Gary Lineker urges Southgate to take ‘forgotten’ Smalling to World Cup

Gary Lineker ‘could be a force for good’ says Nick de Bois

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England icon Gary Lineker has urged Gareth Southgate to take former Manchester United defender Chris Smalling to the World Cup this winter, as the “forgotten man” has impressed the BBC host with his recent displays for Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma.

Southgate has had recent worries regarding his centre-backs, as Harry Maguire has struggled for form at Manchester United while Kyle Walker is in a race to be fit for the tournament in Qatar. AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori did not impress in his appearances in the Champions League against Chelsea, while Tyrone Mings and Conor Coady have also slipped down the pecking order.

Marc Guehi’s Crystal Palace have kept just one clean sheet in the Premier League this season, as Eric Dier has been recalled to the squad in one of the better performing defenders Southgate has been able to call upon this campaign, prompting Lineker to suggest Smalling as “an option” for the England coach.

“I watched Roma at the weekend,” Lineker told talkSPORT. “The last two or three years he [Smalling] has been brilliant over there. It’s like he is kind of the forgotten man and I went to the two games that Leicester played against them in the famous Conference League and he was actually immense in both of those games.

“He’s an option and obviously Tomori is there, he has been in the squad. We sometimes forget players because suddenly we have got players that are playing abroad again, where we have not necessarily had that in previous World Cups. There are players out there.”

Smalling has played for his country over 30 times, but the last time he put on the Three Lions shirt was in 2017 before he was dropped by Southgate. Two years later Smalling joined Roma, initially on loan, and was named man of the match in the Conference League final which the Italian side won 1-0 against Feyenoord and has impressed in Serie A at the heart of defence for the Rome side.

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He may not have the best relationship with Southgate however, which could be a disadvantage in Smalling’s World Cup hopes.

Having been left out of friendlies to face Germany and Brazil in 2017 and subsequently the 2018 World Cup squad by Southgate, Smalling questioned the former Middlesbrough player and coach’s judgement.

“I was surprised,” Smalling said in 2017. “But you don’t play for one of the biggest clubs in the world for as long as I have and win every trophy bar the Champions League without being able to do everything a top defender needs to do, be it playing or defending.”

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