England Call Up Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold as Phil Foden Misses Out

Gareth Southgate has ripped up a few assumptions with his latest England squad. Cole Palmer is in. Trent Alexander-Arnold is back. Teenager Rio Ngumoha has his first senior call-up. Phil Foden, though, has been left out.

The squad, named for the upcoming Nations League fixtures, mixes established leaders with a striking wave of youth, and leaves a couple of high-profile omissions hanging in the air.

Big names in, big name out

Palmer’s inclusion feels inevitable given his form, but it is still a landmark moment. The Liverpool forward has forced his way into the conversation with his productivity and versatility, and Southgate has now handed him the chance to translate that onto the international stage.

Alexander-Arnold’s selection in defence is another significant call. His role with England has been debated for years – full-back, hybrid midfielder, specialist passer – yet his presence here underlines that Southgate still sees a place for his unique range of delivery.

Ngumoha’s rise is even more eye-catching. The forward, still at the very start of his senior career with Liverpool, jumps straight into a squad that also includes Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane. It is a bold nod towards the future.

Foden’s absence is the headline omission. With no place for the Manchester City playmaker, Southgate has again chosen a different creative profile, a decision that will ignite familiar arguments about balance, roles and trust.

Full England squad

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, James Trafford, Jason Steele

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarrod Branthwaite, Trevor Chalobah, Marc Guehi, Lewis Hall, Ezri Konsa, Tino Livramento, Nico O’Reilly, Jarrell Quansah

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Alex Scott

Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Rio Ngumoha, Marcus Rashford, Morgan Rogers, Bukayo Saka

The reaction was instant. Adam Wharton’s continued exclusion drew bafflement from some, while Morgan Gibbs-White’s absence also raised eyebrows. The debate over who Southgate trusts in tight tournament-style games will not be quietening down any time soon.

Carrick bristles at questions over his Manchester United future

While England’s next chapter takes shape, Michael Carrick is having to fight fires of a different kind.

The Manchester United manager has already been forced to address speculation over his job after a stuttering start to the season. He did not entertain it.

“In terms of the future and ownership and how long I’ve got, it’s totally nothing,” he said. “Thinking about it is ridiculous in the position I’m in. It’s just not on the radar. We’ve got to perform and we’ve got a lot of games to plan for.”

Carrick pointed to the fine margins of recent defeats and the broader arc of his tenure.

“History tells you that any team that’s successful goes through periods when you have to work through it, come through it and improve,” he said. “We’ve had a small period, in recent time, when it hasn’t been exactly what we want it to be.

“It is a week or two, the games haven’t gone our way. It’s tiny margins in some of those games. We will work through it. Winning games is always the answer, it can cover up a lot of things at times as well.”

Pressed again later, he doubled down, labelling the idea his job was under threat “ridiculous” and insisting: “It’s not a catastrophe, it’s not a disaster, it’s not the end of the world… We’ve got to put things in perspective. We’re not in a place where we have gone on an awful long run of horrific results.”

Shaw and Baleba on brink of returns

Carrick does at least have some good news on the fitness front. Luke Shaw could return from injury for Sunday’s trip to Fulham, while Carlos Baleba is in line for a debut after his £65m move from Brighton.

“There is a chance” both could feature, Carrick said, describing their issues as “really short-term” and stressing their availability will be assessed closer to the game. Beyond that, United have what he described as a clean bill of health for a match already being dubbed must-win for the manager.

Arbeloa: pressure is universal

Across the technical area at Craven Cottage, Alvaro Arbeloa was in no mood to paint Carrick as uniquely embattled.

“Every Premier League manager is under pressure, it’s the same for every manager,” the Fulham head coach said. “It’s not because what comes from outside, it’s because you have to be really demanding from yourself.

“All the managers, we want to win every weekend and for sure when you are a coach of a big team you are always under pressure, but it’s the same for me because I need to win games.”

The scrutiny will be sharper on United’s side, but the stakes cut both ways.

Iraola salutes England call-ups – and leans on Barcola

At Liverpool, Andoni Iraola heads back to Bournemouth with a smile at the morning’s international news. Two of “his” players, past and present, are in the England squad: Alex Scott, whom he coached at Bournemouth, and Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha.

“Very happy for both,” Iraola said. “They both absolutely deserve it. They also went to help the national team before the tournament and I’m sure they did a good job. I can only speak well about both. Very deserved, very ready. And I hope they both enjoy it.”

