You may often get the feeling that Ivan Toney’s entrance into the game should be accompanied by the sound of a drum. The Brentford striker shines with showman energy and supreme self-confidence. The only surprise when Toney looked back at England’s Wembley clash with Belgium on Tuesday night was the identity of the man who took out the bat to ensure it.
Gareth Southgate is not particularly skilled at revealing details of his squad, but he is hardly alone among his peers in this regard. However, the England manager made it clear that Toney would play against Belgium. On one level, this isn’t a shock. Harry Kane is out with an ankle problem while Ollie Watkins played the full 90 minutes in Saturday’s 1-0 Wembley defeat against Brazil.
Definitely Toney v Watkins for Kane’s backup role at Euro 2024; Southgate is unlikely to name three specialist 9s in his 23-man squad. The other main contender, Callum Wilson, is a long-term injury casualty. And so Toney was expected to get the nod after another unconvincing tryout in November, when Watkins played against Brazil in a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in Skopje.
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But that’s how Southgate framed it; not just advance notice; talking about opportunity and what’s at stake. This meant posing a challenge that you believe is exactly what Toney enjoys. Asked how important Tuesday was for Toney, Southgate said: “You can’t hide that fact.”
“He knows. This will be his first start, so you have to keep that in mind as well.
“But this is the view in England. You don’t get hundreds of opportunities. I think every player knows that this is the world we live in. He is a confident man and comes with good form with his club. “He will take the field on Tuesday, there is no doubt.”
Does Southgate like Toney’s confidence? “Yes, it is very important, especially for strikers,” he said. “This swagger, this self-belief. All top strikers have that.”
Toney has scored four goals in 10 appearances for Brentford since his high-profile return on January 20 following an eight-month ban for breaching the FA’s betting rules. If that’s why he made just one England appearance, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute against Ukraine at Wembley in March last year, it adds back-end strikes to his campaign against Belgium.
Toney has made no secret of his unhappiness over the FA saga. In November 2022, just before Southgate named his squad for the Qatar World Cup, he spoke of his devastation at how “they” had “decided to put it all out there”.
It should be noted that the news that Toney was being investigated for betting violations was actually broken by a newspaper; It was hardly an FA press release and he had not been charged at that point. However, Toney felt that the revelation made it impossible for Southgate to select him, which he did not do, and this was a harsher punishment than the final suspension, which was not confirmed until May.
Southgate said last Thursday that Toney should put aside his negative views towards the FA and that the current issue was sensitive as he had spoken of England’s biggest fear – losing Kane before or during the European Championship.
It’s sometimes said that being the captain’s understudy is a thankless job, and it’s certainly not one Southgate would like to see put into active service. However, Kane is currently injured after colliding with the goal frame in Bayern Munich’s win at Darmstadt on March 16, and despite his excellent fitness in recent seasons, there is always the possibility of him being injured again.
Southgate spoke of further concerns after the Brazil game, describing how it had been a “strange camp” due to a number of factors. He said he should get his minutes in place of Ben Chilwell and Harry Maguire, who returned from injury last weekend. Jude Bellingham had to leave after cramping; He has made only two appearances for Real Madrid since February 10 due to an ankle problem and suspension. Kyle Walker also exited early after feeling his hamstring. Walker and Maguire left camp due to injury, along with reserve goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
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Luke Shaw’s long-term hamstring injury is a major concern, while Southgate has been unable to hide his frustration at the knee problem that has left him without Trent Alexander‑Arnold. He had wanted to test the Liverpool man in midfield against Brazil and/or Belgium, having previously only done so against lower-tier opponents.
Southgate likes the idea of Alexander-Arnold playing in midfield, and probably even more so with Kalvin Phillips out of the squad following his loss of form. Southgate sees Alexander-Arnold as more of a right-wing No 8, which raises the question of how he might work with Bellingham, who he has come to play as a No 10 this season.
One thing is clear. We won’t know until Southgate names his training squad for the European Championship. And the unknown equals risk.
“We missed two opportunities in September” [when Alexander‑Arnold was injured for the away games against Ukraine and Scotland] and now it’s really frustrating because there’s so much that’s unknown about it,” Southgate said.
“I’ve liked this idea for a long time, but when we don’t see it in a really high-level game we’ll try it. “We’ll just have to see where we can go with this.”