Conor Coady of Wolverhampton Wanderers has been left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad while Burnley’s James Tarkowski is included.
Gareth Southgate has certainly taken an experimental approach to his latest England squad.
Derby County loanee Mason Mount and Leicester City play-maker James Maddison have both been handed their first call-ups for the Three Lions, as has 18-year-old Borussia Dortmund sensation Jadon Sancho.
But one name missing from the 23-man list is Connor Coady; much to the chagrin of many Wolverhampton Wanderers fans.
According to the Mirror in September, Southgate was considering handing a call-up to the 25-year-old Molineux skipper.
Given that Wolves play a three-at-the-back system very similar to that of England, the ball-playing and technically gifted Coady seemed a perfect fit for Southgate’s team.
And the former Liverpool youngster, who has represented his country from U16 to U20 level, has been hugely impressive in his first Premier League campaign, too, with Wolves flying high in the top half of the table.
So the fact that Coady has now been left at home is a slight surprise, and the man himself could potentially feel a little hard done by.
On the other hand, however, it is not as if the defenders Southgate have picked are not Premier League quality. He has chosen Joe Gomez, Harry Maguire, John Stones and James Tarkowski for the upcoming games against the USA and Croatia and perhaps the only one of the four whose place could be questioned is the Burnley man.
Then again, Tarkowski has got one full Premier League season under his belt and his excellent distribution makes him a perfect fit for Southgate’s system.
But the rise of Tarkowski from the Championship to international recognition gives Coady hope that he can follow in the footsteps eventually.
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