Southgate second guesses selection of Barkley

, 25 June, 36comments  |  Jump to most recent
Facing criticism after another poor showing by an England team at an international tournament, the manager Gareth Southgate isn't convinced bringing the Ross Barkley into the fold would necessarily have worked to his advantage.

Southgate's team lost two of their three group games and were sent home early. And as the media pick over the bones of England's early exit from U21 European Championships, some have questioned why the likes of Barkley on the fringes of Roy Hodgson's senior squad weren't taken with the Under-21s to the Czech Republic this summer.

"Ross is one we have got to think about," Southgate said on Mail Online, erring towards focusing on the wider issue of the players' development rather than what they could have done for England. "I still think it's not clear because he hadn't kicked a ball with me for 20 months. So to bring him into the group isn't something that would necessarily have worked.

"William Carvalho played in Under-21 qualifiers for Portugal, that's why he came back into their group. For his (Barkley's) development, would it have been something good for his experience? An Under-21 finals is a high quality field.

"The policy [of not picking star names] generally is something I'm comfortable with because we expose this next group now. Would we have seen a glimpse of Ruben Loftus-Cheek if we'd done that? Possibly not.

"Jesse Lingard has come through as a player that if he gets a pathway with a club, he's shown on a top stage what he might be able to do. Had we had Saido Berahino, Harry Kane and Danny Ings as 9 and 10, would we talking about Ross in the same way?"

"But it's absolutely a fair question and one we have to constantly review."

From Everton's perspective, the fact that he got to enjoy the summer off and avoid involvement in a third successive summer tournament (a tally that would rise to four if, as expected, he travels to France for the senior European Championships next year) will be seen as a bonus.

After Barkley returned from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with Hodgson's admonishing voice in his ears, missed two months of last season with a medial knee ligament injury and then suffered a disappointing second full season with the Blues, his manager Roberto Martinez will no doubt be pleased the 21 year-old is getting a proper break so that he can come back to pre-season refreshed and focused next month.

Quotes sourced from Daily Mail



Reader Comments (36)

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Ross Edwards
2 Posted 26/06/2015 at 01:09:36
Southgate is a terrible manager who should be nowhere near the national set up. He has been out of Premier League management for 6 years, not like he did a good job anyway, relegating Middlesbrough.

He is tactically inept, dull and it really is a disgrace that our England national teams are managed by incompetent, useless idiots who should never have been appointed, or even offered those jobs.

The 3 men running our national teams at the moment are:

Senior team: Roy Hodgson- A few Scandinavian titles, managed Switzerland nearly 20 years ago, sacked by Liverpool, last club job, West Brom. Mid table dinosaur.

Under 21s - Gareth Southgate - Relegated Middlesbrough, out of top flight management for 6 years

Under 20s - Aidy Boothroyd - Relegated Watford, playing shocking football in the process, earning him the nickname ’Hoofroyd’. His last two jobs in club management were at Coventry and Northampton. He was sacked by both. He left Northampton bottom of the football league.

How have these men, with terrible CVs riddled with failure, been able to get anywhere near the national set up?

How can we expect England to be successful in the future when the seniors are being managed by an inept dinosaur who should be nowhere near international management whatsoever, and the young players coming through are being developed by Southgate, who is a dreadful manager, and Boothroyd, who left a club bottom of the Football League?

As for Dyke’s claims that England will win the World Cup in 2022, not a chance. In terms of technical skill and ability, English football is light years away from Germany, Spain, Holland and the South American giants.

In fact even the USA have a chance of winning the World Cup before England.

Mark Andersson
3 Posted 26/06/2015 at 01:42:42
Sort of makes sense. Everton for once gain, although it will be interesting to see if the critics views effects John Stones form.

I’m looking forward to next season as Martinez is in the hot seat from the minute pre season starts.

No excuses, just results and entertaining footie, not much to ask for.

John Gee
4 Posted 26/06/2015 at 04:54:28
I’ve heard similar rubbish spouted by TalkSport and other media "football experts". Is the reason the U21’s failed to progress out of the group really down to an out of form player who Southgate doesn’t know where to play and hasn’t played for them for almost 2 years?

Of course not! But it could be that playing two holding midfielders and insisting on "KEEP YOUR SHAPE LADS" just results in a lack of dynamic play.

Ross should release a simple statement "it wasn’t my fault guv, I wasn’t even there."

Brian Porter
5 Posted 26/06/2015 at 05:46:09
Ross and the other fringe players from the senior squad should have gone to the finals. Playing for your country is still regarded as a big thing in almost every country except England, where the big money of the Premier League makes these young men think they're too good to turn out for their country in what they see as a lesser tournament.

What's the point of going to a tournament like this with basically a team made up of players from the Championship? They were on a hiding to nothing and we got what we deserved, precisely nothing!

