MX23RW : Thursday, April 17 16:42:40| >> :60:579:579:

Gareth Southgate vows to take off-field behaviour into account for selection

Gareth Southgate vows to take off-field behaviour into account for selection
© Reuters
The responsibility of playing for England carries a lot of weight, the national team boss said.

England manager Gareth Southgate has warned players that off-field behaviour does come into his thinking as Jack Grealish awaits sentencing over two driving offences.

The Aston Villa captain admitted two counts of careless driving last month, the first related to an incident on March 29, during the first national lockdown, and the second taking place close to his club's training ground on October 18.

Grealish is due to appear at a sentencing hearing on December 15 and Southgate, speaking after England learned their opponents for 2022 World Cup qualification, said the discipline and off-field decision-making of players does come into his thinking when picking a squad.

Screengrab taken from PA video dated March 29 of damage to a Range Rover driven carelessly by Aston Villa Captain Jack Grealish in Dickens Heath, near Solihull, West Midlands
Screengrab taken from PA video dated March 29 of damage to a Range Rover driven carelessly by Aston Villa Captain Jack Grealish in Dickens Heath, near Solihull, West Midlands (Jacob King/PA)

"The responsibility of being an England player carries a lot of weight," he said.

"When you're going towards a tournament, you want as little noise as possible around the group. You want the country to connect with the team, you want the country to feel excited by the team but also proud of the team, and that they're good ambassadors for everything we're trying to do.

"Of course we look at reliability as being part of the criteria. On-field decision-making, often that can be reflected in some off-field decision-making. I'm not going to say, 'This is the line and anybody that crosses it we don't consider' because there are so many nuances to it, having to deal with different issues.

"But we're always observing how players are looking after themselves, how professional they are, how will they be if they're away with us for 35, 40 days next summer? All of those things have to come into our thinking when you're taking a squad away."

Mason Greenwood has faced his own disciplinary issues, having been sent home after England's Nations League qualifier in Iceland after breaching coronavirus guidelines along with Manchester City's Phil Foden.

The Manchester United midfielder has not been called up by Southgate since, but the national team boss was impressed by his classy goal against West Ham on Saturday.

"What you see with Mason, the finish at the weekend epitomises his biggest strength for me – one chance and fantastic touch to put himself in position, and a brilliant finish," he said.

"That's what we were seeing towards the end of last season, which is why we called him into the squads in September.

"With young players you're going to have moments where they're really flying and everything's going well and then they're going to have little dips and he's got great support at his football club, he's got people who care for him there and we'll bring him into the team and out of the team at the right times.

"Hopefully he'll get a run of games now. At a club like Manchester United every game is important so you're always having to perform under pressure and with high expectation."

England will take on Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra and San Marino in qualifying for the 2022 finals in Qatar, with the matches to be played between March and November of next year.

ID:425593: cacheID:425593:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:12869:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Jack Grealish in action for Aston Villa on November 21, 2020
Read Next:
Aston Villa 'put £100m price tag on Jack Grealish'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool32237274314376
2Arsenal321712357273063
3Newcastle UnitedNewcastle32185961402159
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest32176951381357
5Manchester CityMan City32167962422055
6Chelsea32159856391754
7Aston Villa3215984946354
8Bournemouth321391052401248
9Fulham32139104743448
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton32121285149248
11Brentford32127135248443
12Crystal Palace321110114145-443
13Everton32814103438-438
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd32108143845-738
15Tottenham HotspurSpurs321141760491137
16Wolverhampton WanderersWolves32105174761-1435
17West Ham UnitedWest Ham3298153654-1835
18Ipswich TownIpswich3249193367-3421
19Leicester CityLeicester3246222772-4518
20Southampton3224262377-5410


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!