Back in January 2021, Everton defender Michael Keane appeared nailed on for a spot in Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
After scoring the winner and playing superbly in a 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the centre-back had arguably reached the peak of his Everton career. At that point there was talk about him being the club’s Player of the Year.
But as the season’s gone on, Keane’s form has regressed and his spot in Everton team quickly came in for scrutiny. And earlier this week, it was confirmed he hadn’t even made the provisional 33-man England squad for this summer’s European Championship, with his team-mate Ben Godfrey getting a call up instead.
The lull in form for Keane was catalysed by his omission from the previous Three Lions group in March, at which point he was playing fairly well; he was arguably the man of the match in Everton’s famous 2-0 win at Liverpool, giving them a first away Merseyside derby win for 21 years.
At that point, some Evertonians were disgruntled by his absence, although this week there weren’t too many disagreeing with Gareth Southgate’s decision.
With the Toffees switching to a back three in the latter weeks of the season, Keane has not looked as comfortable. He’s made some high-profile mistakes too, including a couple against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-2 draw and a major one against Manchester City on Sunday, when he inexplicably dribbled the ball into a swell of opposition midfielders.
Seeing Godfrey usurp him so quickly at club and international level will be difficult for Keane and it’ll be fascinating to see how he recovers from a challenging end to the season.
With Godfrey on the up, Yerry Mina playing well when fit and Everton linked with other central defenders this summer, if the England man doesn’t raise his game, then he may find himself left behind again.