Branthwaite included in Southgate's 33-man England 'training' squad

It will be hard for him not to have his head turned to some extent, but I can't see him actually agitating for a move unless a really big team comes in.

As usual Southgate has some dross in his squad but hasn't Garner shown as much as Jones if not more in a struggling team.

Then of course he has to pick the brownnoser Henderson who is way past his best.

Half the squad picks itself but the rest is a joke.

Then of course he has to pick the brownnoser Henderson who is way past his best.

I think he's one of the many 'names' who have actually been left out, Tom.

It would be a travesty if Jarrad doesn't make the final squad, he's been as good as anyone at centre half this season.

agreed re. Tarkowski. Compare his season to Maguire; how does that follow? Maguire's best is far in the past and he's now such a bag of nerves I doubt he'll ever recover.

Whilst omitting some that needed to be, Southgate still has default go-to players that he won't let go.

Jarrad had a great season personally but just as importantly, in a great partnership too, one of the league's best.

Maybe it's a height thing?

Having formed a great partnership with the left footed Branthwaite seems a great opportunity in a starting 11

However as we are not a big team maybe we should be eternally grateful Branthwaite is named

8 centre-backs, 1 injured left-back and 2 right-backs. I know some of the centre backs can play left back – but why play players out of position when he could have called up specialist left-backs?

Defenders:
Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton) CB
Lewis Dunk (Brighton) CB
Joe Gomez (Liverpool) CB
Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace) CB
Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) CB
Harry Maguire (Manchester United) CB
Jarell Quansah (Liverpool) CB
Luke Shaw (Manchester United) LB (injured)
John Stones (Manchester City) CB
Kieran Trippier (Newcastle) RB
Kyle Walker (Manchester City) RB

He won’t because Southgate doesn’t have the fortitude to do so.

He can’t be traded. We have to keep him. If he goes he needs to fetch $100 million. And no that figure is not overly adventurous. Hold firm Everton if you sell him. Take only top dollar. Oh, and, don’t sell him!!!

Would also agree that while midfield and attack look well stocked, it's a very mediocre defence. Shame they haven't persuaded Ben White to change his mind because he's better than most if not all of the rest (except Jarrod...)

I hope Southgate ends up at Man U and we can see his actual level- another of their managerial flops...

And as for Trippier and Shaw, if we can’t do better that, then I am lost for words. Mitchell has had a great season as has Ben White, Livramento and Rico Lewis.

Call me paranoid, but I always get a sense of trepidation when good Everton players get called up to the England squad…

I see Wharton (ex Blackburn) from Palace is in as well. He played really well against us at Goodison, and even in our present state you would have to think it's one that got away.

I believe it's why we haven't won a tournament for so long.
Italy, France & Brazil always have a couple of wise old heads in their teams. Trippier, Stones, Walker and Pickford to an extent all have it in them to step up.

Southgate definitely has his squad in mind now, I'm not sure if Branthwaite will make it, however I believe he is the natural successor to Stones. I'd rather he rested as I believe he won't be 3rd or 4th choice anyway.

Maybe now these players have gained experience, it will come good, but if not, don't rip up the team for the World Cup.

City vs Utd bidding war??

Tarkowski deserves to be in that squad. It seems Southgate is looking at players who have good passing abilities rather than having a good leader and tough defender in the squad.

Some very poor results over the season but Chelsea had a very good April and May - 2 defeats in 16 - and squeezed into Europe. Crazy. Munich, possibly?

Dupont (2), I hope that you are never in a position where your valuation of footy players really matters! I'm still chuckling at £15M for Keane.

If it is left to Moshiri it will be sell, sell, sell with no evident strategy or analysis: present not future.

While Jarrad has been outstanding, so has Tarkowski. I believe he has been invaluable to both the team and Jarrad's development.

I hope they both stay with us, for as long as possible.

Southgate was a centre-back, so it might explain four sets of them… but honestly!

