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At 11:30 pm on Sunday the 18th of April, the mill of rumours finally had some concrete proof that the beautiful game
as we know it was about to change.
Throughout all of Sunday, a new Super League was announced. After almost 13 years of predictions, promises and proposals, the scheme looked to finally be on the way to the game. An idea which reshapes every level of professional football, from the ‘Big Six’ to your local club in the lower tiers of English football, the game is about to change.
The idea has been spearheaded by Real Madrid president and now president of the Super League, Florentino Perez, who stated in the later hours of Sunday night that:
“We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.”
Taking a look through social media, not a single fan of the game wants this movement to follow through. The majority doesn’t desire a Super League, watching Leicester face Atletico Madrid after being on the verge of Championship football two seasons ago is why the Champions League is such a good model, it’s based on performance and not merit.
If this is the first that you are hearing of the new Super League, the proposition on paper is quite simple, a new midweek competition would showcase the richest and biggest clubs facing off against each other, in a 20-team format. This would then for those sides, replace the Champions League, whilst remaining in their current domestic leagues.
The league would be locked to the elite clubs though, with the 15 founding members all guaranteed a spot in the tournament each year for being a founder of the league with a further five teams joining through qualification. However, no information has been revealed about how teams can qualify.
We know the 12 clubs currently agreeing to the proposal as AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milan, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur.
A further three clubs are set to join the league as founders, reports swirled that the German elites, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and also PSG had rejected invites as well as Porto and RB Leipzig.
UEFA, FIFA and national football federations and authorities have further rejected this idea. It is believed that clubs will be banned from European competitions in the future if plans do not succeed, titles will be stripped, clubs banned from their domestic leagues but arguably the most devastating if the plans go through, players who participate in the new league will be banned from competing in international competitions such as the European Football Championship and the World Cup.
With UEFA president Aleksande Ceferin threatening that:
“The players that will play in the closed league will be banned from playing in the World Cup and Euros. They will not be allowed play for their national teams.”
It very well could mean that the English national squad runs the risk of losing the majority of their capped players who potentially will be taken to the Super League, therefore, completely changing the national squad.
Ben Dixon looks at the potential England line-up we could see for an international competition, should these changes be implemented.
Line-up
The most recent England squad for the European qualifiers consisted of 26 players, 15 of which play for clubs in the new Super League, not including Jesse Lingard of Manchester United. Lingard is currently on loan at West Ham United, therefore, he wouldn’t be eligible next season onwards for international competitions if he didn’t move away from Old Trafford.
Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund also currently doesn’t count, whose team potentially could join the league but is looking extremely unlikely to take up the offer.
For many years it’s been claimed that the England set up has always had this bias towards these ‘Big Six’ clubs and with the proposals and threats that players of these clubs won’t play internationally again, there is potential that there could be an England team without the bias.
In part one of this series, the attention is on the defensive aspects of the squad.
Goalkeeper
Nick Pope – Burnley FC
For the past four years, Nick Pope has consistently been pivotal to Burnley and has often been linked with moves away from Turf Moor, this season no different with the ‘keeper being linked to Chelsea and Spurs.
Pope has been exceptional for Burnley and was rewarded with a call-up to the national squad in the most recent set of qualifiers alongside Dean Henderson and Sam Johnstone.
Statistically brilliant, the 29-year-old has kept nine clean sheets this season in a team threatened with relegation. It is nothing short of incredible, with Pope’s continual efforts arguably the reason why Burnley haven’t been in the relegation zone for the majority of the season.
Pope first received a call up to the national side in March 2018 and was named in Gareth Southgate’s 2018 World Cup squad. Burnley’s number one made his Three Lions debut in June prior to that tournament as a substitute against Costa Rica in a friendly but would have to wait until November 2019 for his first competitive appearance.
A 4-0 victory over Kosovo in the final game of the Euro 2020 qualifiers saw Pope impress but would struggle to get the number one shirt from Jordan Pickford in competitive games until recently due to Pickford’s drop in form.
Pope was favoured by Southgate in the recent international qualifiers to be his starting ‘keeper and showed why he deserves the spot ahead of the Euro’s this summer. In the three games, he kept two clean sheets conceding one against Poland in the final game.
