On Thursday afternoon, Gareth Southgate announced the 26 players he is taking to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup – the squad who will battle it out on the biggest stage of all for their country.
The England boss raised a few eyebrows with some of his choices, such as the inclusions of Conor Coady and Conor Gallagher, while also appeasing a significant section of the Three Lions faithful by picking in-form Leicester man James Maddison, despite not initially being expected to.
While their dreams were made, however, many other hopefuls were left out of Thursday’s spotlight.
Here are the biggest omissions from England’s World Cup squad…
Infuriating, rather than surprising, is probably the best way to describe Southgate’s latest omission of Fikayo Tomori from the Three Lions camp.
The Milan centre-back has developed into one of Serie A’s best defenders over the past couple of years, demonstrating brilliant awareness and ability on the back foot as well as staggering speed.
His crucial contribution to Milan’s resurgence, as they earned a 2nd-placed finish in 2020/21 before then winning the Scudetto last campaign, hasn’t been enough for him to earn a regular spot in Southgate’s plans. He did play 88 minutes of England’s 0-0 draw with Italy in June but didn’t feature at all in the September internationals despite being in the squad.
Marc Guehi has come to the fore since his transfer to Crystal Palace in the summer of 2021, assuming the armband during an exciting transitional period for the club.
His impressively solid performances for the Eagles have seen him pick up three caps throughout 2022, including two in June. Like Tomori, however, the Palace skipper was an unutilised member of the September camp and, with Coady’s inclusion in the World Cup squad, has been left at home.
There was a lot of competition for the midfield spots in Southgate’s World Cup squad, and the ever-so-slightly questionable inclusions of Kalvin Phillips and Gallagher left no room for James Ward-Prowse.
The Southampton skipper, despite underwhelming in 2022/23 thus far, would have harboured hope of going to his first World Cup tournament, having been selected for all three camps prior to the competition and being renowned…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at 90min EN…