One of Gareth Southgate’s understated achievements as England manager has been to create an environment so stable as to almost border on dull.
Southgate is consistent and calm in every aspect of the job, and his players clearly enjoy the tranquillity of international football, particularly those coming from the relative chaos of certain high-profile clubs.
Luke Shaw underlined this dynamic when he suggested he felt more “wanted” with England than Manchester United after scoring in Saturday’s win over Switzerland.
No one is likely to be benefiting more from being in England’s bubble of stability this week than Shaw’s United’s team-mate Harry Maguire, who is set to return to the starting XI against Ivory Coast tonight, amid the worst club form of his career.
Maguire has earned Southgate’s trust and the right to continue playing for his country with his performances at the World Cup and Euros proving that, for a core of senior players, credit in the bank remains more important than performances at club level.
“[Harry] has helped get us to a World Cup semi-final and a European Championship Final, so there is no doubt he is more than capable of playing for us at a high level,” Southgate said.
The England manager has already been rewarded for his faith in Maguire, bringing him back into the XI after injury for the third group game of Euro 2020, despite clean sheets against Croatia and Scotland.
Such is Maguire’s status in the squad even Tyrone Mings, who he replaced in the side but is expected to partner the United player at Wembley tonight, agreed with the decision. Since, Maguire’s form for United has been widely criticised, although there is a view in the England camp that the defender’s performances are partly a reflection of his club’s instability — and Southgate never considered overlooking him this month.
“He was very good for us in the autumn and [United] are in a very difficult moment. There could be any number of reasons for that,” Southgate said.
On the eve of tonight’s friendly, the manager did, however, suggest that Maguire has benefited from a lack of competition at centre-half, and the question for Southgate is how much longer he continues to get a free pass if his club performances do not pick up.
“Players can be poor for a couple of years and still find their way in, sometimes it depends on competition for positions,” he said. “We have left some forward players out who haven’t been in good form, but there are direct, experienced replacements, so it is a complicated decision. There has got to be some level of scrutiny of how people are performing with their clubs.”
This is the closest Southgate has come to challenging Maguire to improve but suggests the manager is far from sold on the alternatives.
There are a number of centre-backs jostling for position, but currently no outstanding candidates to usurp Maguire or John Stones, who will miss tonight’s game through injury. Mings and Conor Coady are valued members of the squad, although their quality at the very highest level is in question.
Marc Guehi, who tonight’s opponents want to poach from England, and Ben White started against Switzerland, a reward for consistent form for Crystal Palace and Arsenal respectively, but are inexperienced internationals. There is simply not enough time nor opportunities for that to change significantly ahead of Qatar.
Among the 50-odd players being monitored by Southgate are Eric Dier, Fikayo Tomori and Max Kilman, but none was deemed to be playing sufficiently well to make this squad, let alone threaten Maguire’s position.
The situation may change before the World Cup, although Southgate is clearly hoping that the biggest shift comes in Maguire’s own form.
For now, Maguire has earned his free pass for England, although Qatar will be a World Cup unlike any other, and another question for Southgate is whether he can continue prioritising historic performances over current form for a tournament which falls slap-bang in the middle of a domestic season.
