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Joe Gomez has not been in an England team since the autumn of 2020 and his latest brush with international duty was not too sweet.
Training at St George’s Park before a friendly against the Republic of Ireland, Gómez suffered a serious knee injury and ruptured a tendon while simply passing the ball.
It was a freak accident, but it kept him out for nine months after surgery and, by the time he was fit to play for Liverpool again, Gareth Southgate had forged the team that reached the Euro final against Italy in 2021.
Breaking into the England team since then has been more difficult. Southgate remained loyal to those he trusted during that campaign and the World Cup in Qatar.
However, defensive options are suddenly scarce as he selects his final squad ahead of the one he will take to Euro 2024 in the summer and injuries have given rise to the theory that it could be time to promote Jarrad Branthwaite from the sub -twenty-one.
Joe Gomez’s versatility at the back should put him in contention for the England team.
Gareth Southgate is running out of defensive options as he decides his squad for Euro 2024
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Branthwaite has stood out in a great season at Everton. He is physically imposing, quick and left-footed, which works in his favor as a direct replacement for the role recently filled by Marc Guehi, Harry Maguire and Tyrone Mings.
He has solid arguments, but Gómez must also enter Southgate’s thinking. He plays regularly and performs well at the top of the Premier League, where there is pressure and expectation to win trophies.
Liverpool embrace possession just as England will have to do in the European Championship. They play riskily under Jurgen Klopp, who expects his defenders to be capable on the ball and leaves them large areas to patrol.
These qualities of Gómez sparked an investigation by Tottenham in January.
Beyond this, he is genuinely versatile, helping Klopp flex style and form without making changes off the bench, but has even greater value in a squad limited to 23 rather than 26 players for the first time since the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
Gomez can provide cover anywhere in the backline, whether it consists of three or four. He is a centre-back by trade and a right-back, but has impressed as a left-back this season.
It could allow room for maneuver elsewhere if, for example, the manager wanted to include Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney rather than choosing two of them as cover for Harry Kane.
Southgate usually turns to Kieran Trippier at left-back when he misses Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell, as is often the case, but this season Gomez can boast being in more consistent form than Trippier.
Gómez has 11 caps for England, but has not played for the national team since October 2020.
Selecting Gómez in defense could open more forward spaces for creative options for the team
Just as he can claim to play more consistent football than Maguire and is more reliable in deep midfield than Kalvin Phillips.
Versatility counted against players in the past, but trends have shifted towards a Cruyffian adaptability with defenders such as John Stones, Rico Lewis or Trent Alexander-Arnold stepping into midfield.
Moving forward, no one wonders why Phil Foden has failed to carve out any position. Foden can be influential playing on either flank, behind the centre-forward or as a false nine.
Gomez has 11 England caps and a look at others, the last of which came in a friendly against Wales, a 3-0 win when Bukayo Saka made his debut, shows the extent to which Southgate has moved on and reshaped his team.
Danny Ings and Harvey Barnes have not played since. Michael Keane, Conor Coady, Harry Winks and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have all dropped out of contention.
Gómez is a player who deserves another chance.
Debut to forget for Lingard
Jesse Lingard made his debut for FC Seoul on Saturday, coming off the bench in a 2-0 loss to Gwangju in South Korea’s K-League, 322 days after his previous senior appearance, which came off the bench. bench with Nottingham Forest in a 2-0 defeat against Manchester United.
Lingard marked his release from months of pent-up frustration with a flying tackle and a yellow card.
Former Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard made his K League debut on Saturday
The form book turns around in the Championship
Rotherham have lost seven in a row at the bottom, but the Championship form table has taken an unexpected turn since late January with Leeds, Ipswich, Norwich and Preston rising to the top while Leicester and Southampton fall.
In the last six games, Queen’s Park Rangers have collected 13 points, Sheffield Wednesday 12 and Huddersfield 10 to transform the relegation picture and drag almost half the division back into trouble.
One thing you can still rely on are goals from Sammie Szmodics, who now sit 19th in the Championship despite Blackburn’s dismal run of one win in 14 games.
Sammie Szmodics has 19 goals in the Championship, despite Blackburn’s dismal run of one win in 14
The Chesterfield centurions are on their way
No one seems entirely sure who scored. Will Grigg, who was clearly close, basked in the praise at the time as any striker would, and Tom Naylor, who crossed him, has gone down as the goalscorer for the record books, although he looked an awful lot like a Barnet. The player converted the ball into his own goal.
Either way, it was Chesterfield’s 100th game of the season, a milestone the Spireites had not reached since 1956/57, according to club expert Phil Tooley. Ash Palmer scored his 101st at Dorking on Saturday as a shock defeat reduced his lead at the top of the National League to 20 points.
Paul Cook’s side are back in the EFL and in illustrious company, with Manchester City just three ahead on 104 and four behind Liverpool. Bayer Leverkusen have 99. Bolton Wanderers have the most in the EFL with 92 and Peterborough 91.
Howard Wilkinson will step down as president of the League Managers’ Association (LMA) at the end of the season, marking the end of an era.
Wilkinson and Graham Taylor, then England coach, were the driving forces behind the creation of the organization in 1991.
Now 80, the former Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday boss has been in the chair for almost 33 years, which was instrumental in its expansion and evolution to represent its managers and coaches in the modern game.
In particular, introducing regular health and wellbeing checks and support services.
Chesterfield got their 100th goal of the season when they traveled to Barnet this week.
It is the end of an era as Howard Wilkinson steps down as LMA president this year.
Wilkinson, who received an OBE in the recent New Year Honours, will leave a legacy of his tenure at the LMA just as he did in four years as FA manager, where he inspired the modern academy system and the National Football Centre. in San Jorge Park.
The LMA has begun the process of searching for his successor by drawing up a short list.
Ted Buxton dies
Just three months after the death of Terry Venables and one of his most trusted allies, Ted Buxton also passed away. Buxton was Venables’ assistant at Tottenham, England and other clubs.
He had a visible presence at Euro 96 and was an FA scout for many years afterwards. He died last month at the age of 89 and his funeral was held last week.