Kalvin Phillips is perhaps the worst of the lost because he’s not even close to replacing Rodri in Manchester City’s midfield. The ex-Leeds man has just come back from an injury and we don’t expect him to get a start before the break.
After the players return from the international break, Manchester City have to face teams like Man United, Liverpool and Dortmund and in all these matches, Pep Guardiola is going to choose Rodri ahead of Phillips.
All in all, these players have a very slim chance of getting into England’s starting lineup for the World Cup but Gareth Southgate is a type of manager who isn’t too concerned about current form because he needs a certain type of players to play his favoured system and grind out results.
Data courtesy Fotmob
