Gareth Southgate has continued to staunchly defend Jordan Henderson and vowed not to let a “popularity contest” impact his selection decisions as England manager.
Henderson was booed by sections of the Wembley crowd when substituted during Friday’s friendly win over Australia, the first game the former Liverpool captain had played on home soil since his controversial switch to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq.
After the game, Southgate said jeering one of your own players “defies logic” and although the England manager has since admitted that he can see why some fans have decided to hone in on Henderson, he doubled down that such actions will not influence his decision-making.
“Yes, 100 per cent,” Southgate replied when asked if he would continue selecting Henderson if the boos continue. “I’ll always pick the players that I think are the best players to represent the team, that give us the best chance of winning, unless there’s something that I feel is not appropriate.
“In this instance, people may disagree with Jordan’s stance or decision given the stance he’s taken in the past to support the LGBT community. But I don’t think that’s a reason to not select him. I don’t actually think that’s a reason to boo him.
“We would like all the fans behind us. We’re a stronger team if the supporters are with us and wholeheartedly supporting the team. That’s the connection we’ve had over a long period of time now.
“We’ll assess Jordan like every other player. But if I just select on a popularity contest, then our team would look very, very different.”
Southgate clarified that when he questioned the negativity around Henderson on Friday, he was talking more broadly about backing England players. The midfielder is not the first to be on the receiving end as Harry Maguire was also subjected to boos during a home game against Ivory Coast last year.
“Hopefully what I explained at the start would explain why I said I don’t understand it, in that I don’t understand why we would boo our own team,” he said.
“What I do understand is that people would feel that the decision Jordan made to go and play there doesn’t align with his strong support of the LGBTQ community in the past. I’ve not seen him comment anywhere differently.
“I don’t believe he’s an individual whose values and principles have changed. I would back him against pretty much everybody in the country in terms of what he stands for but I accept the decision to go and play there doesn’t align with that.”
'England looking for payback against Italy'
England host Italy on Tuesday evening knowing that a draw will be enough for the home team to seal qualification for next summer’s European Championship in Germany. Southgate will revert to his first-choice XI after making changes against Australia and aim for a fifth victory in six games in Group C.
“Ultimately, the first objective is always to qualify for the tournaments,” Southgate said. “Our performances earlier in the group have put us in a really strong position.
“The first thing we want to do is to play well and win the game, but we know if it’s the 87th minute and we’re level then we don’t need to lob the goalkeeper into the box at the end of the game.”
Italy return to England’s national stadium for the first time since defeating Southgate’s team on penalties in the Euro 2020 final. The two nations have met three times in the past two years but their first meeting back at Wembley will stir mixed memories.
“We fell short that night,” Kyle Walker said. “To do what we did in that special summer, to arrive so close. To concede a goal through a set-play when we’ve been so good it was devastating. Hopefully we can get a little bit of payback.”
The defender drew parallels with Manchester City’s Champions League triumph against Inter Milan in June, which came two years after they lost the final to Chelsea in Portugal. “At club level, I went to Porto and lost against Chelsea and then two years later we won the Treble,” he said.
“People and teams evolve from that, I think you learn from occasions where you’ve been in finals and lose in finals, and setbacks and then you go on to achieve something great.”
