Eyebrows were raised on Tuesday when Jamie Vardy and Gary Cahill announced they wished to focus on club football - despite being only 31 and 32 years old, respectively.
The pair, along with Ashley Young, were the only members of Southgate's World Cup squad to be over 30 years old - with Young, ironically, being the oldest at 33.Southgate's squad in Russia averaged at just 26 years and 25 days old - the fourth-youngest under any England manager at a major competition since the 1950s.Likewise, Sven-Goran Eriksson's England career ended with a leap of youthful faith in 2006, naming the youngest England squad for a major competition since 1958 - averaging at just 25 years and nine months old.Four years later, Fabio Capello selected the oldest squad, with David James (39 years old), Jamie Carragher (32), Emile Heskey (32), Frank Lampard (31), Matthew Upson (31), Steven Gerrard (30) and Robert Green (30) all on the wrong side of 30.Southgate led England to their greatest World Cup run in 28 years this summer with a side averaging two-and-a-half years younger than Bobby Robson's heroes in 1990.
Nearly two years after taking the reigns following Sam Allardyce's departure, seven of Southgate's 18 debutants have been aged 21 or under - including the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.There are fresh openings for new, young blood among Southgate's emerging group after the departures of Vardy and Cahill - and the UEFA Nations League is an ideal stage to make a mark.
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