Southgate told he ‘got it wrong’ with Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips

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Gareth Southgate made a mistake not taking off Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips during England’s 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifier victory away at Italy on Thursday night, former Premier League midfielder Jamie O’Hara tells talkSPORT (23 March, 10pm). 

If his inclusion in the England XI came as a surprise, then you’d have got even longer odds on Phillips completing the full 90 minutes at Napoli’s Estadio Diego Maradona.

The former Leeds star, after all, is yet to start a single Premier League game under Pep Guardiola. And that lack of match sharpness was clear to see as Phillips struggled through a punishing second half, Italy launching an all-out assault on Jordan Pickford’s goal as they tried and ultimately failed to maintain their 41-game unbeaten run in European qualifiers. 

Kalvin Phillips started as England beat Italy in Naples

“He didn’t take off Kalvin Phillips! He was blowing!,” says a baffled O’Hara on talkSPORT. 

“The second half was shocking. Shocking! I think (Southgate) got it wrong in the second half. He’s so reactive.

“I was looking at Kalvin Phillips, his legs were gone. He couldn’t get tight, he couldn’t up to it. It is not his fault, but the coaching staff need to see that. And he (Southgate) didn’t see it.” 

It’s a common criticism of the Three Lions boss. When the tide turns against his England team, can Southgate wrestle back control? His critics will point to another concerning second-half display against high-quality opposition and argue that little progress has been made from that World Cup semi-final collapse vs Croatia nearly five years ago, Italy dominating after the interval; the same worrying signs very much evident.

The good news, however, is that England were superb for the first ‘45; Declan Rice’s early opener preceding a penalty from Harry Kane. One which sees the Tottenham Hotspur talisman replace Wayne Rooney as England’s all-time top goalscorer, taking his tally to 54 while going some way to exercising the ghosts of Qatar.