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Gareth Southgate paves way for Jack Wilshere's England return while Nations League draw pits side against Spain
Gareth Southgate paved the way for Jack Wilshere’s England return after hailing his latest Arsenal comeback as a “real bonus” ahead of the World Cup.
The England manager declared the midfielder to be exactly the sort of player he wanted available for this summer’s tournament, applauding the “resilience” the 26-year-old had shown in overcoming the injuries which threatened to derail his career.
“It’s a real plus to see him playing at the level he is and looking as fit as he is. We know his quality,” Southgate (below) said of someone once billed as the saviour of English football. “For him to be starting now in regular games, two games a week, playing at a high level, is a real bonus for us.”
Wilshere’s days at Arsenal looked numbered last season when he was sent on loan to Bournemouth but he has been one of the club’s star performers this term. Southgate, who selects his next squad in March for England’s World Cup warm-up game in Holland, added: “We picked him in a couple of squads last season. But I’ve got to say his level of performance is way above what it was then.
“He’s going to Bournemouth on the back of a long-term injury, so there’s some understanding that, physically, it was going to take time to recover from. He’s really playing well now and influencing big games, which is good.People talk about selection headaches; we want those sorts of decisions because we want those sorts of players available.
“I think any player overcoming injury setbacks of the level that he’s had to, but also any player to get to the top level, they’ve got to have resilience and there’s no question he’s shown that. We’re all hopeful that he can keep that and keep playing.”
Southgate’s delight at Wilshere’s resurgence was tempered by a potential World Cup goalkeeping crisis, with Joe Hart and Fraser Forster dropped by their clubs and Tom Heaton injured. The England manager indicated he could be forced to select Hart in his squad even if the West Ham United stopper failed to secure regular first-team football before the end of the season. Revealing he would watch West Ham’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at Wigan Athletic on Saturday in the expectation Hart would play, Southgate said: “It’s not ideal. There’s no hiding from that. “In certain positions, we’ll have real competition for places, where playing every week is going to be key.
“In other places, we might not have that competition for places and might have to adjust what that looks like. We have to be open minded to that.”
Southgate was speaking following the draw for the inaugural Nations League, which pitted England against Spain and Croatia in Group Four of League A.
Also at the draw was Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, who this week snubbed the chance to defect to Scotland.
O’Neill instead signed a four-year contract extension, until 2024, that will earn him £800,000 a year, much more than he was offered by the Scottish Football Association.
Speaking after Northern Ireland drew Bosnia & Herzegovina and Austria in Group Three of League B of the Nations League, O’Neill said: “There a number of reasons I didn’t take the job. I don’t like the phrase ‘turned down’. “At the end of the World Cup campaign, I was still under contract with Northern Ireland and the Football Association made it very clear they wanted me to extend it. “Scotland indicated they wanted me to be their national coach and I took the opportunity to speak to them. “But when I weighed it all up and spoke to the players, I felt the right thing to do was to stay where I am.”
Scotland were drawn against Israel and Albania in Group One of League C, while Wales and the Republic of Ireland were both given the chance of revenge in Group Four of League B, the former for their decisive World Cup qualifying defeat by the Republic, who lost in the play-offs to the third team in the group, Denmark. New Wales manager Ryan Giggs said he was looking forward to pitting his wits against fellow Manchester United legend Roy Keane, the Republic’s assistant boss.
But he was coy on whether he was about to appoint another member of United’s Treble-winning midfield, Paul Scholes, to his backroom team. “I obviously know Scholesy really well,” he said. “We will see what happens.”
The draw in full
The official result of the #NationsLeague draw! ✅ pic.twitter.com/H1fPteK7M1
— UEFA Nations League (@UEFAEURO) January 24, 2018
As well as a nice chance to play guess the flag!
So, what next?
England will play Spain and Croatia at home and away between September and November. The winner of the group will go to the Uefa Nations League finals in June 2019; the losers of the group will be RELEGATED to League B.
A tough draw
So that's that. League A is tough across the board and basically, what we can conclude from all of that is this:
England aren't going to win the Uefa Nations League.
We probably knew that anyway, though, didn't we?
Spain complete England's group
Group 1: Germany, France, Holland
Group 2: Belgium Switzerland, Iceland
Group 3: Portugal, Italy, Poland
Group 4: Spain, England, Croatia
England go into Group 4 with Croatia.
