Southgate explains Rashford, Lingard, Johnson calls
Gareth Southgate has explained the thought process behind calling up Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Glen Johnson to his first England side.
Southgate has been placed in caretaker charge for England’s games against Malta and Slovenia this month and Scotland and Spain in November, following the departure of Sam Allardyce as head coach.
The 46-year-old will also oversee two games next year, before England officially appoint Allardyce’s full-time successor. Southgate is the favourite for that role.
His first squad selection saw call-ups for Rashford, who scored a hat-trick for his under-21 team last month after being overlooked by Allardyce, and uncapped Manchester United team-mate Lingard.
He suggested on Sunday that Rashford going to next summer’s European Under-21 Championship would still be good for the striker’s development, but joked on Monday: “That depends if I’m the under-21 manager in the summer!
“He was outstanding for us last month, he’s starting for Manchester United.
“I think you can all see his ability and the effect he’s had on games, but it’s his maturity around the camp – he was still the youngest in the under-21 squad.
“It was a discussion we had two weeks ago and I didn’t see any need to change that.
“Jesse is a player who we were really impressed with over two years in the under-21s.
“He’s now establishing in Jose Mourinho’s team and that speaks volumes, and under pressure in the (2015 Under-21) European Championship I thought he was our best performer, so I think it’s an exciting moment to bring him in.”
At the other end of the experience scale, Stoke full-back Johnson returns for the first time since 2014.
“Kyle Walker and Nathaniel Clyne were the two right-backs last time,” said Southgate.
“We lost Nathaniel and the rationale is, the squad the last couple of years we’ve gone young, young, young, and I’m not sure you can keep doing that.
“I think there’s a moment for some experience. In the summer we saw in key pressure moments, there’s a bit of a lack of big-match experience.
“To be able to bring a player with 50+ caps into that squad was something we thought long and hard about but we felt it was the right decision.”