Gareth Southgate is in the middle of an insightful answer about Jack Grealish’s first season at Manchester City when he stops, smiles and considers the irony of people questioning why the winger is in England’s squad for next month’s Nations League qualifiers. “It’s interesting that last summer I spent the whole summer getting hammered for not picking him,” Southgate says. “Now I’m being told I shouldn’t be picking him. But that’s my world.”
Such is life for the England manager, who realised a while ago there is no point trying to please everyone. Southgate cannot worry about outsiders criticising him for continuing to overlook Leicester’s James Maddison, who finished last season with 18 goals and 12 assists, and it is easy to understand the manager’s amusement at the doubts over Grealish given that most England supporters viewed him as a mandatory starter at Euro 2020.
