OPINION
Whatever the future holds for Gareth Southgate and his England side, one thing has been made abundantly clear by the Three Lions’ past couple of performances – Harry Maguire and Michael Keane are not a sustainable centre-half partnership.
After a downright ridiculous 5-3 win over Kosovo last month, things looked equally as shaky at the back in the 2-1 defeat to Czech Republic on Friday evening – a result that brought a decade of unbeaten international qualifiers to an end.
And while it would be slightly unfair to blame that entire loss on Maguire and Keane, the fact of the matter is that England’s backline looked far less secure than it did this time 12 months ago.
As such, a solution must be found.
And talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino thinks he knows what to do.
Speaking to the station, the 57-year-old suggested that Keane should be dropped for Liverpool defender Joe Gomez.
He said: “We’re trying to find the one to partner Harry Maguire and I think Joe Gomez can get in that Liverpool team.
“Unfortunately for him, Joel Matip is playing at a much higher level than anyone expected.”
On the face of it, bringing in a player who can’t get into his club side over one who consistently plays week in, week out seems like an unorthodox decision.
Gomez has been out of the Liverpool starting lineup pretty much ever since he broke his leg against Burnley last December, and in his place, Joel Matip has been magnificent.
The Cameroonian has averaged a Whoscored rating of 7.62, the sixth highest of any player in the Premier League.
There’s no place in losing your place to a player like that, and as Cascarino states, Gomez still has potential to burn.
In his last full season for the Reds, 2017/28, he averaged 2.7 tackles per 90 minutes, 1.6 interceptions, and 2.3 clearances, as per Whoscored.
If the 6’2″ ace can get back to that sort of level, he would be a shoe-in for England.
The only question is how far he can convince Gareth Southgate of his worth without playing regular club football.
