Hart, Wilshire, Lallana excluded from England's World Cup squad

• by Ridge Mahoney  @ridgemax, May 17, 2018

A young England team with virtually no international experience in goal has been named by manager Gareth Southgate for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Southgate included five standby players in addition to a 23-man roster released Wednesday. Nearly three weeks remain until the June 4 deadline for the final list to be submitted to FIFA.

The squad with an average age of 26 is the third-youngest team ever selected by England for a World Cup.

For the nation, by the nation. The #ThreeLions’ official @FIFAWorldCup squad announcement. pic.twitter.com/YecUWPUZfJ

— England (@England) May 16, 2018

Poor season costs Hart. Among the notable omissions is goalkeeper Joe Hart, capped 75 times and the starter when qualifying commenced, but tainted by a poor season at West Ham. Southgate instead opted for Jordan Pickford (Everton), Jack Butland (Stoke City), and Nick Pope (Burnley). Pickford and Butland have only nine caps combined, and Pope is one of two uncapped players selected.

"With Joe, we've got three other goalkeepers who have had very good seasons and the decision I was faced with was do I keep Joe in and have experience around the group,” said Southgate on the England FA’s official Web site.  “Or give the three guys who have basically had a better season a chance? We felt the players all needed to be in on merit after their performances this season.”

The most-capped player on the list is Chelsea defender Gary Cahill (58), who struggled to hold down a regular spot as the Blues finished fifth. Danny Welbeck has scored the most goals (15), but the go-to man will be Spurs’ striker Harry Kane, who has netted 12 goals in his 23 international appearances and this past season scored 30 Premier League goals to finish second behind Mohamed Salah (32).

Southgate also has the two men who finished fourth and fifth in the Golden Boot race. Jamie Vardy netted 20 and Raheem Sterling bagged 18. At the international level, Vardy’s seven goals (21 caps) is tied for third with Ashley Young behind Welbeck and Kane.

Uncapped Alexander-Arnold gets call. Young is one of several wingbacks/outside backs named by Southgate, who has used both three-man and four-man back lines. Also named is 19-year-old Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has never been called up by England but performed so impressively this past season for Liverpool that Southgate included him.

The manager’s options in midfield are severely impaired by the serious knee injury suffered by Alec Oxlade-Chamberlain against Roma in the Champions League. He is not expected to return until November. Southgate elected not to include Jack Wilshere – whose own injury misfortunes certainly played a role in the manager’s decision – and Adam Lallana, also slowed by injuries this season and one of those five named to the standby list.

Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson will be the midfield linchpins, with a variety of choices out wide: Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard. Henderson is the second most-capped player after Cahill with 38 appearances. Kane’s Tottenham teammate Dele Alli is battling to get back into the starting lineup and could do just that when Southgate plays a more aggressive lineup, as he’s expected to do in the first two group matches against Tunisia and Panama. England finishes Group G play against Belgium.

Questions at centerback. The toughest choices for Southgate will probably be in defense, where none of the traditional centerbacks – Cahill, Phil Jones, John Stones – enjoyed stellar club campaigns. Right back Kyle Walker has been used centrally; he’s one of several players Southgate can move around to get the right mix of balance and cohesion.

“I believe this is a squad which we can be excited about,” said Southgate. “We have a lot of energy and athleticism in the team, but players that are equally comfortable in possession of the ball and I think people can see the style of play we’ve been looking to develop. It is a young group, but with some really important senior players so I feel the balance of the squad is good, both in terms of its experience, its character and also the positional balance.”

Tuneups. England plays warm-up games against Nigeria June 2 and Costa Rica June 7 before traveling to Russia.

England Roster (23 players):
GOALKEEPERS: Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley).
DEFENDERS: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Manchester United).
MIDFIELDERS: Dele Alli (Tottenham), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea).
FORWARDS: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).