England have no players that need to be abandoned imminently, but some – Harry Maguire – should be moved gradually out of the picture en route to the Euros...
Those pre-World Cup fears over a lack of playing time and all that energy spent scoffing at and wilfully misunderstanding a point Gareth Southgate made ages ago about form were misplaced and misguided. Harry Maguire,, performed well in more comfortable surroundings at the heart of a team designed to accentuate his strengths rather than enhance his weaknesses.
Maguire played all but 45 minutes of the 2018 World Cup, was parachuted into the Euros starting line-up at the earliest moment possible around an injury, and was only absent for about half an hour in Qatar after he suffered a knock against Iran. Southgate trusts him. Southgate loves him. Much to the chagrin of what remains a depressingly large minority of detractors, Sterling still has a part to play in whatever this England team does or doesn’t achieve. Eighty-two caps cannot just be put to one side, not least by the manager responsible for handing out 55 of them. Southgate has only leaned on Harry Kane more often.
Alexander-Arnold was afforded a half-hour stroll against Wales and while Trippier started the first two games as expected, he was also consigned to a substitute role in the win over Rob Page’s side. The 32-year-old didn’t even manage to rise from the bench against Senegal or France.
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