World Cup: England’s shock squad and the politics of football – The Latest
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What are the implications of England's World Cup squad omissions?
This is The Guardian.
This World Cup will see more people conscientiously not watching it, whether it's ethical reasons or simply because the tournament's too big or for time zone reasons. To be an Arsenal fan is to kind of exist at the locus of all these identities, personalities. You feel besieged, but you also feel this sense of pride and also a huge amount of relief, obviously, at doing it after 22 years. So I think that's why you see these huge outpourings of mass celebration.
A number of big names have been dropped from England's World Cup squad ahead of this summer's tournament, capping off a historic week in British football, which saw Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. From the Guardian's Today in Focus, this is the latest with me, Lucy Hough. Well, joining me is Jonny Liu, Guardian Sports columnist. Thanks for joining us, Jonny, in such a massive week for football, particularly if you're an Arsenal or an Aston Villa fan who've won big trophies, but also because we've had the World Cup squad announced this morning. Can I ask for a bit of a sort of idiot's guide here as someone whose interest in football peaks during these big summer tournaments every couple of years, but then wanes in the interim periods?
A couple of surprises. I mean, I think the major... Omissions, you might say, are Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire, all kind of mainstays of previous squads, all big names, and all dropped by Thomas Tuchel. I mean, not hugely surprising in the sense that he hasn't really used them a huge amount in recent months. Palmer's been injured, Foden's been out of form. Trent Alexander-Arnold, he just doesn't like him, really. He just doesn't like his profile as a player. He's sort of voiced concerns about his defensive capabilities. And Harry Maguire famously came to prominence in the 2018 World Cup. That's where a lot of fans will have come across him for the first time. A real stalwart of the England defence, but...
He's been left out in favour, I guess, of younger, more mobile defenders. I don't think he would be first choice. And I think he's sort of vented about it on social media.
His mum has said it's disgusting, which my boyfriend said was the moment he knew the World Cup had truly started. But yeah, it sounds like this has gone down very badly in the Maguire household. Obviously the last time that we had a World Cup we had Gareth Southgate as manager who's become this great national treasure but we've now got a new manager in Thomas Tuchel. Why was he chosen and does he improve England's chances do you think as we approach the contest in a few weeks time?
I think Tuchel is about as good and high-profile and adept a manager as any international team could hope to get around that time. Obviously, we see Carlo Ancelotti taking on Brazil. Lots of talk that Pep Guardiola, who's just left Manchester City, will take on an international job next. But in terms of the pool that England had to pick from in 2024 after Southgate left, Tuchel is about as high pedigree a coach as you can imagine. Champions League winner. Obviously, being German, I think his nationality was a little bit of an issue with some fans and some pundits at the start. But I think he's won over a huge amount of those doubters. He clearly loves English football, the Premier League. And results, while they've been up and down, a lot of the friendly results have been pretty poor, to be honest.
I think the public is still stuck with him.
So, Johnny, we're now about 20 days until the tournament starts, but it doesn't really feel like it at the moment. I wonder if you agree.
How did Arsenal's recent Premier League victory impact football culture?
And I wonder if part of that is because it's happening in the United States. Clearly, there being a political context to that, that there is a Trump administration. People may have immigration concerns about traveling to the US at the moment. It means the matches will be happening tomorrow. late at night here in the UK, but also the closeness of FIFA's president Gianni Infantino to Trump, who presented him with the controversial FIFA Peace Prize.
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