Gareth Southgate has gone postal and laid down the law to both Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold. This is not for the faint-hearted.
One warn every minute
After the ludicrous nature of Trent Alexander-Arnold coverage on Tuesday, there are actual words from Gareth Southgate on the matter. How quaint. It’ll never catch on.
Asked for an explanation as to why Alexander-Arnold was selected in a 28-man squad yet didn’t play a minute against Italy or Germany, the England manager somehow avoided mentioning the right-back’s fandom of Harry Potter.
“I didn’t want any player to sit in the stand for two matches, so I think the way we manage a group of people has been a big strength for us in the tournaments and we need to do that,” he said.
“(Against Italy) we didn’t need the left-back cover, against Germany we did because of the way we went with the team, so we needed Ben Chilwell on the bench and we had Kieran (Trippier) who, at the moment, I feel his all-round game is ahead,” Southgate added with regard to Alexander-Arnold.
And there you go. Like it or not, agree or disagree, Southgate’s reasoning is out in the open. He thinks Trippier offers more “all-round” to England than Alexander-Arnold.
Does this appease those who slammed his ‘treatment’ of Alexander-Arnold? Does it balls.
‘Southgate warns Alexander-Arnold that Trippier’s ‘all-round game is ahead of him’ as England star fears World Cup axe’
Good lord, the bar for a ‘warning’ is bloody low nowadays.
Warn again
As if to prove that point, here is another headline on The Sun website:
‘Southgate warns crocked Maguire he MUST perform for Utd or lose Qatar spot’
And this one really is even worse. Southgate has completely lost control here and something ought to be done about it.
“I know everybody says Harry is important to me but he’s important to us. It’s us – it’s not me. Why do we pick him? Because he’s one of the players who gives us the best chance of winning.
“So really, we should all be wanting a Harry Maguire that’s playing regularly and playing with confidence. That applies to, of course, quite a few players but he’s the one that everything lands on, which must be a tough space for him really.
“But he’s showing tremendous character. I think he has got the character to get over this because he’s a boy that has been from Sheffield United to Hull City. He’s not one where everything has been smooth. Sometimes you get lads…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…