Gareth Southgate has been kind with his call ups for his former youth team. But that is about to end and Ruben Loftus-Cheek needs to flip it into Chelsea.
Gareth Southgate used his previous experience as England’s youth team manager to bring in youth for the full national team. But that policy is about to end as he looks at players actually playing for their clubs to contribute.
Loftus-Cheek’s call up made little sense to many as he had played so little this season. But it seems this will be the last chance for a free call up. Southgate is switching his attention from “his guys” to the guys that earn it.
Loftus-Cheek is expected to start against Switzerland. That will be his last chance to use a unique opportunity of turning international minutes into club minutes. Without club minutes, he simply will not see another call up by Southgate anytime soon.
Maurizio Sarri has had little time to look at Loftus-Cheek since he arrived at Chelsea. England’s deep World Cup run hurt him in that aspect. But it is expected the young Englishman will see minutes in rotation. That could be as few as seven games or as many as 10 before the January window opens. That on its own is unlikely to be enough to earn another call up.
So it is imperative that Loftus-Cheek steals the show against Switzerland. If he dominates the match and steals the headlines, he is far more likely to see time off the bench for Sarri. That could help his chances at another call up.
Loftus-Cheek has the skills that could help both club and country. Defensively, he is sometimes lacking in effort. But he can find spaces in defenses and tries passes that England’s other midfielders might not. He is not exactly the creative midfielder England needs but he does have more spark than many other options.
For Chelsea, he is perhaps most similar to Mateo Kovacic. Kovacic’s loan dug deep into Loftus-Cheek’s (and Ross Barkley’s) minutes. Now, what was once a battle for the starting role between Loftus-Cheek and Barkley has become a battle for the substitute.
The advantage on that front that Loftus-Cheek could have is his similarity to Kovacic. Sarri is the type of manager who likes changes to be similar so the entire set up does not need reworking. That makes Loftus-Cheek the more direct swap for Kovacic. Of course, that could also back fire if Sarri wants something different in the center. Barkley is a more direct player than Loftus-Cheek and would represent something fresh in the midfield.
Regardless, Loftus-Cheek will need to knock it out of the park against Switzerland to catch Sarri’s eye. He needs to be aiming for the super sub role and the first name on the team sheet when someone needs a rest. He will not have as many minutes as he would have had on loan, but he can make them meaningful enough to matter.
A friendly seems like an odd game to be so pivotal for someone’s career but this one just might be for Loftus-Cheek. Steal the show against Switzerland, earn more minutes at club level, and then earn more call ups. The path is laid out for the midfielder. He need only take it.