Iraola also moved to ease the pressure on Liverpool’s £125m signing Bradley Barcola, whose adaptation is under the microscope.

“With Bradley, the more time he plays, the better he will become,” he said. “He’s come in straight away, without pre-season minutes, but in a good shape. Like all the signings coming from other leagues, he will need some time to adjust to the Premier League. But he’s very used to playing high-level games and I see him in a good place, yes.”

De Zerbi underlines Spurs’ growing pains

At Tottenham, Roberto De Zerbi is trying to knit together one of the most talent-heavy attacks in the division after a summer spend of around £300m.

He did not dress up the situation.

“We still need to improve in all areas really,” he said. “I have enough experience as a manager to understand that you have to stay calm and have confidence in what you’re doing. The players have my full confidence. We move on and we keep trying to be better day by day – not by words but by facts.”

Spurs’ issues are stark in the numbers. They lead the Premier League with 46 completed take-ons, yet only five of those dribbles have ended in a shot or chance created. They sit fourth in high turnovers (34), but have turned just two of those into shots – 5.9%, against a league average of 19.9%. The build-up is there; the finish is not.

De Zerbi knows Aston Villa will punish any repeat.

“The most important thing right now is our game against Aston Villa,” he said. “It will be a tough game but we have the quality and the players to play well. If we don’t play well, we won’t win against them.”

He confirmed Pedro Porro, Sandro Tonali and James Maddison are available, with Dejan Kulusevski back in training after a long knee layoff. With a forward cast that also includes Savio, Omar Marmoush, Mathys Tel, Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Dominic Solanke, Wilson Odobert and Mykhailo Mudryk, the question now is no longer about resources. It is about clarity.

Maresca demands more from perfect Manchester City

Across the city divide, Manchester City keep winning and their manager keeps insisting they are only partway there.

Enzo Maresca watched his side dismantle Norwich 5-0 in the Carabao Cup on Thursday, a sixth straight victory to open the season, then calmly spoke about untapped potential.

“Always room to improve,” he said. “[Now] we can prepare for Sunderland – this is the only thing that I have in my mind. Then if we have 40% or 50% [to improve] I don’t know.”

Erling Haaland, Enzo Fernández, Marc Guéhi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Josko Gvardiol and Antoine Semenyo were all rested against Norwich, with Sunderland in mind.

“It was very important,” Maresca said. “We gave rest to the ones that played back-to-back 90 minutes against Porto and United. Hopefully they can be full of energy for Sunday’s game – that will be a strong game.”

Ronaldo stays central to Portugal plans

On the international stage, Cristiano Ronaldo’s story with Portugal is not over yet.

New head coach Jorge Jesus has named the 41-year-old in his first squad for the Nations League, even after Ronaldo said this summer’s World Cup would be his last. The forward has not indicated when he plans to retire from international football and would be 43 by Euro 2028.

Jesus, who worked with Ronaldo at Al-Nassr and won the Saudi league with him last season, was blunt about selection.

“All the called-up players are at my disposal,” he said. “If he performs well, he plays. If he doesn’t perform well, he doesn’t play. That’s how I treat everyone.

“Now, does Cris have a different status? Yes. His career is different. He has five Ballon d’Or awards. But does that influence my decisions? No. It doesn’t influence anything, zero, but he is different from the others.”

Portugal’s rebuild, it seems, will still orbit around their greatest goalscorer for a little while longer.

Three generations in Oranje: Ruben van Bommel’s call

In the Netherlands, a family story took centre stage.

New Belgium coach Mark van Bommel was midway through unveiling his first squad when he was told, live in his own press conference, that his son Ruben had just received a maiden Netherlands call-up.

“Do you think I already knew?” he replied. “I’m very proud of him, just as every father would be very proud of his son when he is called up for the Dutch national team. I played for the national team myself. That is the highest level you can achieve.”

The PSV winger’s rise carries extra weight after a cruciate ligament injury.

“It has been a difficult year for him,” Van Bommel said. “To come back in that way is a great achievement by him.”

Ruben van Bommel’s selection makes him the third generation of his family to be involved with the Dutch national side, after his grandfather Bert van Marwijk, who coached the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final, and his father, who captained the team and played in that same final.

The Dutch, now under Xavi, face Germany, Greece and Serbia twice in a four-game Nations League block.

