Gareth Southgate: England players need more Premier League minutes to maintain World Cup momentum

Southgate named his 23-man squad for September’s Nations League meeting with Spain and friendly against Switzerland on Thursday

Gareth Southgate has warned that more English players must be given Premier League opportunities if England are to avoid a downward curve and build on this summer’s World Cup.

Southgate named his 23-man squad for September’s Nations League meeting with Spain and friendly against Switzerland on Thursday - his first selection since reaching the semi-finals of the tournament in Russia.

The England manager largely kept faith with the players who achieved the national team’s best World Cup finish in 28 years, with Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, James Tarkowski, Joe Gomez and Alex McCarthy newly included.

Southgate feels his options are hampered, however, by a lack of English players earning regular top-flight minutes. Only 66 of the 220 starters in the most recent round of Premier League fixtures were eligible to play for England.

Though the new season is only three games old, initial figures show the proportion of English starters at top-flight clubs has fallen by 2 per cent. At the so-called ‘top six’ clubs, last season’s average of 22.8 per cent has fallen to 19.2 per cent.

The England manager believes progress has been made in youth development over recent years, but the new generation of technical English players will not be able to step up to international level unless they receive more minutes.

“We saw in the summer what enjoyment the national team can bring and if we do not try and affect that we are on a graph that is heading heavily downwards, particularly with the top teams,” Southgate warned.

“I think there is room, even though we have had success, for people in youth development to sit and say: ‘What is the right thing?’ I know a lot of the foreign coaches would say B teams. Whether that could work here is a huge emotional debate but it is not something we can leave.”

“Here, we have got our house in order regarding the development teams and a continuous strategy with them but there is this perennial debate about under 17s to under 21s and how we get it.

“I don’t think the under-23 League is the answer. That is working for the better under-18s, under-19s. Most clubs push their best young ones into that but there comes a point they have to play in front of a crowd.

“They have got to play in games where there are consequences if they do not win. I think if you speak to any players in our team who have come through, they recognise it is a key part to them becoming a professional and a top player.”

Despite his complaints about playing time, Southgate chose to retain several World Cup players who have only featured sparingly for their clubs at the start of the new Premier League season.

Loftus-Cheek faces a season on the sidelines at Chelsea (Getty) (Getty Images)

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is included in the squad after only one, 22-minute substitute appearance for Chelsea and the young midfielder appears unlikely to break into Maurizio Sarri’s side any time soon.

Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck, meanwhile, has only a quarter-of-an-hour to his name, while Lallana has managed just three minutes at Liverpool.

Jordan Henderson, Lallana’s club team-mate and England’s World Cup vice-captain, has featured for only 66 minutes so far this term. Fabian Delph is yet to appear for Manchester City.

Southgate defended his decision to keep faith with those who served him well in Russia, though warned that difficult decisions may need to be made for future squad announcements.

“We are only three games into the season and some of the guys who have come back from the World Cup are not in the side because they missed key pre-season with the team and some physically are getting up to speed,” he said.

“I did not think to jettison a group who got to the semi-final would be fair. But, next month and the months coming, we will have to take a view on that because we will be going into matches where fitness levels are important for one and form will be key.”