Gareth Southgate’s modus operandi has always been drama-averse and there was little of it around the naming of his chosen 26
One of the glamorous perks of modern journalism is access to live footage of press conferences before the speakers arrive. As anticipation built before England’s squad announcement I was lucky enough to be at the Telegraph’s office, glued to pictures from a camera at St George’s Park aimed stoically at a closed firedoor.
Occasionally some reporters came through it, then a cameraman or two, with the odd FA employee loitering and checking their phone. It was a thrilling 15 minutes. Finally Gareth Southgate arrived to talk through his England squad, which had by then already been announced via social media, and before that by my colleague Matt Law.
Southgate’s modus operandi has always been drama-averse and there was little of it around the naming of his chosen 26. These days are always odd news events, exciting but anticlimactic, which briefly make fringe players the most interesting subjects. James Maddison was the story of the day yet he may come home from Qatar with no new England caps, just a vastly improved table tennis game.
The official squad announcement video itself was a curious thing, an animated isometric journey through an imagined England (subtly sponsored by England’s commercial partners M&S and EE) in which videogamers, bedroom dreamers, non-league anoraks and shirt-wearing pub patrons existed side by side, united by the their interest in whether Conor Coady was on the plane.