Xavi’s first Netherlands squad: Depay out, Van Dijk stays

Xavi’s first Oranje list brought its own shock. Memphis Depay, the country’s record scorer with 55 goals, has been left out. Virgil van Dijk stays on as captain after considering his international future.

Depay, 32, featured only as a substitute at the World Cup earlier this year and is widely expected to retire from international duty after 112 caps, though that decision has not yet been formally announced.

Xavi has called up Ruben van Bommel and Gjivai Zechiel for the first time and recalled Joey Veerman. Frenkie de Jong misses out with a knee injury sustained at the World Cup. Marten de Roon, Wout Weghorst, Guus Til and the injured Mats Wieffer are also absent, while Jeremie Frimpong, Kenneth Taylor and Jurrien Timber return.

Full Netherlands squad:

Goalkeepers: Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen), Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Bart Verbruggen (Brighton)

Defenders: Nathan Ake (Fenerbahce), Denzel Dumfries (Real Madrid), Jeremie Frimpong (Liverpool), Lutsharel Geertruida (PSV Eindhoven), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea), Jurrien Timber (Arsenal), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Jan Paul van Hecke (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), Tijjani Reijnders (Al-Qadsiah), Kenneth Taylor (Lazio), Quinten Timber (Crystal Palace), Joey Veerman (Borussia Dortmund), Gjivai Zechiel (Feyenoord)

Forwards: Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Ruben van Bommel (PSV Eindhoven), Brian Brobbey (Sunderland), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Noa Lang (Napoli), Donyell Malen (Roma), Crysencio Summerville (Al Hilal)

The message is clear: this is a squad in transition, but not yet in full rebuild. Van Dijk remains the anchor as Xavi starts to redraw the lines around him.

New era for Belgium under Van Bommel

On the other side of the Low Countries divide, Mark van Bommel’s first Belgium squad stays loyal to the World Cup core while nudging towards the future.

He has named 28 players for four Nations League matches against Italy, France (twice) and Turkey between 25 September and 5 October, adding eight names who did not feature at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the US.

Belgium will be without first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who asked to sit out the Nations League to manage his workload at 34. Jérémy Doku and Amadou Onana are missing through injury. Alexis Saelemaekers and Thomas Meunier have been dropped, while Axel Witsel has retired from international football.

Uncapped players include goalkeepers Jari De Busser, Mike Penders and Maarten Vandevoordt, plus 21-year-old full-back Kyriani Sabbe.

At the World Cup, Belgium reached the quarter-finals, losing 2–1 to eventual champions Spain – the only side to score against them at the tournament.

Full Belgium squad:

Goalkeepers: Jari De Busser (AZ Alkmaar), Senne Lammens (Manchester United), Mike Penders (Chelsea), Maarten Vandevoordt (RB Leipzig)

Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Sporting Lisbon), Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton), Koni De Winter (Milan), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge), Nathan Ngoy (Lille), Kyriani Sabbe (Club Brugge), Joaquin Seys (Club Brugge), Arthur Theate (Bologna)

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), Mandela Keita (Parma), Romeo Lavia (Chelsea), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers), Youri Tielemans (Manchester United), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge)

Forwards: Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Matias Fernandez-Pardo (Newcastle), Malick Fofana (Sunderland), Mika Godts (Paris Saint-Germain), Romelu Lukaku (Fenerbahce), Dodi Lukebakio (Benfica), Diego Moreira (Milan), Lois Openda (Olympique Lyonnais), Leandro Trossard (Besiktas)

The spine remains familiar: De Bruyne, Lukaku, Tielemans. The edges, though, are being redrawn.

Russia edge back into Fifa competition

Far from the European club spotlight, a quieter but significant development emerged on Friday. Russia are set to play in a Fifa event for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

They have been listed among the entrants for the boys’ Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan next month, drawn in a group with Turkey, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

Russian national teams and clubs were banned from Fifa and Uefa competitions after the invasion. Fifa lifted the ban on Russia’s under-17s in 2023, but this under-15 event will mark their actual return to the field under Fifa’s umbrella.

The U-15 World Cup & Festival, a new competition, will feature shorter matches on smaller pitches with eight-a-side teams and is open to all 211 member associations.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has already faced fierce criticism for suggesting the Russia ban had “not achieved anything” and had only created “more frustration and hatred”. Ukraine’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi called those comments “irresponsible” and “infantile”, accusing Fifa of detaching football from a reality “in which children are being killed”.

