For instance when the English line-up for Qatar is announced there will be discussion about some players not being good enough to be in the squad or concern that some good players have been omitted. Assessing the merits or otherwise of players is a very subjective issue - (read some of the comments re Barnsley players on this site.) There are plenty of players who are 'good enough' to play for their country but never get that opportunity - not to be selected for their country doesn't mean they weren't 'good enough.' Kieffer Moore has done brilliantly for Cymru - his performances suggest that is where his heart lies- If there's one thing Rob Page has done it's getting a team playing with heart, pride and commitment. Can the same be said for Southgate?
Personally I don't think that there's a problem with heart, pride and commitment. It's getting them to play without fear, and in this respect we seem to have gone backwards. It's as if Southgate craps his pants about the opposition, and instructs the players that they also need to crap their pants.
Don’t forget he also had talks with China about playing for them before he was called up for Wales. Can’t fault his application and performance wherever he has been though.
Almost halfway to an international team on his own! Seriously I think it's great that he's done so well, people call him a mercenary but he's improved at every club he's been at so it's worked well for him. Onwards and upwards as they say!
Kieffer has done very well for Wales and Page gets way more out of Wales than Southgate gets out of England. That's the only reason England should be wary of Wales though. The fact that Southgate will remove the advantage of better players with extreme caution.
Keiffer has improved beyond all recognition in the second half of his 20s compared to his first. When he was 24 he was sat on the bench at Forest Green Rovers. He then went to Ipswich who didn't rate him and his half season with us the Championship wasn't up to much. My overriding memory from that season is him missing an open goal from 1 yard out at Leeds. The following season he was fantastic and he's continued that form at Wigan and Cardiff, but he's struggled to break into the team at Bournemouth. I like him, he's a good player and he's a player who has continued to work hard to improve himself but he's a long way from being the best striker while he was with us or the best striker to have played for us but judged on his performances elsewhere. But his career isn't over, maybe he'll cement a place in the Bournemouth team now and have a great world Cup. I hope he does.
Have to wonder if the mercenary thing comes from supporters he’s leaving. As Jay put in another post since Rotherham his career had been upwardly generally and can’t imagine any fans of previous clubs (Rotherham on) can think they didn’t get value for money.