England have already qualified for Euro 2024. All the Three Lions need to do in facile fixtures against Malta and North Macedonia is ensure that they will be one of the top seeds in next month’s finals draw in Germany.
Fair to say, then, that this could have been a relatively boring international break for England fans – had Gareth Southgate not once again inexplicably overlooked Raheem Sterling, with Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Jarrod Bowen the chosen widemen.
The absence of the Chelsea winger from a fifth consecutive squad hasn’t just caused controversy; it’s provoked all sorts of speculation surrounding Sterling and Southgate.
‘Something has definitely happened’
Both Alan Shearer and Michah Richards are convinced that “something has definitely happened” behind the scenes that we don’t yet know about, while Rio Ferdinand has even issued a public plea to “free Raheem Sterling!”
“I don’t know what he’s done, whose nose he’s put out of joint,” the former Manchester United defender said on the Vibe with Five podcast. “Was it him coming back from the tournament or something like that?”
Ferdinand was obviously alluding to the fact that Sterling briefly returned to England during last year’s World Cup because of a burglary at his family home – and that kind of conjecture does a great disservice to Southgate, who was very supporting of the attacker at the time. However, while such talk is unhelpful, and potentially harmful, it’s also inevitable in the circumstances, given Southgate’s Sterling snub makes zero sense.
Out of favour
There’s absolutely no denying that Sterling made a somewhat subdued start to his Chelsea career, after his high-profile move from Manchester City in the summer of 2022, but he still travelled to Qatar as a trusted member of Southgate’s line-up, only to lose his starting spot by the time England were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Injury ruled him out of the start of the start of the qualification campaign for the Euros, in March, but it was nonetheless a surprise to see him overlooked for the June clashes with Malta and North Macedonia.
Sterling may have endured a difficult debut season at Stamford Bridge, but Southgate has become renowned for picking players performing poorly at club level simply because they have served him well in the past.
One rule for one…
Harry Maguire continued to be called up even while spending most of his time on the bench at Old Trafford, Jordan Henderson is still in the squad even though he’s now struggling in Saudi Arabia, while it’s a complete farce that Kalvin Phillips has held onto his place given he’s barely got a run-out for Manchester City in the past two years.
Phillips undeniably played a key role in England’s run to the final of Euro 2020 – but why hasn’t Sterling benefited from the same level of loyalty given he was arguably his country’s best player at the tournament?
Don’t change a winning team?
Southgate has argued that the “landscape” has changed; that the competition for places, particularly in attack, is now fiercer than ever before. However, when asked to explain why Sterling had been omitted from the England squad for the October internationals, he pointed out that the likes of Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen were “both in a hot streak of form”. “That’s the thinking,” the manager explained.
But this time around, he effectively admitted that he was reluctant to change a winning team. “I can only repeat what I’ve said in the last few squad selection meetings,” he said. “The team is playing really well. It’s as simple as that, really.
“[Raheem] wasn’t available in March or June and the team started on a good run. We won in Italy for the first time in 60 years, while the two performances in June were excellent, so we stuck with that group.”
‘Looking dangerous’
So, is Sterling’s exclusion a question of form or loyalty? Southgate is suggesting both – when, in truth, neither argument holds up.
Is Sterling playing at the absolute peak of his powers? Probably not. But few English wingers are performing as impressively as the 28-year-old this season. Indeed, his scintillating display in the 4-4 draw with City just before the international break made a complete mockery of his England exile.
Southgate, at least acknowledged, Sterling was back to something approaching his best, and the role he’s played in putting England back among the international game’s elite teams. “We don’t need to know about his quality, his personality,” he said. “He is a crucial part of why we’ve had the journey we’ve had over the last few years. The door is 100 percent open not only for Raheem but for other players. There’s no doubt about that.
“And there is no question Raheem is looking dangerous for his club, he looks invigorated since the start of the season. (But) that is an area of the pitch where we’ve probably got as much competition for places as anywhere.”
‘More goal involvements than Rashford & Grealish’
However, Southgate then made a mistake by asking the assembled press, “Who do we leave out to put [Sterling] in?” It was posed as some sort of difficult dilemma, but the answer is actually incredibly easy: either Marcus Rashford or Jack Grealish.
As even Ferdinand pointed out, “I know there’s a lot of talent, but if we’re talking form, then [Sterling] has got more assists and goal involvements than Rashford and Grealish together.”
He’s not wrong either. Sterling has five goals and two assists to his name, while Rashford has managed to find the back of the net just once in 16 appearances in all competitions this season, and Grealish, with his solitary assist for City, is once again proving himself far, far more efficient at drawing fouls than creating or finishing chances.
In that context, Southgate’s treatment of Sterling is impossible to understand and, therefore, difficult to defend. If something hasn’t “gone on”, as Shearer put it, then Southgate’s selection policy looks as inconsistent as it is flawed – because when it comes to Sterling, it seems that neither form nor past performances count for anything.
There will be one more international break before the Euros, in March, so there is still time for him to force his way back into the England fold. But right now, there appears to be little chance of Southgate heeding Ferdinand’s call to let Sterling loose in Germany next summer.
