Just three months after being appointed England manager, Gareth Southgate insisted that he would pick his teams based on form, and not reputation. Previous Three Lions bosses had been criticised for constantly selecting big name players even when they were underperforming, but Southgate promised to buck that trend.
“I never pick on reputation - form has to come into it," Southgate said in February 2017. "You have to look at the opposition and the type of game you’re expecting and select the players best suited to that."
However, Southgate's England squad selection for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany suggests that he is somewhat picking on reputation rather than form. Arsenal defender Ben White, who has started all six games so far this season for the Premier League table-toppers, has been left out of the squad.
