Southampton Show You Don't Have To Be With The Big 7 To Get In England Squad
Thursday, 7th Nov 2024 20:52

Two of Saints summer signings have proved that it is possible to get in the England squad without playing for one of the big clubs, although I would suspect that even Southampton supporters will be surprised at this news.

Aaron Ramsdale has received a recall to the England squad after his good form for Saints, vindicating his decision to play Premier League football rather than sit on the bench at Arsenal.

But if that is a no surprise, most England fans will be surprised to see the name of Taylor Harwood- Bellis in the squad.

Excellent in the Championship for Saints last season and Burnley the season before, he was instrumental in getting both teams promoted.

But he had never played in the Premier League before this season and to be honest in the early part of the campaign he had struggled to adapt with the pace and found himself benched for the home defeat to Manchester United.

However since then he has got to grips with the step up in standard and still only 22 will continue to get better.

There will be some who will say that he has only got in the side due to his close connections with the U21 side under Lee Carsley who made him his Captain.

But that is a little unfair and i hope that he gets the taste of playing for the full England side and in turn that boosts his confidence with Saints and helps us moving forward.

However

All Photos Via Reuters

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IanRC added 21:22 - Nov 7 Only now that loser Gareth Southgate has left. Shame we did not have James Ward Prowse in the team for some of those critical free kicks.
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underweststand added 09:49 - Nov 8

The England side is in transition, not just because of Southgate's departure, but the failure to win any sort of trophy during his time, and England have become the " almost " side.
Now - many in the Kane / McGuire generation are gradually on the way out and there are no obvious " giants " to replace them, and some of the current squads are merely picked from " in-form players" who may get to wear an England shirt for the day.
Despite our lowly League position, THB has been a stand-out player for us since arriving and having passed through the U21 stage, deserves a chance to show himself in the full side and give Tuchel a good look at some alternatives to our aging England defenders.

Likewise, Ramsdale who came off the Arsenal bench and landed in a nightmare situation behind our shaky back line, (who despite some good individual performances), seem ALMOST incapable of keeping a clean sheet in any sort of match. Rambo is a better keeper than our goals-against stats. may suggest, and may look better behind " a good defence" .

Jordan Pickford has over 70 England caps to his name and despite having passed 30 (still not a bad age for keepers) will eventually have to give way to a younger talent and Ramsdale (like THB) needs a chance to show up before the " Tuchel regime " takes over.

(I though it laughable that some media critics lambasted Carsley for not having " more contact " with Tuchel since his appointment. Tuchel will undoubtedly be watching all England games before January (and making his own assessments) and Carlsley will (at the handover) be able to give informed individual judgments on those younger players who he has managed through the U21 level over the past few years.) Dumb journalists. !