Key Domestic stats:
Saves per game: 3.7 (75%)
League team of the week appearances: three
Clean sheets: 9
Right-back
Matty Cash – Aston Villa
The Villa full-back has stepped up to the level required for the Premier League and has consistently performed. The Villa backline has been one of the best defences in the league and the best excluding the ‘Big Six’ keeping 14 clean sheets and Matty Cash has been involved in 10 of those.
The decision for Cash to be in the squad is also because of his role going forward and the system that both Villa and England play requires progressive full-backs with Cash averaging 37.29 passes per game aiding his team forward.
Defensively the former Nottingham Forest star also excels, the full-back hasn’t made a single error leading to goals in the 2096 minutes of football he’s played this season.
Since his £15 million move in the summer, he’s only gone from strength to strength and has proved his ability to perform at this level. His performances have led to Villa entering contract discussions with the 23-year-old as they look to tie Cash down.
Cash hasn’t yet had an opportunity to play for England despite shouts suggesting he should have been in the squad recently but with the three called up right-backs (Walker – Manchester City, Trippier – Atletico Madrid and James – Chelsea) all playing for clubs in the Super League, Cash rightly should be in line for a call-up.
Key Domestic Stats:
Clean sheets: 10
Tackles per game: 2.6
Errors leading to shots/goals: None
Right centre-back
James Tarkowski – Burnley FC
Tarkowski is the second Burnley player in this line-up and it’s completely deserved, like Pope, Tarkowski has been pivotal to Burnley’s fight to stay up this season and his partnership with Ben Mee has been brilliant for a number of years now.
His brilliance was summarised by West Ham United’s persistence to sign the centre-half last summer with the East London club submitting bids of up to £30 million. However, none reached Burnley’s valuation of their 28-year-old centre half which was closer to the £50 million mark, a fee which also put Leicester City off.
Tarkowski is a player that potentially may have not been in the line-up if he chose a different national team route given his eligibility to play for Poland through his grandfather. However, he never took the opportunity and should surely be in line for a call-up to the English national team.
Tarkowski has never really been given much of a chance in an England shirt and has often been overlooked by those players of the ‘Big Six.’ Tarkowski has featured for England already in a friendly against Italy in 2018. Furthermore, he also was named as a standby player for Southgate’s Euro 2018 squad but had to withdraw proving that Southgate sees him as an option.
This season Tarkowski has proved his reliability by playing 30 of Burnley’s 32 games, only missing the two opening games through injury. Since then he has not missed a minute, keeping nine clean sheets in this time.
Key Domestic Stats:
Clean sheets: Nine
Clearances per game: 4.3
Duels won per game: 7.3 (69%)
Left centre-back
Tyrone Mings – Aston Villa
Mings is a player who is familiar with the set-up and recently received another call up for the World Cup qualifiers. He most recently featured for the national side against San Marino where Mings got 45 minutes of game time in a match England would win 5-0.
There were shouts that the spot deserved to go to his Villa teammate, Ezri Konsa but, Mings’ ability to play on the left side of the defence and him being left-footed means that this spot is his for the taking.
Under Southgate we have seen Maguire and Stones favoured, both able to play passes short and long fitting the playing style that he wants his England squad to play. Whilst Stones and Maguire are both stronger on their right, Mings as the starting centre back offers a larger versatility if England switch between a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-5-2 which have been the go-to formations due to him being left footed.
Mings has also been one of the favoured centre-halves under Southgate and this just furthers the reasoning why he is likely to get a spot in the squad, without or without the ‘Big Six’.
Key Domestic Stats:
Clean sheets: 13
Clearances per game: 4.8
Accurate passes per game: 35.7 (77%)
Left-back
Aaron Cresswell – West Ham United
There are a plethora of left-backs that could take this position with the void being left by Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw, but the one who has impressed most is Aaron Cresswell.
Cresswell has been nothing short of incredible this season and his resurgence as a player has seemingly come out of nowhere with credit due to the 31-year-old for that.
The former Ipswich man is a player that for many seasons has been overlooked at West Ham but this season he has shown why he is still one of the best English left-backs.
Defensively Cresswell is a sound option, with no errors leading to goals in the 31 games he has played, 10 clean sheets, 2.1 clearances per game and committing only 0.4 fouls per game displaying the discipline and quality a defender at this level requires.
