What A Difference A May Makes

Last updated : 06 May 2019 By Three Lions

It is just over a year since Gareth Southgate named his World Cup squad and it is remarkable in many ways how much has changed in the perception of the national team.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was perhaps the most surprising inclusion, one that has been justified in full by the Liverpool defender's subsequent season but the only hint of controversy, manufactured perhaps in many ways, was the non-selection of Jack Wilshere and Joe Hart.

Again Southgate was proved 100% correct on that call but more than that he has moved on the make-up of the England team so fast that the most recent squads have been even younger and those such as Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling have graduated to the role of senior players.

With just one round of Premier League fixtures left this season, Southgate now turns his attention to naming a squad for the Nations League Finals with England, uniquely for a post-World Cup year having the chance to lift some silverware.