Harry Redknapp has named the England squad he thinks Gareth Southgate should name for the Qatar World Cup – and there are a few surprise picks from the veteran manager.
Southgate will choose his 26-man squad for the tournament on Thursday. The Three Lions play their opening match against Iran on November 21 before further Group B games against the USA and Wales.
Debate is raging about the selection, with injuries to the likes of Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Kyle Walker throwing up further question marks about the final call. Meanwhile, the form of certain players in the Premier League has delivered some more tough calls for the England manager.
Redknapp is one of the most experienced managers in the English game and he believes that Southgate should pick on form rather than reputation. Leicester City midfielder James Maddison is pushing his case with six goals and four assists in 12 league games this season and Redknapp would take him alongside Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount.
“In any other country, a player like Maddison would be on the plane to the World Cup without a moment’s hesitation,” Redknapp wrote in his column for The Sun. “He is a clever player but, unfortunately for him, there are a lot of them around at present.”
Harry Kane will undoubtedly lead the line for England in Qatar, but the identity of his back-up strikers remains uncertain. The job has previously gone to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham, but Redknapp is keen on in-form duo Callum Wilson and Ivan Toney.
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“Wilson, I know, had his injury problems but he is in great form at the moment,” he wrote. “Sure, it’s a gamble taking him and he hasn’t played for England for three years. But at every tournament there seems to be a surprise player who comes from nowhere into the reckoning.
“Putting him and Brentford’s Toney alongside Kane would be the perfect trio to choose from. All three are experienced penalty-takers, too.”
In midfield, Redknapp would build around Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham, with Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips picking themselves, if fit. The former Tottenham manager has one curveball though.
“I would take James Ward-Prowse,” he wrote. “What a club player he is. A proper midfielder, as I would say. A great all-rounder who should be at a top-six club.”
Ward-Prowse has scored two goals in 11 caps for England and has been included in recent England squads. But he appears to be struggling for selection this time around, with Southampton in the Premier League relegation zone and his form less impressive this season.
The 28-year-old has returned just one goal and one assist in 12 games in the league so far this season – a far cry from his 10 goals and five assists in the 2021/22 campaign.
