Gareth Southgate inspires England World Cup hope with James Maddison gamble

Gareth Southgate is a clever manager. Stay with me. Just when you thought England’s chances of winning the World Cup were about as low as Matt Hancock’s credibility rating, the Three Lions boss makes a supreme PR move and all is rosy in the team’s garden again.

Just over a week ago, heads were down among England supporters. Win the World Cup? What, after losing 4-0 
to Hungary and being relegated, winless, from our Nations League group? No way.

And that was perfectly understandable. One magic ingredient has transformed all that and his name is James Maddison. Of course, the Leicester playmaker may not even feature in Qatar, after all he has had three years to think about his one and only cap for his country.

He will probably play some part but just in bringing the Premier League’s in-form twinkle-toes to the tournament with him, Southgate has given the nation a much-needed boost. The very thought of Maddison in the England ranks has calmed much of the disquiet, at least until we draw 0-0 with Iran on Monday, that is.

The fact is Southgate, despite his protestations on announcing Maddison in his squad of 26 last week, has either not rated or fancied the midfielder since 2019. He already has one forward-thinking genius at his disposal in Jack Grealish and he very rarely starts. Why two? Well, having 26 rather than the 23 players of past World Cups means Southgate could afford a wild card.

Arguably, Conor Gallagher or Trent Alexander-Arnold may not have made the squad, too, but it is Maddison who stands out. By picking him, Southgate has calmed all around him ahead of the start of the tournament. Well, until the Foxes man suffered an injury last weekend anyway.

But what does this mean for our hopes of ‘bringing football home’? Positivity around the camp is just what was needed and Maddison’s selection will help immensely with that. He has been in superb form this season.

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