Brentford manager Thomas Frank spoke about Ivan Toney’s omission from England’s World Cup squad yesterday and was baffled that his top scorer is not on the plane to Qatar.
Gareth Southgate announced his squad on Thursday afternoon and one of the big questions in the lead-up to the announcement was whether it would be Toney or Newcastle’s Callum Wilson that would be selected to backup main man, Harry Kane.
The Three Lions boss was asked about certain picks at his announcement press conference and strongly intimated that many of his selections came down to their ‘form’, such as the decision to select Wilson but that doesn’t make sense to Brentford boss, Thomas Frank.
Frank was quizzed about Toney’s snub ahead of Brentford’s trip to Manchester City on Saturday, and though he was keen to show respect to his England counterpart, he couldn’t hide his disappointment for his striker.
What did the Brentford boss say about Toney missing out on the England World Cup squad?
Speaking about Toney missing out, Frank said via 90min: “All people in the world are biased. I’m biased my way, Gareth’s biased his way. I’m looking from this side of the fence, he’s on the other side of the fence.
“I think Gareth’s done an unbelievable job as head coach for England, semi-final of a World Cup and so close on penalties [at Euro 2020], it’s like at the flip of a coin – maybe not for England but for every other nation. So I think he’s done fantastic and we should trust the process and the selection he’s been picking.
“That said, it depends what you look at. If you look at strikers in form, you can’t find a better striker in form in the country after Harry Kane. It’s impossible.
“You look at Maddison, I guess he’s picked because he’s in form. But if you look at players who have at least one cap for England, is that the criteria? Then you’re not selected.”