16 Liverpool first-team players have travelled abroad for international duty as of October 1.
There are obvious reasons why the majority of the 10 senior players who have been left behind to train at Kirkby for the next ten days have not been called up for their national teams.
Conor Bradley, Caoimhin Kelleher, Stefan Bajcetic, Cody Gakpo, and Thiago are all hurt. Joel Matip has left his position with the Cameroon. Adrian would have to experience a severe injury problem to get his first Spain cap at the age of 36. Angry with Ryan Gravenberch is the Dutch FA.
That leaves the more intriguing situations of Curtis Jones and Joe Gomez.
Gomez, who has 11 senior Three Lions caps, last played for England in 2020, and Gareth Southgate has yet to choose him for a tournament roster.
The 26-year-old, who is currently Liverpool’s first-team player with the longest tenure, made his international debut back in 2017 and is most known for shackling Neymar during a 0-0 friendly match with Brazil. Since then, though, he has had fewer opportunities to play for his country due to injury and the England manager’s preference for new players over his old standbys.
Along with John Stones and Harry Maguire, Southgate has chosen a quintet that includes Marc Guehi, Lewis Dunk, Fikayo Tomori, and former Liverpool target Levi Colwill for the upcoming matches against Australia and Italy.
Few of those choices have distinguished themselves particularly at the international level thus far, and it appears that the manager still has open center-back places in his Euro 2024 preparations.
Gomez will be more difficult for Southgate to overlook if he can maintain his fitness and carry on with his strong early-season Liverpool showing. But whatever the reason, it appears like his moment to make an impression and earn a regular spot for England may have passed.
Regarding Jones, the same cannot be stated.
The 22-year-old Liverpool academy graduate has played regularly at various levels from Under-16s on up, particularly impressing with the Under-21s — Southgate’s former team — but has never been called up for an England senior match.
At the 2023 Under-21 European Championships, which England won for the first time since 1984, Jones thrived under Lee Carsley.
Liverpool’s number 17 was voted man of the match for his performance in the final against Spain and even scored the winning goal of the tournament – albeit in very fortuitous circumstances.
He is a player England’s top managers should be looking at.
He remains a prominent figure at club level, but the reality is that Jones seems to have gone to another level in recent months.
After an injury-plagued 2021/22. 2018 campaign, the midfielder returned at the end of last season to become a regular starter in Jurgen Klopp’s regimental system, which saw the Reds progress from Europa League qualification after a difficult winter season.
He has kept Klopp’s faith in 2023/24 and has seemingly become first choice on the left side of the midfield trio, having also been used at right back and holding midfielder in the Carabao Cup against Leicester. pre season
Jones is not flashy – he is not 2023/24. scoring in seven games in 2011 – and of course he was shown a red card against Tottenham for a foul on Yves Bissouma.
But his role at Liverpool should not be defined by those statistics. As Sam McGuire of Anfield Watch writes, Jones, like Gini Wijnaldum at Liverpool before him, is better described as a “helper”.
“Jones, like Wijnaldum, is a mediator. He is a counterweight in the team. A key cog in the midfield machine.
“He is often accused of holding the ball too long, but what if it is planned?
“Liverpool need a solid foundation in midfield if Trent Alexander-Arnold is to make anything happen when in possession. He needs the ball in good places and Jones will do his part to keep the ball in those places.
“He regularly rates over a 90% percentage rate… Jones also does the dirty work and against West Ham he had the second highest number of saves (4), with only Alvarez (5) able to beat his tally.
“The 22-year-old just makes it easy for others and you need players like that in your team to be successful. You need that balance.”
This England team doesn’t need more creative midfielders. Southgate has plenty of them in Jude Bellingham, James Maddison, Phil Foden, Ebere Eze – even Alexander-Arnold if Southgate wants him in the Three Lions squad. It lacks midfielders who are versatile, disciplined and capable enough to play in a double or midfield triangle while helping the forwards thrive.
Jordan Henderson, who left Liverpool for Al-Ettifaq this summer, will turn 34 in the first week of Euro 2024 and is no longer the elite level player in England who can provide that balance.
The former Reds skipper remains vice-captain of the Three Lions and is in the final squad to face Australia and Italy this week, but in reality Southgate should make his current selections with an eye to next summer and beyond.
Kalvin Phillips, the other regular in the Three Lions midfield, has played just 70 minutes in Major League Soccer this season.
From Alexander-Arnold to Gomez, there have been a number of Liverpool players who have not established themselves in England in recent years for whatever reason.
Unlike other regions, England have valuable development opportunities in midfield. They can hardly afford to ignore Jones.