Gareth Southgate said he was surprised to be on the receiving end of barbed comments from Jürgen Klopp regarding his deployment of Liverpool players, particularly given he professes to enjoy a good working relationship with his counterpart.
Last month, Klopp questioned the omission of Joe Gomez from Southgate’s squad, pointing out that a lack of top-flight football this season had not prevented John Stones from being selected. “Obviously there’s a special thing for Mr Stones,” Klopp said, while he was also critical of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s use in midfield against Andorra in September. “Why would you make the best right-back in the world a midfielder? I don’t understand that really,” he said.
“I don’t quite know why he keeps having a swing, you’d have to ask him,” Southgate said. “I think we’ve always got on reasonably well. I’ve noticed quite a few articles and quite a few comments, which is always interesting to see.”
Southgate was asked whether it was important to forge strong bonds with club managers but suggested the industry’s volatility does not make that straightforward. “They come and go pretty quickly so it’s important to have a good relationship somewhere in the clubs, but maybe the managers [aren’t] the priority because it’s very transient,” he said. “I don’t think that will be the case with the Liverpool manager, by the way. I’ve got no problem with Jürgen at all. You’d have to ask him why he’s made the comments he has.”
Alexander-Arnold has been selected for the squad to face Albania and San Marino over the coming international break but Gomez, who has not started a league game in 2021-22, again misses out.
One manager Southgate expects to see more of in the near future is Antonio Conte, who has returned to the Premier League with Spurs and is charged with restoring Harry Kane to his best form. Only one of the England captain’s seven club goals this season has come in the league in the fallout from his failed attempt to depart in pre-season, and Southgate hopes Conte’s influence can set him back on course.
“Now there’s an opportunity for Harry to be able to put everything behind him,” he said. “He announced he wanted to stay. Now there’s a change of manager, I think there’s a fresh start for him. That will be a good stimulus for him.”
Southgate rejected any suggestion the thought of dropping Kane could have crossed his mind. “Harry has 41 goals in 65 internationals and we need to win a game of football,” he said. “There’s nobody we trust more if a chance drops to him than Harry Kane. He’s the outstanding centre-forward of his generation.
“I’m sure the whole thing has been an experience that has been difficult. He’s ended up, understandably, with an adverse reaction from some of the fans there. So he’s had to deal with a lot of unintentional consequences of the possible move in the summer. Antonio coming in is probably a good thing from Harry’s personal point of view. Knowing Antonio as I do – an outstanding coach, a very good man – I’m sure he’ll get a response and a reaction out of Harry very quickly.”
