Pundits and former players are baffled as to why England boss Gareth Southgate continues to snub AC Milan centre-back Fikayo Tomori.
Tomori initially came into the national team fold when he established himself as a starter with Chelsea but he then fell out of favour and a move to Milan followed through an initial loan deal in January 2021 that became a permanent deal six months on.
The 24-year-old is one of the best centre-backs in Serie A and was part of a side that ended their 11-year wait for the Scudetto last season thanks in large part to a defence that conceded just two goals in the final 11 league games of the season, with nine clean sheets.
Tomori was called up by Southgate for the training camp but did not play a single minute at his home stadium San Siro on Friday night as England lost to Italy, and was left out of the matchday squad for the 3-3 draw with Germany at Wembley last night, which has certainly provoked anger and confusion.
There’s a guy called Tomori who has excelled at @acmilan. https://t.co/t3X26bbdKa
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) September 26, 2022
Tomori is playing every week for a strong Milan side and won the title last season. Struggle to see how a defender of his speed, quality and ability on the ball cannot be worth a go in either of these England games
— Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) September 26, 2022
Fikayo Tomori not even named as a substitute for this England team. Having established himself as a star in a Scudetto-winning team. Very, very odd.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) September 26, 2022
Cannot understand a world in which Fikayo Tomori doesn’t start for England tonight. If he’s fit, the way he’s played the last 18months, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be close to the first choice centre half.
— Joe Flemons (@_ItsJJ) September 26, 2022
Tomori snubbed again by Southgate….Won a title last season in Italy and is one of the best defenders in the league but Southgate knows best with his obsession with players who can't even start for their club side. Not to mention Tomori is a modern CB
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) September 26, 2022
Fikayo Tomori has made more successful tackles than any other English centre-back in Europe's top five leagues since the start of last season.
Still not enough to get in the England squad 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/s2aUEM5EnB
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) September 26, 2022
🗣️ “Gareth Southgate hasn’t given them enough opportunities to [trust them].”@RobDorsettSky discusses the absence of Fikayo Tomori in favour of Harry Maguire for England. pic.twitter.com/O9TJG1fZYm
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 27, 2022
Fikayo Tomori has made more successful tackles than any other English centre-back in Europe's top five leagues since the start of last season:
◎ 107 attempted
◉ 83 made
◎ 15 fouls
◎ 9x dribbled pastHe also has the highest true tackle success rate of any to attempt 50+. 🧼 pic.twitter.com/OkHr4WDbyf
— Squawka (@Squawka) September 26, 2022
Interesting. This is literally the same article from Football Italia from yesterday, tweets an all. 🤔
Southgate is just a mediocre manager who thinks Maguire like some kind of genius CB 🤦♂️
I feel really sorry for Tomori though because playing for National team is one of the biggest achievement for an athlete. But on the other side, i’m glad he’s avoiding the risk of getting injury from any unnecessary matches.
U ALL CAN DO NOTHING IN LORD MAGUIRE ERA…
I want to be disappointed but I think there’s a bright side to look on. I mean with all the injuries that’s been plaguing us lately, this is nothing short of good news. Maybe what is sauce for the goose isn’t always sauce for the gander.
good thing, tomori is injury free..
It only suits us this season to keep him injury free, but it may persuade him to return to English club football in order to fight for a place I the national team.
It matters not where Tomori plays his football, England, Italy or even the king’s court. As long as the coach doesn’t like you, you ain’t playing. Take Calabria as an example.