Gareth Southgate would love Kalvin Phillips to fight his way into England’s Euro 2024 squad but felt he had to drop the out-of-sorts midfielder this month as he was not confident about his performance levels.
The 28-year-old has established himself as a key figure in the national team set-up since winning the first of his 31 caps away to Denmark in September 2020.
Phillips was named England men’s player of the year for 2020-21 after shining in the run to the European Championship final, but pressure has mounted on his position since leaving Leeds for Manchester City in 2022.
The midfielder barely made an impact under Pep Guardiola and joined West Ham on loan in January, but a disastrous start there led to his omission from Southgate’s final squad before naming his Euros selection.
“There are times when you know your best players are your best players,” the England boss told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Other people might doubt it but you’re going with them because you know that you can get that level of performance from them.
“At the moment, I couldn’t be confident on the performances Kalvin’s had in the last few weeks that he could go onto the field and do the job we know that he’s capable of.
“So, there’s absolutely no reason why he can’t find that form. Nothing would give us more pleasure than having a Kalvin that’s back in the rhythm of playing and back to full confidence.
“We will be a better team, squad, whatever that might be, if that’s the case, so we’re hoping he can find that.
“Maybe a moment like this where you think, well, that’s perhaps the lowest it can get for him in terms of the last few months, now he can just go for it and be himself.”
Southgate last year warned that Phillips’ place was in jeopardy if he continued to be a peripheral figure at City but believes the “outstanding player” has the attributes to bounce back.
“I think he knows exactly what we think of him,” Southgate at the Wembley press conference. “I think we’ve shown that support.
“A good version of him is an important player for us and that’s why we’ve supported him as we have. We don’t have many players of that profile.
“Unfortunately, his form just hasn’t been good enough. I’ve spoken to him about that, he understands.”
Phillips was omitted from the 25-man squad for March’s Wembley double-header against Brazil and Belgium, which has seen Southgate have to juggle a swathe of injuries among other things.
But setbacks for some means opportunities for others, with Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, 21, and Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon, 23, receiving their first senior call-ups.
“He’s good with the ball, shows good composure, good mentality,” Southgate said of Branthwaite.
“He’s a left footer and we don’t have many left-footed defenders, so he’s in our merit and we’re really keen to work with him and find out a bit more about him.”
On Gordon, the England boss said: “Consistently good performances. He was very close in November, as we said at the time.
“He’s continued his form, he’s scoring, his work for the team is excellent. He competes, which is important, so I really like his attitude.”
Arsenal’s Ben White ruled himself out of a call-up and there was a return from the international wilderness for versatile Liverpool defender Joe Gomez, who won the last of his 11 England caps in 2020.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney is also back at first time of asking, having returned from an eight-month Football Association betting ban in January.
Southgate does not know whether there is enough room in the Euros squad for him and Ollie Watkins to back up Harry Kane this summer, but he wanted to work with the one-cap striker again.
“I think we feel that Ivan is one of the contenders in that role, so it’s important to bring him back in and for him to be able to work with us again,” Southgate said.
“He’s shown straight away, getting back into Brentford’s team the quality and the impact that he can have.”
Liverpool 1-0 Real Betis: Szoboszlai gets Slot era up and running
Dominik Szoboszlai's goal was the difference as Arne Slot's first game in charge of Liverpool with spectators present ended in a 1-0 win over Real Betis in Pittsburgh.
Liverpool lost 1-0 in a behind-closed-doors meeting with Preston North End last week, but they were victors in sweltering conditions when their pre-season tour of the United States got under way on Friday.
Szoboszlai scored the only goal after 34 minutes, stroking his finish past Adrian after Mohamed Salah slipped a pass through to the Hungary international.
That goal came four minutes after Curtis Jones was forced off through injury, being replaced by 17-year-old Trey Nyoni.
Former Reds goalkeeper Adrian denied Conor Bradley as a strong Liverpool side chased a second, while Harvey Elliott nodded wide from a Kostas Tsimikas cross.
After Slot rang the changes with 63 minutes gone, Kaide Gordon missed Liverpool's best chance to make it 2-0 by dragging his effort wide, but it did not matter as a controlled performance saw the Reds home.
Data Debrief: Reds in cruise control
Slot had been expected to bring a slightly more measured approach than the "heavy metal football" preached by his predecessor Jurgen Klopp, and that was on full display on Friday as Betis were held at arm's length.
Liverpool enjoyed 62.7% of the possession throughout the match, though Slot will be looking for more penetration when they face Arsenal in the next game of their tour on Wednesday, having only recorded 12 touches in the penalty area to Betis' 10.
Sessegnon rejoins boyhood club Fulham after Tottenham departure
Ryan Sessegnon has resigned for Fulham on a free transfer, five years after leaving the club.
The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Cottagers with the option to extend for a further year following his departure from Tottenham last month.
In his first spell at the club, Sessegnon worked his way through the academy over 11 years, scoring 25 goals in 120 first-team appearances.
He then moved to Spurs in a £25million deal in 2019, though struggled to nail down a place in North London, making just 57 appearances in all competitions, and scoring three goals.
"It's amazing to be back. Emotional, as well," he told FFCtv. "It's where it started for me, where everything began, and it's amazing to be back.
"It will always be home for me. I think it had the feeling that it was meant to be, coming back here, so I'm delighted to get it done."
Sessegnon is Fulham's first signing of the transfer window, though they have seen plenty of first-team departures already, with Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby De Cordova-Reid all leaving the club.
Dewsbury-Hall: Maresca will surprise people at Chelsea
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will "surprise a lot of people" when they watch the Blues this season.
The Italian led Leicester City straight back to the Premier League as Championship winners in his only season in charge and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
The Foxes topped the second division table with 98 points, with Dewsbury-Hall a key figure in his squad as he netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists last season – his best tally in a single campaign.
Dewsbury-Hall was also named Leicester's Player and Players' Player of the Year.
The midfielder made the switch to West London earlier this month for £30million and is confident that Maresca will have Chelsea challenging for trophies in no time.
"The manager was a big catalyst in wanting me to come," Dewsbury-Hall told BBC Sport.
"I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.
"I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four - but more than that.
"He may be unknown for a lot of people, but he is top, top level. He will surprise a lot of people."
Chelsea's pre-season got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a 2-2 draw by League One side Wrexham in Maresca's first game in charge on Wednesday.
Dewsbury-Hall did not play in that match but is training with the squad in the United States and could feature in their next outing against Celtic on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is confident the manager's tactics will come across soon, with the players buying into his style.
"We've only been doing it for two or three weeks, but the combination plays are really quick and tidy," he added.
"That's after two weeks. I remember he said to us at Leicester after six months or a year, there might be teething problems at the start, but it will improve.
"Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level. I felt a bit stupid; I thought I knew a lot about football, but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn't really know before. He has an aura, he can be strict, or gentle and soft - he has both sides.
"I am getting the same feedback here with the lads. They've bought into it here from minute one which is exciting. With a system and philosophy, you need everyone to buy in because, if they do, you can really achieve something."
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