Gareth Southgate has scored an A-grade in sweeping up other people’s mess in the past couple of months. Last week, he got bored of it. For once, just for once, an England manager stood up for something he believed in and left his best two young players, Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood, out of a squad because they had violated the team culture he is trying to build and disrespected the country that was their host.
There was more. For once, an England manager listened to a Premier League boss trying to tell him how it was and instead of hiding in the corner when Jose Mourinho spouted his disingenuous claptrap about not wanting to tell England when they should play Harry Kane — while actually telling England exactly when they should play Harry Kane — Southgate came out swinging.