Gareth Southgate under fire for West Ham £45m flop England comment

England manager Gareth Southgate has come under fire from pundits and fans for comments made about West Ham midfielder Kalvin Phillips following his side's 1-1 draw with Denmark on Thursday evening.

Phillips spent the back end of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign on loan at the Hammers in a bid to find more playing time and cement a place in Southgate's Three Lions squad for Euro 2024. Unfortunately for the player, clubs and international set-up, the loan proved to be somewhat of a flop.

The defensive midfielder made just 10 West Ham appearances in a stay marred by errors and an early red card, as well as a somewhat tense relationship with supporters. The London club were believed to be considering a permanent transfer for Phillips this summer but that is now off the cards after he returned to the Etihad Stadium.

The former Leeds United man, who joined Manchester City for £45 million in 2022, has been a favourite under Southgate for England ever since making his debut in 2020 but was left out of the squad for this summer's trip to Germany due to his lack of form. So far at Euro 2024, Southgate has deployed Trent Alexander-Arnold in defensive midfield next to Arsenal star and former West Ham man Declan Rice.

However, England have failed to dominate in matches against Serbia and Denmark. Southgate was forced to bring Chelsea man Conor Gallagher on for Alexander-Arnold in both matches.

Speaking about that decision on Thursday, he said: "I wanted to get Conor on; we needed some energy and to press better. He's [Alexander-Arnold] had some moments where he's delivered what we thought he would. We know it's an experiment. We know we don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Philips. We're trying different things and at the moment we're not flowing as we'd like."

That comment sparked frustration among England supporters. Southgate has the likes of Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton, Chelsea's Cole Palmer and Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo on his bench and, of course, opted to leave Phillips at home.

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Speaking on ITV Sport, Arsenal legend and pundit Ian Wright said: 'It's either Kobbie [Mainoo] or Wharton, but I'd probably put Wharton in there simply because he's the closest I've seen to Fabian Ruiz. When I've seen him in the last few games for Palace at the end of the season, his calmness. He's calm, he's got a pass.  

"He's a very intelligent player and he's somebody that wouldn't panic in this situation. He's been picked in the squad. Listening to Gareth, he mentioned about Kalvin Phillips and he's the only one in the country who can play that role, I don't believe that. 

"I believe Adam Wharton can play it. I think Kobbie Mainoo can play it as well. You've picked them. Now we're in a situation where it's not desperation because we've got four points, but we're in a place where we need something different, we need to change something."