Adam Wharton's response to World Cup snub speaks volumes for future England mainstay

View 3 Images

Understandably, reactions to being left out of a World Cup squad vary. After all, everyone really is different.

Being cut from a larger-sized squad ahead of a tournament can be brutal and particularly hard to take, as we saw in an England camp at La Manga resort in Spain when Glenn Hoddle told Paul Gascoigne he would not be required for France ’98. Famously, Gazza went on some sort of hotel-trashing rampage, utterly distraught at being left out.

As far as I can remember, the other five players who were surplus to Hoddle’s requirements - Nicky Butt, Andy Hinchcliffe, Ian Walker, Phil Neville and Dion Dublin - accepted their fate more phlegmatically. To be fair to Gazza, not many people thought he might be omitted.

He had played in the three warm-up games and was expected to be part of the squad. His anger was more understandable than Harry Maguire’s when the Manchester United defender was told by Thomas Tuchel that he would not be at World Cup 2026.

Maguire’s involvement was always going to be a borderline call and it went against him. Simple as that. He has come in for some criticism for his reaction and rightly so. No-one can assume they should be in the squad.

However, if Maguire had his heart set on going to the World Cup, his emotional response can be excused. But as responses to this sort of disappointment go, they do not get much classier than Adam Wharton’s.

“It’s just part of football,” Wharton said after his outstanding display in Crystal Palace’s UEFA Conference League triumph. “It was never a guarantee I was going to go. I knew that.

View 3 Images

“When he called me, he told me I wasn’t there. He said it was close. But that’s football. I’m not going to sit here and cry about it. I’m still young. Hopefully there are other tournaments and World Cups I can go to in the future.”

Wharton is still young. He only turned 22 in February. But he has now made 70 Premier League appearances and is a generational talent. That he has started only one match for England - a 2-0 away win against Albania - is puzzling.

His reaction to Tuchel’s call was to redouble his efforts for Palace, the result of which we saw in his man-of-the-match performance against Rayo Vallecano. Wharton is clearly not only a fantastic footballer, he is a level-headed young man.

There will be plenty of suitors this summer, that is for sure. He and Elliot Anderson will be at the top of a lot of wish-lists at powerhouse clubs.

View 3 Images

But as he says, Wharton is still young. Another season at Palace, with Europa League football, would do his development no harm at all. And after the World Cup, Tuchel’s slightly bizarre Jordan Henderson indulgence will be at an end.

Palace’s Conference League win was refreshing in so many ways. In an era when simply staying in the Premier League is seen as some sort of success, winning a trophy is priceless.

You can say it through gritted teeth, but UEFA has actually come up with a good competition. Look at how much the Rayo Vallecano supporters enjoyed the journey.

And the final allowed us to get confirmation that Wharton really is a class act. He would have been a great option for Tuchel but his response shows he will be a leader on the biggest stages in years ahead.