Group 1: France, Holland
Group 2: Switzerland, Iceland
Group 3: Italy, Poland
Group 4: England, Croatia
No brollies for that game, Mr Southgate.
Pot 3 is drawn
Group 1: Holland
Group 2: Iceland
Group 3: Poland
Group 4: Croatia
England will want to avoid Group 2, I'd imagine.
Onto League A - and England
Deco will do this draw. Four groups of three in League A. England are in Pot 2.
A quick reminder...
...of what happened last time the Republic of Ireland faced Denmark.
The Republic get Wales and Denmark (and Christian Eriksen again)
While Northern Ireland are drawn with Austria and Bosnia.
Four groups of three in League B:
Group 1: Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic
Group 2: Russia, Sweden, Turkey
Group 3: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland
Group 4: Wales, Republic of Ireland, Denmark
Onto League B
Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are all in this one.
Vladimir Smicer is here to draw this one.
Scotland get Albania and Israel
A decent draw for Scotland, who could see a real chance of making it to Euro 2020 by winning Group 1 and making the play-offs.
Group 1: Scotland, Albania, Israel
Group 2: Hungary, Greece, Finland, Estonia
Group 3: Slovenia, Norway, Bulgaria, Cyprus
Group 4: Romania, Serbia, Montengero, Lithuania
Stars aplenty
We had Alex Hleb to draw League D's groups. Jari Litmanen is here for League C.
Here are the teams. Scotland are about to learn their fate. Note: one group will have only three teams, three groups will contain four.
Pot one: Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia
Pot two: Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway
Pot three: Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland
Pot four: Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
It's the one you've all been waiting for
With the greatest respect to these teams, they are the lowest-ranked European teams - League D is hardly filled with stardust, is it?
Nonetheless here is the completed draw for League D:
Group 1: Georgia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Andorra
Group 2: Belarus, Luxembourg, Moldova, San Marino
Group 3: Azerbaijan, Faroe Island, Malta, Kosovo
Group 4: Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar
Here we go then
The draw for League D is getting started. These teams will be draw into four groups of four:
Pot one: Azerbaijan, FYR Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia
Pot two: Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg
Pot three: Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta
Pot four: Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
A first sight of the trophy
We have just heard a "first ever live rendition" of the Uefa Nations League official anthem, and now they are bringing the trophy out. I quite like it.
A trophy! England could win a trophy!
I've not actually seen the trophy that they will be fighting for, but the other thing that this new concept brings is more potential international silverware. It might take a while for teams to value it properly, but it's a trophy nonetheless
Who can win it?
This is where it pays to be in League A. The winner of each group in League A goes into the Uefa Nations League FINALS (ooooooooooh!), a four-team mini tournament to be played at the end of the seasons where there is no World Cup or Euros.
If nothing else, this could give England a few more pressurised games, thereby readying them more for major tournaments.
Let's keep things simple for now: here's the general jist
There are four leagues: A, B, C and D.
League A contains the best 12 teams in Europe (according to Fifa rankings); League B contains the next best 12; etc.
Each league is divided into pots for today's draw, which will determine the make-up of the groups within each league. Each league will have four groups. Here are the pots:
Instead of playing friendly matches, each group of three teams will face each other home and away during the domestic season. There is promotion at stake for the teams that finish top of groups B, C and D and relegation for those that finish bottom of A, B and C.
That was simple, right?
It's my lucky day!
Hi guys, and welcome as we gear up for the biggest (not really) draw of the year - it's the Uefa Nations League!
Now, before we get started, let's get a few things straight before you dismiss this concept altogether, because, in all honesty, I'm probably just about as confused as you are, but (I think) I back it as a concept.
Uefa are trying to revive international football, and they plan on doing this by giving more meaning to those dreary games in between qualifiers - see England's last two friendlies: goalless draws at a half-filled Wembley with Brazil and Germany.
The general idea is that there will be another trophy for international teams to contest, and losing matches will see you tumble down the Uefa Nations Leagues, in turn losing potentially valuable places in the Fifa rankings.
Giorgio Marchetti, Uefa's head of competitions, reckons the setup is "not particularly complicated." I'm not sure I agree completely, but I would suggest it isn't quite as daunting as some people think.
The draw will get started around 11am UK time, so in the meantime have a read of the above explainer, and I will try and relieve any confusion that no doubt remains.
