Fikayo Tomori misses out on England call up despite impressive performances in Serie A

 

Milan’s Fikayo Tomori was denied a spot in the lastest England squad after Gareth Southgate chose not to select the defender for their upcoming international friendlies.

The 24-year-old missed out after Marc Guehi received his first senior international call-up with centre-backs Harry Maguire, Ben White, Conor Coady, and Tyrone Mings, who will join the squad at St Georges Park.

Tomori has been an influential part of Milan’s title push this season. The Rossoneri are three points clear at the top of the Serie A table, with Tomori playing 30 games across all competitions this season and scoring one goal.

Despite playing alongside the inexperienced Pierre Kalulu at centre-back this season, Tomori’s statistics have been excellent. He has completed 89.4% of his passes this season, won 73% of his ground duels, and has made no errors that have led to a goal.

He ranks in the 90^th percentile for pressures carried out, 89^th percentile for tackles, and 86^th percentile for blocks compared to other centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues over the last year. He has also been named in the Serie A team of the week twice this season.

The former Chelsea player also ranks well compared to the aforementioned defenders who Southgate has given a chance. Not only has Tomori won more tackles than the centre-backs in the squad, but he has won over double the number of tackles in the midfield third, showing he can win the ball further up the pitch.

Tomori has the highest number of combined tackles and interceptions, with only Guehi having a better success percentage when tackling players embarking on dribbles with the ball. Coady is the only centre-half with a better pass completion rate than Tomori, but Guehi has the highest total distance of progressive passes.

One area where Tomori is weaker compared to his national teammates is in the air. The defender has only won 51% of his aerial duels, lower than all the selected centre-backs in the squad. Tomori also has the lowest number of clearances compared to the other squad defenders.

 

One of Tomori’s best performances of the season came in a recent fixture against title rivals Napoli. In their 1-0 victory at the Stadio San Paulo, he showed improvement in areas for development. Tomori racked up four clearances and won 100% of his aerial duels on his way to helping his side keep a clean sheet and nudging them towards their first title since 2011.

Whilst the omission to Southgate’s squad may come as a surprise in Italy, Milan will almost certainly gain from having Tomori back at camp with a crucial run of fixtures ahead with Inter and Napoli still in the chase for the Scudetto.

For now, Milan’s number 23 will have to wait patiently for an opportunity on the international stage but a Serie A Championship winners medal will only improve his credentials having left Chelsea to further his career.

England are set to face Switzerland and Ivory Coast in friendly games during the international break. The Three Lions have not lost a game since losing on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.

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