When all is said and done, Gareth Southgate hasn’t done too badly as an England manager to this point, however, the cracks are starting to appear and his selection of an injured Bukayo Saka instead of an in-form James Ward-Prowse is one of the stranger decisions he’s made of late.
Whilst it’s accepted that both play in different positions, the one thing that appeared to set Southgate apart from his predecessors was that he would pick on form rather than reputation.
There didn’t seem to be any ‘favourites’ that would get in the Three Lions squad no matter what, something that could’ve been levelled at previous incumbents in the position.
In the space of one team selection, however, Southgate has now fallen into the trap.
It was obvious that Saka was never going to be fit for the October internationals and yet the manager saw fit to still pick him, denying Ward-Prowse the opportunity to mix in the company of fellow elite stars.
The 28-year-old West Ham man has been one of the standout players of the current season and, according to WhoScored, has been directly involved in eight goals for the Hammers in the nine games he’s played so far this season.
That compares favourably with Saka’s 10 goal contributions in 10 games and begs the question as to what reason can Southgate possibly have for selecting the Arsenal man over the West Ham talisman?
What about Rashford over Sterling!!!!
Good point, well made.
Sterling would be a more natural replacement for Saka, If anything Ward Prowse would be instead of Phillips or Henderson.
Hello Shaun, not a Man Utd fan by any chance? Kind regards