In other countries around the world, wages are lower and there is still immense kudos to be gad from being selected to wear your nation's shirt but nit here, because the national team at all levels has become secondary to the massive paycheques these lads pick up in the Premier League. Until playing for England is regarded with the importance it deserves, we can't hope for success at any level from our national team.

Guy Hastings
6 Posted 26/06/2015 at 06:48:43
If last season’s form was anything to by, RB would have been lucky to get ten minutes off the bench.
Ian Jones
7 Posted 26/06/2015 at 07:23:37
Whilst you would hope that players like Barkley and Sterling coming in to the U21 squad for the finals would have enhanced the squad, how would that affect team spirit when players who had helped the team qualify were left out in favour of the stars coming back?

I think it was suggested on the commentary of England - Italy game that none of the Italian players in the U21 team had played at senior level and that they had double the number of Serie A games between them than the English team had Premier League games. I haven’t checked my facts so feel free to point out the error....

So that could suggest that the Italian senior team doesn’t need U21 players at all because they are okay without them or that there are U21 players in their senior squad who also don’t drop down as their U21 squad is okay without them.

The funny thing is the Italians go home anyway on the head-to-head rule as they lost to the Swedes who qualify. Of course the irony is England beat Sweden!

My last point is that perhaps Gareth Southgate should have stuck with the same defence that played in the first 2 games. They had only conceded one.

Colin Glassar
8 Posted 26/06/2015 at 08:09:37
Ross, brilliant post mate. You’ve encapsulated everything that is wrong with England at international level. We are a bunch of incompetents (players and staff) being run by a bunch of incompetents, ie, chairman, manager, coaches etc.....

Like the BBC, the FA is a venerable old institution run by a bunch of decrepit white men totally out of touch with reality, terrified of making radical changes. The boat is not to be rocked at any cost as we are all in this together blah, blah, blah.... This is why we will never win anything at any level ever again.

Tony Draper
9 Posted 26/06/2015 at 08:14:35
Would we want Southgate involved in Everton's setup at Under-21 level?Definitely not for me.

Surely the managers within the national setup should be at least good enough to hold a post with a Premier League club in the top six or eight? Southgate wouldn’t get a job with a struggling Championship club.

He’s talked utter claptrap before, during and after the tournament. One of his latest sidesplitter comments was that he would wish to continue. I fucken bet he would, otherwise he’s out of work and if he was extremely fortunate to land a janitors job somewhere he’d be working a bloody sight harder for a fraction of what he’s banking at present.

He’s an utter waste of space.

Alan Bodell
10 Posted 26/06/2015 at 08:24:54
Guy #6, sad to say but how true.
John Graham
12 Posted 26/06/2015 at 08:30:24
To me, they always try to make it sound very technical and have an excuse ready when we fail. It’s just a matter of picking the best players eligible for the tournament and then telling them to go out and play good football. Instead they pick crap players, fill their heads with shit, and then moan about who wasn’t available.
Ross Edwards
13 Posted 26/06/2015 at 09:14:56
And just think. Southgate could well be fast tracked to the England job when Woy leaves if the FA can’t find anyone.

They’re terrified of foreign managers after being slated for appointing Sven and Capello, and anyone who they consider ’outspoken’ is ruled out immediately. That’s why Hodgson got the job over Redknapp, why Greenwood was appointed over Clough.

And another thing, you need friends in high places. Southgate is good mates with the FA Technical Director Dan Ashworth, so straightaway there’s no chance of him being sacked.

And who knows... Connections in the corridors of power at FA headquarters could actually get Southgate the England job if he wanted it.

Tony Abrahams
14 Posted 26/06/2015 at 09:17:30
Agree Colin, that post off Ross says it all, especially when he talks about the managers.

Steven Gerard, has already said that the new England headquarters is fucking boring, so they have learnt nothing from Lilleshall, except they probably spent even more money on this facility.

Go and watch our Under-7 leagues in January, kids play in the mud, and the parents shout "Get it away". A friend whose son once went to represent Liverpool schoolboys Under-11s in Barcelona told me a good story that epitomises the way we are getting taught.

The kids were warming up before the game, when a Spanish coach came over to one of the parents and said, "Are you English"? He replied "Yes," and the Spaniard said, "I know; only the English all want to warm up by the goal."

When Murray won Wimbledon, the English spent seven times more on coaching than the Polish, who produced 3 or 4 quarter finalists that year, so it’s not just football where we lag behind, unless you want to be a coach, of course!!

George McKane
15 Posted 26/06/2015 at 09:50:25
And add to the list of no-marks with very little real pedigree of football – Greg Dyke – what is he doing running a national football body?

Years ago a Local Councillor commented to me about one of my pieces of theatre – I asked him "Weren’t you in charge of school dinners last year?"

