Gareth Southgate has a lot of credit in the bank as England manager but his latest squad was a head-scratcher.
There were no specialist left-backs, and Jack Grealish was excluded in favour of James Ward-Prowse.
Three right-backs were also included, but none of them were named Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Walker over Wan-Bissaka?
England have an embarrassment of riches at right-back.
Trent Alexander-Arnold undoubtedly deserves his place, and Kieran Trippier has added defensive stability to his game under Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.
Their inclusions make sense, but you can’t say the same about Kyle Walker.
For a start he broke lockdown (BBC) back in March. He plays a narrow role at Manchester City, not overlapping on the rampage but failing to offer enough defensive stability in the Champions League exit against Lyon.
Wan-Bissaka is an outstanding 1v1 defender and impresses with that skill in a way which Walker does not excel at anything.
Walker contributed four assists this past season for City, the same number Wan-Bissaka did for United – and the Red Devils star is far superior defensively.
Southgate is a manager focused on youth, and Wan-Bissaka is eight years younger than Walker.
The time is right for Wan-Bissaka to get his first cap, enabling him to push on and try and get into the squad for the European Championship.
Decision helps United
Southgate’s decision doesn’t make sense but does help United.
Wan-Bissaka looked absolutely exhausted in the Europa League semi-final against Sevilla after a long debut season at United.
It’s such a tight turnaround for the Red Devils after a grueling campaign and Wan-Bissaka needs all the rest he can get.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already seen two of his key men – Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford – have their rest cut short, with the latter looking especially tired in the closing weeks of the season.
Wan-Bissaka has the chance now to rest, recover and go again in his second season at United. Hopefully he will usurp Walker in Southgate’s plans before long.
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