Crystal Palace will forever hold a special place in Gareth Southgate’s affections. They were good for him, giving him the platform to launch his football career, and he is now being good to them.
In selecting Marc Guehi and Connor Gallagher for the first international game of 2022, Southgate ensured this was the first time since June 1991 – when John Salako and Geoff Thomas lined up in the 4-2 dismissal of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur – that two Palace players started an England international.
Southgate needs no reminder of how vibrant the club was 30 years ago; Salako and Thomas would be followed, at varying stages, by Ian Wright, Andy Gray and Nigel Martyn and the impression now is that a similar situation is unfolding.
Crystal Palace pair Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher both started in the win over Switzerland
It has been in Southgate’s mind that Gallagher and Guehi could play for England ever since he went on a scouting mission last October to specifically watch the pair – as well as left-back Tyrick Mitchell – in a game at Manchester City.
There were other high profile fixtures he could have taken in that autumnal Saturday but Southgate wanted to see how Gallagher, Guehi and Mitchell withstood the pressure that City and their passing carousel applied. A 2-0 away win, in which Gallagher scored the clincher, showed their ability.
Gallagher’s reward was a second-half run out in the 10-0 demolition of San Marino the following month and there were glimpses that evening, as he passed and moved and looked to scamper forward, that he could potentially find a way into Southgate’s plans on a regular basis.
His form for Palace has been outstanding since then. Gallagher has been at the heart of Palace’s progress under Patrick Vieira, a driving force in helping them reach the FA Cup semi-finals and he absolutely deserved the opportunity to start in front of a 78,881 crowd at Wembley.
Conor Gallagher never went into hiding and didn’t look out of place next to Jordan Henderson
Nobody would suggest that the opening 45 minutes was the best England have played under Southgate and, at times, the 3-4-3 formation looked clunky, not least during a five-minute spell when Breel Embolo opened the scoring and Fabian Frei tested goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
But Gallagher – and Guehi – never went into hiding. Gallagher, with his flaxen-hair making him stand out, was a scampering, scurrying presence alongside Jordan Henderson and, with better fortune, would have got the first goal of the evening in the 14th minute.
Guehi was similarly adept at the heart of the defence; he’s strong, quick and reads the game well and never stops talking to those around him. There were a couple of moments during that Swiss period of pressure when he was able to poke out a leg and produce some timely interventions.
‘I watched him for Crystal Palace and he can go under the radar because he rarely gets out of position and is so calm,’ said Southgate.
‘You don’t see lunging tackles and eye-catching moments. He played with that discipline and assuredness. He was excellent.’
Tyrick Mitchell came off the bench to make his England debut at Wembley on Saturday
There will be more caps, on this evidence, for Guehi – who made a smart career decision to join Palace full-time from Chelsea, following a successful loan at Swansea – and the same is also true for Gallagher, whose assist set up Luke Shaw’s equalising goal on the stroke of half-time.
It was no reflection of Gallagher’s performance when he was replaced on the hour, the only shame was that he didn’t share any minutes with Mitchell, who made his debut when he came on to replace Shaw and was solid for the final 30 minutes.
‘It was so special,’ Gallagher beamed when he caught his breath.
‘They both deserve and they’ve both been brilliant for Crystal Palace this season. It is a credit to Palace for giving them a platform to show what they can do. Yes, they have been fantastic and they deserve it.’
Three Palace players all on the pitch at the same time for England would have created a nice little piece of club history. Three players in the squad shows how well they are doing.
