Man Utd's Sancho among those unfortunate to be snubbed for England
In the midst of the final international break ahead of the World Cup, Gareth Southgate has the chance to make final decisions over personnel ahead of naming his 26-man squad for Qatar 2022. However, there are those who missed out on a spot in Southgate's squad for meetings with Italy and Germany. Here we take a look at five who'll hope they can still do enough to convince Southgate in the coming weeks to book a spot on the plane east.
While Leicester have been struggling in the Premier League following a dire six game losing run, James Maddison has been a standout for Brendan Rodgers' side with three goals and an assist to his name on the back of 12 goals for Leicester in the Premier League last season. He has yet to be recalled to the squad since making his debut for the national team in November 2019, despite notching up impressive performances since. He is Leicester’s highest rated player with a WhoScored rating of 6.96, and has outperformed the likes of Jack Grealish and Mason Mount, who have made slow starts to the season.
Ben White has been a key part of Arsenals terrific start to the season, starting every game so far for Mikel Arteta’s side. White was unused in the England squad that finished runners' up in Euro 2020, so he has some familiarity with the England setup under Southgate. He has mainly featured at right-back for Arsenal this season, with William Saliba and Gabriel forming a decent partnership. He featured at centre-back for most of 2021/22 for the Gunners, and a WhoScored rating of 6.75 is better than squad members Harry Maguire and Conor Coady. You could argue for White to be considered as one of the central defenders in the squad, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James among those ahead of the 24-year-old for one of the right-back spots.
Jadon Sancho - Manchester United
Another unfortunate player to miss out, Jadon Sancho has been part of a resurgence in Manchester United’s season, with three goals in all competitions for the Red Devils. Sancho was one of the three players to come on and miss one of three penalties in the Euro 2020 final, which cost England their first major tournament win since 1966. However, with 23 caps, he is certainly an experienced player who could’ve easily made the squad and will feel unfortunate to have missed out. His WhoScored rating of 6.72 is certainly not the highest, though this has been impacted by the poor performances against Brighton and Brentford. Decisive strikes in one-goal wins over Liverpool and Leicester show he has the composure to net when it really matters.
Only Brighton (5) have conceded fewer goals than Everton (6) in the Premier League this season, that figure level with Manchester City and Liverpoool, and James Tarkowski has been crucial to that defensive resolve. With a WhoScored rating of 7.10, he is the highest rated English centre-back in Europe's top five leagues, that in itself considerably better than the centre-backs currently in the squad. He only has two England caps to his name, both coming in 2018, and hasn’t made the squad since. Everton partner Coady made the cut, so Tarkowski may feel aggrieved not to have got the call from Southagte.
While a rather unlikely call to be selected for the World Cup, Jacob Ramsey is a player who has experience working in the England camps at different levels. His WhoScored rating of 6.77 in 2021/22, in which he scored six goals for Aston Villa, highlights that he might be a player on the cusp of the squad, but it would take a fantastic run of form to get his name on the plane to Qatar.