However, it is going forward where Cresswell has excelled this season, the full-back averages 1.5 key passes per game, an astounding stat for a full back, in addition to this, he has created 10 big chances creating a total of seven assists.
Key Domestic Stats:
Assists: Seven
Clean sheets: 10
League team of the week appearances: Four
Backup options
Although the four above may start, there are also players that deserve a mention due to the excellent form they have been in this season.
Goalkeeper
Sam Johnstone – West Bromwich Albion
Johnstone has been a player that has shocked many in the Premier League this season, keeping six clean sheets and being a standout player in a Baggies side that has looked like relegation favourites since the first day of the campaign.
At times, Johnstone has won points for the club due to him making 124 saves this season, the most of any goalkeeper in the Premier League, but he has also conceded 57 in his 30 appearances an average of 1.9 goals conceded per game.
Furthermore, the West Brom number one has a total of 876 passes averaging about 29.2 passes per game and for an England side that progresses from the back, this is a vital statistic for any England ‘keeper.
Key Domestic Stats:
Saves: 124
Passes per match: 29.2
Clean sheets: 6
Right-back
Luke Ayling – Leeds United
After the club’s promotion to the Premier League, there were potential doubts of whether Luke Ayling would be at the standard required for the league, however, the full-back has put any doubts behind him and has played a key role in Leeds’ season.
With the third most amount of tackles behind Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ayling is the highest tackler outside the ‘Big Six’ clubs, averaging 2.7 tackles per game, and with eight clean sheets, he’s a valuable asset to Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Furthermore, the former Yeovil defender fits the mould of a full-back that suits the England system, with superb stamina through the murderball training at Leeds but also with the ability to play in the centre of defence makes him a prime candidate to be in the European Championship squad.
Key Domestic Stats:
Touches per game: 89.5
Tackles per game: 2.7
Clean sheets: 8
Centre-back
Conor Coady – Wolverhampton Wanderers
Conor Coady is already an England international and is deservedly so, with the Wolves captain enjoying another good campaign and featuring in all but one of Wolves’ games.
Coady is a player that Southgate has worked with on the international stage before and he fits the mould of Southgate’s system to a tee. A vocal, ball-playing defender that has the ability to play out from the back and is versatile enough to play in either centre-half position or as a holding midfielder, Coady is a must for Southgate’s squad.
Key Domestic Stats:
Accurate passes per game: 42.6 (88%)
Clean sheets: 10
Accurate passes in own half per game: 33.5 (94%)
Centre-back
Ezri Konsa – Aston Villa
Konsa’s brilliant season has prompted many to already want his name included in the squad, regardless of any sanctions imposed on others. Compared to Eric Dier, who has had a poor season for Spurs, Konsa has delivered consistently for Villa and an England debut should follow.
Konsa has averaged a 7.0 rating in the Premier League this season in the 28 games he has played and is often one of Villa’s standout performers. The 23-year-old averages 0.5 fouls per game showing the defenders discipline at such a young age meanwhile his ability to play right-back will favour Southgate’s need for versatility.
Key Domestic Stats:
Fouls per game: 0.5
Clean sheets: 11
Errors lead to goals/shots: 0
Left-back
Matt Targett – Aston Villa
Matt Targett is another player that has excelled for Villa this season and they fully deserve the credit they are getting, defensively they are excellent and look a different side to last season at the back something that Dean Smith made sure to focus on.
Targett has been involved in every clean sheet that the side has kept this season and has the second most tackles, after Luke Ayling, by non ‘Big Six’ players in the league. With a 48% tackle success rate he has proved his brilliance in the Aston Villa defence and would look set to get a call-up to the England side if the Super League participants were excluded.
With James Justin out with cruciate ligament damage, the case Matt Targett’s inclusion only stregthens and the full-back could soon make his England bow if his performances continue.
Key Domestic Stats:
Clean sheets: 14
Tackles: 66
Clearances per game: 2.17
Summary
A defence largely dominated by players in claret and blue, the defence features only two consistently called upon English internationals, the domination of the so-called ‘Big Six’ clear to see. The roots of the defence originate in the EFL with the majority of the defence playing in the Championship or lower at some points in their careers just showing the progression system in this country.
Despite the lack of internationals, if the threats are followed through, England would still be able to field a strong defensive line-up at the Euros.
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