World Cup countdown: What England and Gareth Southgate have to get right during build-up to Qatar 2022
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Updated 20/09/2022 at 11:24 GMT
Gareth Southgate is preparing for the most critical period of his six-year long England reign in the next week, with just two competitive fixtures left before the 2022 World Cup. With the abject 4-0 summer defeat to Hungary in the memory, Southgate has numerous questions to answer about the make-up of his squad. We assess England's prospects with just 61 days to go before the Qatar showpiece.
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"English football is a tanker that needs turning. I want to set the whole of English football two targets. The first is for the England team to at least reach the semi-finals of the Euro Championship in 2020 and the second is for us to win the World Cup in 2022."
Could Greg Dyke's first speech as FA chairman in 2013 turn out to be even more prophetic than it already has been?
England reached the final of Euro 2020 (a year late) to fulfil his first target, and could they - in three months' time - knock off the second by walking off with the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar?
His targets - and the infamous Qatar countdown clock at St George's Park - may have been later scrapped by Greg Clarke, who took over as chairman in 2016, but they at least served to show the level of national footballing ambition within the English camp.
Wind back a year, and hopes of England winning the World Cup would have been very high.
But 2022 was a summer of discontent for the Three Lions and their boss Gareth Southgate, with a record of W0 D2 L2 from their four UEFA Nations League matches, including a 4-0 humbling at home to Hungary.
So with just 61 days and two competitive matches - against Italy and Germany in the Nations League - remaining before the World Cup, what are the areas that Southgate needs to address?
FORM OR LOYALTY?
Ah, the age-old question. And one that Southgate has never quite shaken off throughout his six-year tenure. As an international manager, the balance between selecting players on their most recent form for their clubs, versus their form when they have played for their national team - the latter during the months and years previously - is a difficult one.
The feeling is that Southgate veers towards the latter, with Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw among those in the latest England squad who have barely played, let alone impressed, for their clubs since the start of the season.
Arsenal fans are perhaps right to wonder why their near ever-present Ben White wasn't in the squad, even if he has been playing at right-back. And Spurs fans might wonder what more Ryan Sessegnon could've done to get in ahead of Shaw and Ben Chilwell.
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The question is, what does Southgate do if the likes of Maguire and Shaw remain on the sidelines all the way until Qatar? And what if others - such as John Stones - also find themselves on the periphery for their clubs?
By sticking with these players so often, Southgate has not had enough time to road-test others, and therefore it looks likely that the Qatar squad will contain a handful of potential starters who are out of fitness and/or form. Not ideal when you want to beat the best in the world...
THE MIDFIELD WEAKNESS
World Cup 2018 vs Croatia. Nations League 2019 vs the Netherlands. Euro 2020 vs Italy. The evidence was glaring in each of these high-stakes encounters that England were not able to control a game at the very highest level.
And it stemmed from their inability to circulate the ball up and back through the lines under pressure - something that doesn't seem to have been addressed since the most recent major tournament defeat to Italy.
And here's where the inconsistency of Southgate's form vs loyalty approach gets scrutinised. If he is picking the likes of Shaw and Maguire when they have no fitness or form, why does he not do the same to fix his midfield, and bring in the likes of Harry Winks or Ross Barkley - who have the ability ceilings required to potentially thrive in the heat of battle?
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Jude Bellingham
Image credit: Getty Images
With Kalvin Phillips looking a doubt for the World Cup, the in-form Jude Bellingham looks likely to join Declan Rice and Mason Mount in the midfield - but will that relatively untested combination come off when it matters?
THE KANE DEPENDENCY
Historically, goals were not really a problem associated with Southgate's England. But the four Nations League matches this summer yielded just one goal, and suddenly Southgate has another headache he didn't need.
Harry Kane is nearing the outright lead of England's all-time scoring record, but what is behind him? Raheem Sterling usually starts alongside Kane, but the Chelsea forward has just 19 goals in his decade of national service, and the next-highest of England's current crop - Marcus Rashford with 12 - didn't even make the latest squad.
Without wanting to load any more pressure on the midfield, goals from that area of the team are badly needed, with Mason Mount on just four from his 31 appearances.
Can Bellingham - on target against Manchester City in the Champions League last week - fill that brief as well?
That St George's Park clock - wherever it is - is ticking very loudly.
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