Gareth Southgate has made the sensible decision to name his World Cup squad early, this coming week in fact, perhaps because of his close proximity to the furniture rearranging that took place when Glenn Hoddle trimmed Paul Gascoigne from his list at the last moment in 1998.
As Southgate has explained, injuries permitting there is no need to prolong anyone’s agony when you have a couple of weeks to spare and a reasonable idea of the group you would like to select. Better to let everyone know the good or bad news early and give the individuals in the finalised squad as much time as possible to get to know each other.
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