Why Manchester City and Tottenham’s campaigns could spell danger for England at the World Cup

Food for thought | Gareth Southgate
Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
John Dillon9 November 2017

Nobody should doubt Gareth Southgate when he says that Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Harry Winks are not fit to play for England, even though they will be ready for the following north London derby.

It’s just that a lot of people will, because that’s how football and its fans are. Many are cynical, partisan, bloody-minded and combative, and always ready for a spot of abuse and cat-calling on social media.

So long as it’s not about their team…

Hence the nudge-nudging and wink-winking which has followed the withdrawal of the three Tottenham players from the squad to face Germany on Friday, and Brazil next Tuesday.

England squad trains ahead of Germany friendly

They’re being kept fresh by Mauricio Pochettino for the Arsenal game so the whisper goes - and the manager has already said that Kane will be available again by Saturday week.

Six Spurs players were in the original party, with Eric Dier, Kieran Tripper and Danny Rose remaining.

It puts too much strain on a club desperate to fulfil its current potential and win something this season, add the mutterers.

Alternatively, of course, it’s a great honour and a measure of Tottenham’s current standards that the national side calls upon them so much – although the fact that club football is more important to most supporters here means that idea gets by-passed in the thoughts of many of them.

Southgate, the England coach, gave a perfectly reasonable and sincere explanation of why he accepted that the trio all had injury problems.

The way he has conducted himself in the job suggests he wouldn’t be afraid to say something if there were any misgivings.

In fact, he proved that he will be his own man over such issues by playing Henderson in both the last two World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania to the displeasure of Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp.

But it hasn’t helped that three other players from top six clubs have also pulled out - Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph, while Henderson is unavailable this time around.

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And this situation does highlight a club versus country problem which Southgate may hit before the World Cup in Russia next year – particularly if Spurs continue in their current form and are seriously chasing honours. After all, England are reliant on them more than any other club.

Jose Mourinho – who has four Manchester United players in this squad – has already been making noises about them being overworked. But we expect that, don’t we?

Yet it’s Manchester City who may be the real problem. Not because they are cynical about delivering players for England duty but simply because they are so good just now.

Pep Guardiola’s side have a nine-point lead at the top. If they maintain such dominance, their rivals in the top six are either going to wear out their players just trying to stay in touch.

Or the remaining five big clubs will become involved in an equally-draining dog-fight for the Champions League places below City.

Okay, some of this is par for the course for England managers. The Premier League is always a dog-fight, from top to bottom.

England teams have arrived fatigued and drained at so many tournaments in recent decades. And we’re nowhere near finding an answer to the problem.

Following the humiliating elimination by Iceland at last year’s Euros, the supporters are desperate for the cycle to end next year, even if it’s only due to the fact that things can’t get any worse. Or to some benign act of the law of averages that will mean the squad arrive in Russia fresh and fit for once.

But that’s a vague idea to pin our hopes upon. And there is no evidence whatsoever that the nature of club football here will allow such a quirk to happen.

In fact, the demands put upon the Tottenham players will crank up in the second-half of the season because they really can’t go through another campaign of such promise without finally winning something under Pochettino.

The irony for Spurs fans is that there is no Arsenal player in this England party. That is a striking symbol of the changing balance of power in north London.

The Premier League season finishes on May 13. Even if Arsenal reached the Europa League final on May 16 and the FA Cup final on May 19, it wouldn’t trouble Southgate’s preparations.

Spurs will be eyeing that FA Cup date at their current ‘home’ ground. And they are almost entitled to think seriously about reaching the Champions League final after stripping Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund bare at Wembley, as are Manchester United and City.

That’s in Kiev on May 26 – only 19 days before the World Cup starts.

Come next spring, Southgate is likely to be keeping a more watchful eye on his Tottenham contingent than the players of any other club.

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