I really don’t care about England football in many ways but sometimes I dread Everton players going anywhere near these frauds. Hodgson – I wouldn’t let him make my tea.

Dave Abrahams
16 Posted 26/06/2015 at 09:59:35
Like a lot of coaches and managers who work for the FA Southgate has the right accent and conforms to what they want, his coaching ability is debatable.

Brian Clough told it like it was and did the job, a proper job, his face and his attitude wasn’t right, it didn’t fit in with the way the FA works and wants. It didn’t matter that Clough was far and away the best man for the job.

Trevor Brooking has made a career working for the FA, he offers nothing to the game but he conforms so he stays.

As Joe Mercer once said, It was ever thus.

George McKane
17 Posted 26/06/2015 at 10:20:05
The English Football Manager is chosen more for his ability to choose the right cutlery at The Embassy and his selection of ties and cufflinks than anything whatsoever to do with football – hence Clough never being considered.
Jim Knightley
18 Posted 26/06/2015 at 10:32:53
Other teams bring fringe internationals in for the big tournament, and so should we. Sterling, Wilshere and Jones are more heavily involved with the seniors so should not have come, by why didn’t Barkley and Oxlade play? We had a weakness in midfield, and that would have helped.

I agree completely re Southgate though. We need better managers at international level. Hodgson made big tactical errors last summer, and Southgate couldn’t get the team firing. Hodgson should have gone last summer, and Southgate should go now.

I’m sure that some of our players were tired – so we should have rotated more and brought in a couple who have played less football (like Oxlade and Barkley).

Paul Kennedy
19 Posted 26/06/2015 at 10:57:12
Sometimes you really wonder what the football hierarchy and managers see...

In my profession, I would have been sacked for allowing standards to drop as low as Southgate was happy to accept. And yes, we quite rightly criticise Barkley for some very iffy performances but you have got to say that our Under-21s were dreadful from a home perspective.

Garbutt was not good but there were a lot worse... Nathaniel Chalobah – what a joke. I saw him in the first game and could not believe how bad he was, giving the ball away. I thought he was a cert to get dropped... but no, there he was again in the second game, giving the ball away, and – surprise, surprise – he plays in the third game, still giving the ball away, and he is a Chelsea player.

Then Kane was not good... Ings terrible. It just reinforces that at international level we are light years away.

Will Southgate get the push? Not a chance – a rise and more TV appearances when he will be the font of all knowledge – like those other great managers Hoddle and Souness.

Harry Wallace
20 Posted 26/06/2015 at 11:55:13
The English lads wanted to win the tournament so they would have welcomed the big names coming in. If England want to win big tournaments, they have to get a taste for it and that should start with U21s.

Wales had a similar situation and played their star players. Worked really well. Got us up the rankings and boosted confidence. Look where we are now!

Paul Hughes
21 Posted 26/06/2015 at 14:41:13
Very interesting comment from Matt Dickinson in this morning’s Times.

"There was a need for an end product, for attacking menace.... which Barkley should have been challenged to deliver as a starter, a senior figure, because some of his coaches, past and present, fear that he lacks game intelligence. Looking to 2022, we cannot be sure if Barkley is the unarguable future of the national side’s midfield or another English footballer lacking a bit of nous."

I think the answer will present itself to us next season.

Oliver Molloy
22 Posted 26/06/2015 at 15:12:00
England have not got the ability, the mentality, nor the coaches to even give them a chance of winning a tournament.
The players are not hungry enough and are too well paid.
Sterling gets offered 100 a week and turns it down, this is one of the biggest reasons England are crap.
A player has a decent season and he reckons he should be on mega mega money.
Rooney gets paid 300k a week allegedly - give me a break. Would he get into a world 11.? I don’t think so.

And before anyone starts raving...The same goes for the rest Ireland,N-Ireland,Scotland,Wales.

As for Barkley, if we got a load of money for him I think we should take it...I just can not see what others seem to see in him.

Bill Griffiths
23 Posted 26/06/2015 at 15:16:28
Got to agree, Southgate always comes across to me as a nice guy but that doesn’t qualify him as a football coach. Personally I don’t think he’s got what it takes to be a manager at any level.

I’m sure he must have got his badges now but unless my memory is fooling me I’m sure that he never had any badges when appointed as Boro manager and was given special dispensation in order to take the post.

