It shows how far Marc Guehi and Tyrick Mitchell have both come this season that Patrick Vieira has had to repeatedly answer questions about their senior England prospects over the last few weeks. But after several players dropped out including midfielders James Ward-Prowse and Jordan Henderson, Southgate drafted Smith-Rowe and Gallagher into his side and gave both debuts in the games. Guehi missed out on that occasion but looking back at Southgate’s comments from November show he’s clearly front and centre in the England manager’s mind.
Gareth Southgate said: “Emile, Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi, in particular, are all playing very well with their clubs, but we’ve got depth. To put those in we’ve got to leave some of these on the sheet out and I think it’s not a bad thing that we’re starting to get a very strong Under-21 team because you want that depth. We fast track lots of young players very quickly and the majority of them are still in this squad now and a lot of them played a big part in the Euros. But also we’ve had some that have come up and then when you put them back with the Under-21s that’s a lot more complicated so we want to get the timing of that right. I think the boys I’ve just mentioned there are on a really good path, we like them, we’ll get a good chance to see them with the Under-21s as well as with their club, but at the moment we think it’s a little bit early for some of those guys in. We can put them in and they would be absolutely fine by the way. But we think the players we’ve picked are just a little bit ahead at the moment.”
And while Guehi’s name has been mentioned regularly for an England call-up, his teammate Mitchell has come into a World Cup year under the radar but ready to make an impact. The Eagles put huge faith in the 22-year-old (who has never played for his country at any level before) when they chose not to sign a replacement for Patrick van Aanholt last summer, instead committing to making Mitchell their first-choice left-back. Mitchell has the second-most pressures (561) and tackles (94) in the Premier League this season and ranks in the top five for blocks (61), interceptions (63) and percentage of dribblers halted (69%). He also had an excellent game against Wolves in front of the watchful eye of Southgate, leading the match with seven clearances and winning two tackles as he helped keep a clean sheet.
Patrick Viera said: “I’m pleased that Gareth was at the stadium because we have a couple of players in our team that need to be looked at [and] the performance will help. All the English players on the field who were wearing the Palace shirt were really good. But [who impressed him] is more a question for Gareth [about] which one he came to see.”
For now, all Guehi and Mitchell can do is continue to put in good performances as they have done all season and hope it’s enough to persuade Southgate and his staff to include them.