I guess all teams sell players to bigger teams at some point, but Jarrad will learn more of his trade with us, certainly there'll be more defending to do!

If he moves, he's worth more than the £80M Man Utd paid for Maguire, let's hope our owners understand that.

Hope he does well if selected anyway.

More of the same in future, please.

Germany to win the Euros... I've got 50 notes on them!

Tarkowski is as close to positionally perfect as any centre-back I have ever seen -- that's why he always leads the league in blocked shots -- and as the season went on, Jarrad's positioning got better and better.

Early days, we were dazzled by Jarrad's recovery speed. Later in the season, we almost never saw it. Why? Because he didn't need to recover as often. He was reading the game and getting ahead of the play.

Tarkowski is the master of that, and I think Jarrad learned his lessons from him.

I reckon he'll become better than Gana and Rice combined.

I am sure Palace could cause a few surprises next season if they can keep hold of their players (tough ask like).

But topping Gana defensively would be quite a leap. Remember in his first year with us, Gana led Europe in both tackles and interceptions.

Mentored by Tarkowski, combined with his natural ability and his reading and anticipation of the game.

A special player.

Which is why it puzzles me that the likes of Dunk, (FFS) Gomez, Konsa, (FFS) Quansah and (FFS) Jones have been included.

We seem to have missed Tomori and Loftus-Cheek who both performed strongly for 2nd place AC Milan and must surely merit a place ahead of a couple of Liverpool reserves. Angel Gomes (Lille) and Jadon Sancho (brilliant recently for Dortmund) make a talented quartet of overlooked players playing overseas. Gibbs-White is unlucky too - he should be miles ahead of Curtis Jones.

I was thinking the same. Southgate seems to have an aversion to picking players playing in other leagues.

Granted you can argue those leagues aren't as tough as the Premier League but playing Champions League football and winning a title with Milan last year is surely more noteworthy than what Henderson has done the last 2 years until he has finally been dropped now.

As for Jones I thought a few years back when he first appeared he was impressive but to my mind he has stagnated into a Tom Davies type.

Such hypocrisy, but as George Orwell said, we are all equal but some are more equal than others??

It reminds me of when SAF sold Jaap Stam because he wasn't making as many tackles, only for him to go on to have a good career in Italy because his positioning was a lot better.

Someone posted a few days ago that “he has failed his audition”. On the contrary, he has sacrificed a lot for the team. Our attack has suffered as a result.

This midfield effort has allowed Tarkowski to shine, playing deep, making his blocks and headers. I think he would struggle in top-level international football, however.

Branthwaite? He can play at any level.

Tarkowski deserves all the credit he has received for his performances in these relegation battles, I honestly believe we would have lost them without him, but he will never be looked at by the top clubs and he will never be considered for England again.

He has always been great at marshalling a team which has nine or even ten men focused on defending. But put him in a back three or four and he will have to play far higher up the pitch. His poor first touch will be exposed and so will his susceptibility to darting pace and quick feet.

Tarkowski has become great a great stopper and inspirational character playing the game we have become accustomed to but, unlike Jarrad. I don't see him being invited (or paid) to go and play real football.

Very disappointed that Tarkowski has not been included. No lover of Southgate at all.

In regards to clubs wanting him, he is an Everton player, has signed a new contract last season. He is worth more to us than any money that comes in for him

Do what Man City do – keep hold of the player, might get another points deduction but keeping him will more than make up any points deduction.

We already let Richarlison and Gordon go; time to dig our heels in and say Not for Sale and learn from the mistake of selling players and still getting a points deduction.

Second, well done Marcel Brands - well done indeed. Jarrad was exactly the type of player a DoF was expected to sign, and still is in massively more constricted times, and not the conveyor belt of obscenely overpaid non-entities signed by Moshiri & Kenwright, who took little or no notice of their very own DoF.