James Stewart
24 Posted 26/06/2015 at 15:57:40
@2 spot on. The problem is who in their right mind would want to manage England at any level. Anyone worth their salt will be in club management. International football is fast becoming a joke and a hinderance for most players.
Mark Cooper
25 Posted 26/06/2015 at 19:21:39
Too many RS in the media, as stated that lads played 3yrs of solid football after coming back from a bad injury and I hope has enjoyed himself this summer having a laugh and a few beers.
When he comes back for pre-season training I expect him to get stuck in fitness wise and prepare himself, then maybe next season we can get a proper idea as to just how good or not he is going to be.
As for the RS media, they blamed Jagielka and Baines for last summers mess and Barkley for this summer, if I was a young English Everton player I would be checking my grans passport hoping she was Irish as playing for England and Everton is a thankless task.
Read/listen to the RS media but ffs don’t respect a word they say.
Harold Matthews
26 Posted 26/06/2015 at 19:30:43
Fine post Ross. Plenty to ponder.
David Greenwood
27 Posted 26/06/2015 at 19:53:59
Fine post Ross.
John Raftery
28 Posted 26/06/2015 at 21:59:32
Ross Barkley does indeed lack game intelligence and should never have been taken to the World Cup. If he had had a rest last summer it is possible he might have had a more productive 2014/15 season with us and could then have got his tournament experience and more playing time with the under 21s. Fast tracking players to full international level before they are ready does them no favours in the long run.
Dave McCoy
29 Posted 26/06/2015 at 23:42:23
You exactly put my thoughts into words, Ross.
Richard Reeves
31 Posted 27/06/2015 at 10:19:07
I was going to give my thoughts on this but Ross (#2) did it for me.
David Nicholls
32 Posted 27/06/2015 at 14:32:55
Sorry Ross but I don’t agree with your suggestion that inept managementment is the main issue here.

I take your point that Southgate is no Jose Mourinho but neither do I think he is a terrible manager. England have chopped and changed managers for years. We went out and acquired one of the best managers of his generation in Capello and still nothing changed.

I think Tony Abrahams (post 14) has hit the nail on the head. England fail at tournament because we are way behind our European counterparts when it comes to coaching kids. Get Stuck In... Get Rid of it. I’m sure we all heard far to much of that growing up. Youth coaching is what needs to change and it will take years before we start to see the benefit.

I think you are spot on about America winning the World Cup before we do. I would not be surprised...

Paul Tran
33 Posted 27/06/2015 at 15:18:14
England teams fail because they are mentally weak. That’s why the good sides went out of the semi/quarter final stages. That’s why the less talented current sides don’t get that far.

The minute an English player can run in a straight line he’s worth £20m. Many of them flop after one good season, many of them struggle to impose themselves on the game.

I think the talent is there, but soft mentally weak youngsters are being coached by mentally weak ex-players with a history of choking.

Christ, I’m starting to sound like my Dad!

Frank Crewe
34 Posted 27/06/2015 at 18:07:36
As far as English managers are concerned managing the National side is were old managers go to die.

Why we even have an under 21 side is beyond me. All you get is championship players and premier players who barely get a first team game managed by a second rater.

If they are good enough stick them into the full England side and bin the under 21’s.

Brian Keenan
35 Posted 27/06/2015 at 23:01:26
I think Barkley did not want to go because he plays for Everton and now knew England would be a waste of time. I think with he is a eight ball.

I am still waiting for him to play 90 minutes for both sides properly?

Andy Crooks
36 Posted 28/06/2015 at 01:04:41
The Premier League is different. It is like Britain in the EU. Trying to be European, wanting to... but not quite. The England team and, I suppose, the rest of the UK and Ireland, play football like that. We don’t want to develop the youth system of the Europeans, not quite. Pace and power has to figure. So, we play a strange, bizarre hybrid.

I think, frankly, that big Sam, given the authority to go for it like fuck, could win the European Championship for England. We could call it austerity football.

Oliver Molloy
37 Posted 28/06/2015 at 10:57:40
Andy,

Just reading what you said about big Sam.

If England had given the job to Jack Charlton, he would have got England to finals and probably won a trophy. I base my opinion on the type of football he played while manager of Ireland and the players that England had available at that time. It may not have been pretty, but it would have been effective.

John Graham
38 Posted 28/06/2015 at 12:34:24
I see it's Sweden and Portugal in the final. England U21 narrowly missed out to them in our group. Shows just maybe a better game plan and a more attacking mindset and we just might have got there.
Allan Board
39 Posted 28/06/2015 at 21:02:56
The last time we had an England manager with a pair, we won the World Cup, and he told us we would beforehand!!

Same scenario with our rugby team. Ruthless buggers win things not nice PC Yes-men.

As for the Europe debate, we are like sheep following any "ethos" that happens to be en vogue. From 1958-1985, British teams won 29 European trophies and came runners up in 16. Uefa couldn’t wait to ban us, as they couldn’t live with our pace, desire, and directness on the pitch.

Andy is right, Uefa tolerate Britain, but can’t stand us really. I am one of "the coaches" that are referred to, but I teach kids to be direct, pass quick and accurately, shoot on sight. Thousands of positive, attack-minded British kids are being ruined by this pretentious concept of passing it backwards rather than risk losing it.

The old adage applies for me, "Be prepared to lose so you can win."


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