Gareth Southgate has named the first squad of his Euro 2020 qualifying expedition with a double-header against Czech Republic and Montenegro coming up at Wembley next week.
There’s a place in the squad for Declan Rice, the soon-to-be-newly-crowned Football Association of Ireland’s Young Player of the Year, who earns his first senior call-up for England.
Jadon Sancho, Ben Chilwell and Callum Wilson all return, while the rest of the roster has a pretty familiar feel to it.
The latest England squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Tom Heaton, Jordan Pickford
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold , Ben Chilwell, Michael Keane, Harry Maguire, Danny Rose, Luke Shaw, John Stones, James Tarkowski, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Ross Barkley, Dele Alli, Fabian Delph, Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Declan Rice
Forwards: Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Callum Wilson
Quite a number of Crystal Palace fans have bemoaned the overlooking of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has been in fearsome form since the start of the season – the obvious argument being that Kieran Trippier most definitely hasn’t.
The same can be said for James Maddison and Eric Dier/Fabian Delph, one of whom could have been left out to facilitate the impish Leicester City playmaker.
What happened to players needing to “be playing regularly and in good form” to make the squad, Gareth?