Stephen Warnock has told the Football Show on Sky Sports (12/10/20 at 11:10 am) that Gareth Southgate prefers Tottenham’s Eric Dier over Conor Coady because of ‘experience’ and ‘trust’.
On Sunday, England recorded a 2-1 win over Belgium, with Southgate opting to start Dier ahead of Coady despite the latter producing a standout display against Wales days before.
It was a nightmare start for Tottenham’s centre-back because he gave away an early penalty before his blushes were saved when England scored on either side of the half to win the game.
There was some outcry as to why Coady wasn’t selected from the off against the Belgians, as Warnock feels Dier edged the Wolves man in two areas.
“I just think it comes down to experience [on why Coady didn’t start against Belgium] of game time, more than anything,” Warnock told Sky Sports.
“Again, he [Southgate] knows what Eric Dier brings. He trusts him and he obviously likes him. I think Conor Coady is very, very close in knocking on the door of Gareth Southgate to be playing.
“I think what you do see with Conor Coady playing in that position is he likes to switch the ball more often. He likes to hit the diagonals, whether it’s left or right. He favours the right-hand side and that’s a great outlet, especially for the players England have.
“But Gareth just seems to be leaning on the experience of Eric Dier.”
A player like Coady cannot be ignored given the performances he has put in at club level in recent years and the leadership qualities he possesses from the back.
Coady’s ability to lead his troops from a vocal fashion alone is worthy of putting him in the starting XI, as the likes of Dier, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Joe Gomez seem to be in front of him.
The positive for Coady is that Southgate is playing his favoured club formation three at the back, so he will be very useful for his national manager down the line.
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