Third, Moshiri, 777 Partners, and God knows who else are to be the future of Everton Football Club, nothing but asset strippers, and selling Jarrad right now will be their aim – with others to follow.

If Brands had a horrible hand of cards to play with courtesy of the Dickhead Duo to whom he had to answer, Thelwell now has a way, way worse hand to play.

As for Tarkowski, yes, he has done well for us but Dave Cashen (#43) sums it up perfectly for me.

One is the leader and throws his body on the line, blocking.

The other is a rarity. A classy defender, composed on the ball, anticipates danger and reads the game.

It is hard to believe Jarrad is still only 21 when you watch him.

Of course there is the obvious issue of putting the whole club in danger of administration. But then, to add insult to injury, we will have to lose stars like Branthwaite quicker than we would have and have been unable to afford players like Wharton who a few years back I reckon may well have ended up at Everton over Palace.

Though we have been poor at picking up Championship players recently, I still wince at the summers that we bought Doucoure or Allan for more money than Eze cost (different players perhaps) or spent £14M on Nathan Patterson whilst overlooking Michael Olise for an absolute bargain at £8M!

Brands was absolutely perfect for Everton though. The first words he uttered after arriving at the club, was that “money can make you lazy”, which was probably the most honest thing he said (about himself) before adopting an, “if you can't beat them, join them” attitude.

Yes, Brands getting the plaudits for someone else's recommendations. I doubt if Brands even knew where Carlisle was, let alone go and watch them when Jarrad was there.

How often does that happen in life, as well as in football?

In fairness the people at Carlisle have told us that Brands acted swiftly on the recommendations of his staff. Other clubs delayed. they wanted to see more.

Truth be told, Brands squandered hundreds of millions on transfers and direct quotes can be sourced to prove it was his idiotic promises of untold riches to people like Mina and Delph which compounded the problem, leaving us with a staggering and possibly fatal wage bill.

Three fatal mistakes were made by Moshiri: Keeping Kenwright on; hiring Walsh; then hiring Brands. £750M to go backwards.

We have all been around long enough to know a good owner can send a club north every bit as quickly as a bad one can send it south. Let’s hope we find one.

He so completely destroyed the club that we're still feeling the effects to this day.

I agree with your view. He was reluctant and didn't really seem bought in.

He managed 1.47 points per game which was the second most of any manager since 1990, behind only David Moyes.

In his first season he came 7th with 61 points (something we'd all give our back teeth for now) but then the following summer was one of the most terrible transfer windows any club has ever had as we spent a whopping great £130m on Sigurdsson, Keane, Pickford and Klaasen whilst also bringing in Rooney on big wages meaning we had 4 number tens (Rooney, Sigurdsson, Klaassen and Barkley) but no decent or fit wingers.

Certainly that transfer window was when things really started going south for Everton but I wonder how much of that was Koeman's doing? The team struggled to gel consequently and he was sacked after a poor start though it was a pretty tough fixture list (Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal) with the only real anomaly being defeat against Sean Dyche's Burnley at home.

I never liked Koeman and he never seemed that invested but looking back at his record I wonder if he was hard done by? Certainly the transfer business done during his tenure was horrific but his results on the pitch were not quite so bad in retrospect.

Did Beckham get to Rooney and others too – Stones, Lescott etc? Further to that, will the England management team be on backhanders to encourage great young players to move to the ESL traitor clubs?

Slabhead picked ahead of him. Says it all. England won't win the Euros under Wokegate.

I hope they do for Pickford, but sadly can't see it. Obviously for Jarrad if he goes, too.

France to win it.

Everything else being equal, if you play for a 'big club' you get the call rather than a player from a 'small club'. And then, once you're in the clique, it takes a jemmy to be prised out of it, hence, the likes of Maguire and Henderson being retained long after any usefulness to the squad had evaporated.

I hear that England could also have got Olise, arguably even better than Eze, he qualifies for us despite playing for France at U18 and U21. But we left it too late to register him. I think he's a big upgrade on Grealish and Maddison.

