MX23RW : Sunday, November 24 09:37:31| >> :60:3222:3222:

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:
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
6pm
Vikings
@
Bears
6pm
Lions
@
Colts
6pm
Patriots
@
Dolphins
6pm
Buccaneers
@
Giants
6pm
Chiefs
@
Panthers
6pm
Titans
@
Texans
6pm
Cowboys
@
Washington
9.05pm
Broncos
@
Raiders
9.25pm
49ers
@
Packers
9.25pm
Cardinals
@
Seahawks
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Crystal Palace121561017-78
19Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
20Southampton11119721-144


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!