England call up Loftus-Cheek, Abraham and Gomez for Germany and Brazil clashes
Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Joe Gomez have been called up by England for the first time.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions kick-off their World Cup preparations with back-to-back friendlies against Germany and Brazil at Wembley.
England are clearly ready to experiment in this month’s internationals given Abraham, Loftus-Cheek and Gomez have been named in the senior squad for the first time.
Abraham has been attracting admiring glances from Nigeria and, despite only making 12 top-flight appearances in his career, the Swansea striker has done enough to be called-up by Southgate.
READ MORE: Wilting Wilshere should focus on 2022 World Cup glory – not 2018
READ MORE: Has Oxlade-Chamberlain blown his World Cup chances by joining Liverpool?
READ MORE: PSG, Man City and Spurs lining up to become kings of Europe
The 20-year-old is on loan from Chelsea as is midfielder Loftus-Cheek, who has only made five Premier League starts this season for Crystal Palace.
Gomez is another new face in the senior squad after enjoying a bright start to the season with Liverpool.
There are some glaring absentees from Southgate’s squad.
The Liverpool duo of Sturridge and Oxlade-Chamberlain have been left out, as has Manchester United centre-back Smalling.
Everton’s Michael Keane, who has been struggling with a foot complaint, was another notable name missing, while Jermain Defoe, Aaron Cresswell, Fraser Forster and Jake Livermore are others from the previous squad to not be involved.
Impressive Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks was included after a fine debut at Lithuania, as was Manchester City’s Fabian Delph, but Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott have not been included.
Speaking at a press conference at Wembley, Southgate said: “If I’m asking club managers to be brave and pick young players, I think I’ve got to do the same.”
Non-competitive
The England boss took issue with the upcoming double-header being referred to as “non-competitive”, insisting there was no such thing at this level.
“There is no non-competitive game for England,” he said. “These are huge opportunities for us to improve and play against the best two teams in the world currently. I don’t see a fixture where you pull an England shirt on and it’s not competitive. It’s important we register that.
On 32-year-old Young’s recall, more than four years after his last cap, Southgate said: “His performances warrant it. We want to play with wing-backs – I think it’s a role he can perform, left or right, very well. He’s played very well for Manchester United.
“Generally speaking we want to look at younger players, and develop the team, but I’ve always said if a more senior player is playing well and warrants the call-up, we should include them. He’s a player every Manchester United manager has picked, and that tells me something about his mentality and the trust they have in him.”
