Bruno Lage is certain Max Kilman will play for England after Gareth Southgate snubbed the Wolverhampton Wanderers centre-back in Thursday’s squad announcement.
Bruno lage said: “He needs to remember that managers always want to choose the guys that we trust. Max will learn from that period when the England manager came to watch us and he had that performance. One thing is to play with important players like Coady and (Romain) Saiss and another thing is being one of the main men. You need to be on top every day in training and in games. Then after, you play for your country. I think he learned from that. The best thing he can do now is continue to work. He is 25 and has eight years in front of him to play at this level and for sure he will have the chance to play for England. What he can control is the way he works every day in training and competes in every game. The next time he feels it is his moment, continue with good performances and consistency. I need to choose the best XI and the England manager needs to choose the best XI and the people he trusts. I think Max can have that. For the next opportunity, he’ll be ready and fit. I believe a lot in him and trust him. Now he needs to trust in himself like he does every day and work hard. I know the things he can do but he needs to show it at the right time.”
Kilman can begin his quest to prove Southgate wrong when Wolves face Manchester City on Saturday. The Premier League champions visit Molineux and Kilman has the unenviable task of keeping Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland quiet. He wasn’t the only Wolves player left out of his nation’s squad for the upcoming international fixtures. Legendary Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho, who turned 36 last week, won’t take part in his country’s games with Czech Republic and Spain.
Bruno Lage added: “Joao is an important player who played as a number six for Portugal in the play-offs and I think he did a fantastic job. But Portugal have a talented team with a lot of players. We know what kind of player and man we have on our hands and the way he’s training and playing. He needs to respect the manager’s decision. He wants to play every game and even here, in small warm-up games, he wants to win. I said to him, ‘One day if you are a manager, I want you to have a player like you’. He wants competition and wants to win. I believe, even at his age, that he wants to compete in the World Cup for sure.”