Russia’s re-emergence at youth level will not pass quietly.

Infantino under fire in Germany

Infantino himself is under growing pressure in Europe. Hans-Joachim Watzke, vice-president of the German Football Association (DFB), used a public appearance at an artificial intelligence festival in Berlin to demand that the Fifa president step down.

“He has to go, no ifs or buts,” Watzke said, outlining three major grievances.

He condemned the Fifa Peace Prize, created by Infantino and awarded in December 2025 to US president Donald Trump during the 2026 World Cup draw. “You can’t just invent something on your own and then announce it, it’s madness,” Watzke said.

He also attacked the handling of Folarin Balogun’s red card at the World Cup, where the American’s one-match suspension was lifted after a call from Trump to Infantino. “It can’t be that when someone gets sent off, the head of state calls the Fifa president, and, remarkably, the whole thing is immediately overturned. That’s madness,” Watzke said.

The third flashpoint was the short-lived project to create a commercial company, open to private investors, which became the focal point of a rebellion against Infantino. “Nobody knew about it, his vice-presidents in Fifa knew nothing, the council knew nothing,” Watzke said.

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf backed the sentiment, saying the “relationship of trust” with Infantino had been “completely shattered” and calling for “this Infantino system” to end.

For now, Infantino remains the only candidate for the Fifa presidency in the election scheduled for 18 March 2027. Candidacies are open until 18 November. The clock is ticking.

Millwall v West Ham: rivalry without romance

Back in England, the focus turns to The Den. West Ham and Millwall meet on Saturday for the 100th competitive time, if discontinued minor tournaments are included, and the fixture arrives under a heavy cloud.

The Metropolitan police have been granted special powers to deal with potential violence as the clubs face each other for the first time in 14 years. The rivalry, rooted not in geography but in dockyard history and hooligan culture, remains one of the most toxic in English football.

“The sides are not on each other’s doorstep and Millwall are south of the Thames, meaning Crystal Palace and Charlton are more obvious enemies,” as one account of the history puts it. “Yet it is not really about football. The tribalism runs deep, dating back to when the clubs were formed by rival shipbuilding firms at docks on the Isle of Dogs in east London, and is more down to hooligan elements than anything that happens on the pitch.”

The past is grim. Trouble flared at a testimonial for Millwall defender Harry Cripps in 1972. Four years later, Millwall fan Ian Pratt died after a clash with West Ham supporters at New Cross station. Those scars linger, even as the game itself has changed.

There is nothing romantic about this rivalry. No nostalgia worth clinging to. Only the question of whether, in 2026, English football can stage a meeting like this without letting its worst ghosts back through the door.

Leeds, Brighton and the Nations League mood

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Leeds continue to punch above expectations under Daniel Farke, who is refusing to let standards slip.

“It’s not a coincidence anymore,” he said of their strong start. “It’s not just a good period, it’s quality what we are delivering and everyone can be proud of this and take lots of confidence.

“But, in this league nothing is guaranteed. The momentum can change very quickly. If we think we can be big time, it is the first step to failure. We won’t be successful at all. The table at the moment is not important. What is important is we are on eight points – this is quite good. But not good enough to achieve what we want to achieve.”

At Brighton, Fabian Hürzeler is plotting how to stop Arsenal while maximising the influence of Pascal Gross, the 35-year-old enjoying a second wind on the south coast.

“We have to be aware that Martin Ødegaard can create that many chances, that will be so important,” Hürzeler said. “Hopefully we can bring Pascal Gross into the kind of positions where he can make such an impact on our game.

“I’m pleased with how he is performing at the moment, not only in possession but also out of possession. It is nice to see how he is leading on and off the pitch.”

And around all of this, the Nations League continues to divide opinion. Some see it as a glorified Carabao Cup for countries. Others point to the end of lifeless friendlies, the rise in jeopardy, the chance to build real tournament habits.

What cannot be argued is its influence. On selection. On careers. On managers like Southgate, Tuchel and Xavi, who are being judged not just on summers and World Cups, but on these long, dense international windows that shape the rhythm of the season.

With England’s new faces stepping into the light, Ronaldo still refusing to step away, and power battles raging from Fifa’s corridors to the touchlines of The Den, the next few weeks will not just fill the calendar. They will redraw faultlines that will define how this season – and perhaps this era – is remembered.