Oh, Gareth
Multiple reports are suggesting Gareth Southgate is so enthused by Jesse Lingard’s recent form, that he may select the West Ham loanee ahead of either Jack Grealish or Jadon Sancho this summer, or potentially both.
Lingard returned to the England squad for the international break just gone on merit – he has been in fantastic form since January after a difficult 2020 at Manchester United. And significantly, Southgate trusts him to perform in an England shirt – after all, he deployed him as one of a midfield three at the World Cup three years ago.
It was an easy decision to bring Lingard back into the fold after his recent form, but also due to the fact that both Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho were ruled out through injury.
When they both return to full fitness, Southgate will have another difficult decision to make, especially considering Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Phil Foden look to be locked in as the first choice front four.
To exclude Grealish or Sancho would not go down well among England fans and most likely won’t happen, but Southgate will have difficult decisions to make when the tournament comes around.
It may transpire that Southgate opts to take just two number 9s – Kane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin – to make room for more attacking midfielders, with Ollie Watkins dropping out despite scoring on his debut against San Marino.
Southgate has also suggested he will take fewer defenders to make room for attacking players, confident in the ability of Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw to play in both a back three and a back four.
This could free up space for all three of Grealish, Sancho and Lingard to be selected at the Euros, but it only moves the selection dilemma to another position – how do you choose just two of Reece James, Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier?
