Villa’s Tyrone Mings and Ollie Watkins are amongst a number of high profile omissions from Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad.
Mings is arguably the most notable absentee, having become a regular member of the international set-up, achieving 17 caps since breaking through. It’s the first time in three seasons that Villa’s centre-back will not be included.
Embed from Getty ImagesHowever, Villa’s club Captain will miss out, along with Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson and talented Arsenal playmaker Emile Smith Rowe. Sancho, Shaw, Maddison and Rashford won’t feature either.
Mings need not necessarily be disheartened just yet however, with Manchester City and former Villa loanee Kyle Walker left out earlier this year before later returning to the squad. He will face stiff competition though, as impressive Serie A winner Fikayo Tomori’s emergence continues.
Ollie Watkins absence is perhaps less of a surprise with his form and goal return stagnating in similar fashion to Villa’s end of season malaise.
The former Brentford striker has struggled to re-capture his freescoring style from earlier in his Premier League career and has looked decidednly uneasy as Steven Gerrard seeks to adapt Villa’s style of play.
Watkins’ struggles have been compounded by resurgent form of Villa’s Championship top goalscorer Tammy Abraham. Abraham, key to Villa’s promotion in 2019, has turned heads in Serie A and bagging the most goals in season of any English player in the process.
Gareth Southgate is looking to hone his England side ahead of a winter World Cup in Qatar and attempt to put behind him the disappointment of defeat to Italy in the European Championship Finals in summer 2021.
The current England boss is no stranger to snubbing players at Villa Park, infamously overlooking Jack Grealish for selection for long periods before his record breaking transfer to Man City cemented his international place..
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Wolves), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), James Justin (Leicester City), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ben White (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Declan Rice (West Ham), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Roma), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City).
Both deserve dropping. Shoddy performances all season for Villa might give them a timely reminder that they need to perform better on a more consistent basis. Whilst releasing Watkins would be a risk, bringing someone superior in should be Villa’s aim.