Credit to Palace, what with the above 3, Guehi, Henderson, even Mateta now coming good, they've made some shrewd acquisitions.

This could be a great arrangement loan out Holgate et al in some swap loan deals! Keane and Holgate for Shankland for a season!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Shankland

In my opinion Koeman wasn't hard done by, it was Moshiri's biggest mistake, bringing him in and giving him a blank cheque book.

He definitely signed Sigurdsson, offering more and more money all over the summer to get him in the end for a ridiculous fee, and signed Klaasen who played in the same position, and he signed Schneiderlin, sold Lukaku, our only striker, and stayed on the golf course, without bringing a no.9, having signed three No 10s, and the new season starting.

He's up there as one of our worst managers.

What's less clear is how involved Koeman was in transfers or how much he was leaving it to Walsh, Moshiri and Kenwright; certainly he seemed happier on the golf course than watching scouting videos but who knows. On the pitch his results were not nearly as bad as some of his successors.

There was an interesting interview with Jagielka about a month saying how he knew Koeman wouldn't work out because his training consisted of him telling Jags and co to make sweeping 60 yard pin point passes (eg the things he did as a player) and couldn't understand that they were incapable of doing the same. Obviously that's just one perspective from one player who maybe had an inferiority complex? But it's one of the few times I've heard Moyes era players criticizing a boss along with Osman saying they never did fitness work with Martinez and just passed through every training session.

His statement in the the press more or less demanding the Board back him over wanting to buy Schniderlin.

His red and white Christmas 🎄 tree.

Or his treatment of Niase - although the look on his tulip munching grid when those goals went in was priceless.

There are plenty (well some) who would have Moyes or Martinez back, strangely enough not so many calling for Koeman...I wonder why?

He did give Lookman his debut, but as we have just seen, some mature later not earlier.

He managed 1.47 points per game which was the second most of any manager since 1990, behind only David Moyes.

Don't know where you're getting your numbers from but Ancelotti and even Martinez had a better Win % and points % than both Moyes and Koeman

Everton Managers

It is fairly widely accepted that Koeman was not allowed to get the players he wanted. Sigurdson was a Moshiri buy, Rooney a Kenwright buy after telling Lukaku he could go even though he was still under contract and Koeman in a typically dutch way said if you all want to run the club I might as well go play golf.

In his first season we had one of the best finishes at that time but then the dumb and dumber interference started.

Koeman did always seem reluctant and took some convincing to come to Everton.

Great player though. He had a rocket shot on him.

The Dutch are notoriously hard and straight talking. I've worked with many. They don't mess around or mix their words.

Either way Koeman's results on the pitch were not quite as bad as I remembered them.

But Christy is 100% correct about Koeman. He's a stiff-necked, lazy-ass loser who went through a dozen jobs in 21 years, never lasting more than two seasons outside the Dutch league. He barely won more than half his games at Barca and has done the same with the Dutch national team.

1. He can see that (like Pickford) he can have an international career whilst still at Everton;

2. If, as is sadly likely, we have to sell him in the summer, a run out at Euros will add a few quid to the price tag.

Not every player or manager buys in. They're not fans. We don't need buy-in. What we do need, and should demand, is 100% while they're paid employees. Koeman never did so. We're still living with the legacy of all the damage wrought at that time.

I'd hope he'd see getting in the England squad and not playing, that his development would be best served playing every week at Everton, where he's a vital player, loved by his manager and fans, trusted , settled and improving every week.
He's still young, does he roll the dice now and risk joining one of the clubs who are in transition?
Chelsea, utd, Newcastle, Rs ( no please ) all are in difficult moments.
I belive its not quite the time to move to one of these teams, so hopeful we get another year, but who could blame the lad if city or Arsenal come for him.
If I was his advisor, I'd advise unless one of these 2 come this year for you, stay at Everton and then see what happens. 🤞