Gareth Southgate has named his most recent England squad for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, as the Three Lions get set to tackle Italy and Germany in League A Group 3.
The 52-year-old has one final chance to look at his players in competitive action before the 2022 World Cup, and England are still waiting for their first win of the 2022-23 Nations League after drawing two and losing two of their opening four matches.
Relegation to League B is looming for the Three Lions, and as ever, Southgate's squad decisions have been met with joy, displeasure and confusion in equal measure.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at the winners and losers from the latest England squad as the Three Lions ramp up their preparations for the World Cup.
WINNER - IVAN TONEY
Earlier this season, Brentford manager Thomas Frank boldly claimed that Ivan Toney was second in the pecking order of England's strikers behind Harry Kane, and Gareth Southgate now appears to share that sentiment.
"I had a good chat with Thomas Frank about him last season. His form and his qualities - not only his goalscoring but his technical ability, build-up play and aerial prowess - gives us a different threat to some of the other players we could pick," Southgate told englandfootball.com.
Toney took little time to settle into life in the Premier League last year and already has five goals and two assists to his name from six top-flight outings, including a remarkable hat-trick against Leeds United.
Scoring from a free kick, the penalty spot and a long-range lob demonstrated Toney's ability to score a wide variety of goals, and the striker has been rewarded for his efforts with a first-ever call-up to the Three Lions squad.
WINNER - ERIC DIER
The less said about Eric Dier's return to Sporting Lisbon in midweek the better, but the Tottenham Hotspur man has otherwise been a stellar force in the middle of Antonio Conte's defence.
The 28-year-old is back in the Three Lions squad after making 35 Premier League appearances last term to help Spurs return to the Champions League, and he has not missed a minute for the Lilywhites yet this season.
"With Eric Dier, he has been playing well for a period of time. We think it is a really close call across our centre-backs and he has deserved to be picked back in the group," Southgate added. "We know what a good character he is. He fits in with the culture and has great international experience and leadership qualities.
Not since November 2020 has Dier stepped foot onto the turf in an England shirt - he was called up in March 2021 but did not play a minute in those World Cup qualifiers - but he has earned the right to return to Southgate's squad.
WINNER - HARRY MAGUIRE
Harry Maguire was not dropped from the England squad during his out-of-form period at Manchester United, nor has he been dropped after losing his place in the Red Devils' first XI.
The partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez has forced the error-prone Maguire to take a backseat at Old Trafford, and the only Premier League games he has started this term have been defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.
However, pulling on the England shirt appears to evoke a fire within Maguire, who was an ever-present of the Three Lions teams that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup or the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
Southgate has clearly not forgotten Maguire's past achievements with the Three Lions, but he will have a pivotal decision to make if the Manchester United man is unable to cut the mustard for club or country before the World Cup.
LOSER - BEN WHITE
Being an ever-present for the early Premier League leaders was surprisingly not enough for Arsenal man Ben White to make the England squad, and the 24-year-old could have hardly done more.
White has kept Takehiro Tomiyasu out of the Arsenal team at right-back - starting every Premier League game so far - and he would represent a versatile option for Southgate's defence.
Gooners did not take kindly to the news that Maguire and Conor Coady were chosen over White, who was not part of Southgate's crop for June's Nations League fixtures either, while Kyle Walker's selection despite his recent injury is baffling when a fully-fit White is waiting in the wings.
The former Brighton man is seemingly now fighting an uphill battle to book his plane ticket to Qatar, but maintaining his current form over the next couple of months will surely make his inclusion too difficult to resist.
LOSER - JADON SANCHO
Given Marcus Rashford's recent injury problems, there were few qualms about the Man United man not making the cut, but there were those who thought one of his teammates was hard done by.
Jadon Sancho would be the first to admit that his debut season at Old Trafford was an underwhelming affair, but the 22-year-old has made himself undroppable under Ten Hag so far this season.
Sancho's numbers are far from spectacular - two goals in six Premier League appearances so far - but he can count himself unfortunate not to have forced his way into contention this month.
The former Borussia Dortmund man has now failed to make three England squads in a row, and the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Jack Grealish are under pressure to vindicate their selections over Sancho.
LOSER - JAMES MADDISON
Ten goal contributions in his last nine Premier League appearances was still not enough for James Maddison to earn a call-up, and the Leicester City man just cannot seem to get into Southgate's good books no matter what he tries.
The 25-year-old does form part of a Leicester City side who sit rock bottom of the Premier League rankings with one point to their name, but two goals and an assist from five games is hardly an abysmal return.
Maddison is surely ruing the fact that Phil Foden and Mason Mount are perennially ahead of him in the England pecking order, but he could provide another midfield option for the Three Lions, who are short in that area this month.
However, Maddison will end the month still with just the one England cap to his name, which came all the way back in November 2019 as a substitute in a 7-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Montenegro.
body check tags ::
