Gareth Southgate seeks to establish England meritocracy without privilege
Gareth Southgate says he overlooked a clutch of established names at top-six clubs for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria because he did not want the younger generation to believe there was “privileged access to certain players”. The England manager’s most eye-catching call-ups were the young Chelsea duo Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori. It is the first time the latter has been included and his elevation comes after only four Premier League starts. Abraham, who has eight goals this season, won caps against Germany and Brazil in 2017. But the omissions were equally significant and they were headlined by Kyle Walker, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard – each of whom started in the World Cup semi-final defeat against Croatia in 2018. Eric Dier, a substitute in that game, has also missed out and so has Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Southgate made the point that telling players they are not needed for a particular get together is the worst part of his job but said no conversation would be as difficult as the one he had with Wayne Rooney, whose England career he effectively ended. That episode has steeled him. “When you’re selecting a…