Of all those with grievances about Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad surely nobody came close to Morgan Gibbs-White.
Since his first cap in September, he has excelled for Nottingham Forest.
Since his second cap in November, he has scored four Premier League goals from midfield and made his seventh assist for Jota Silva to score Forest’s fourth in Saturday’s 4-2 win at Ipswich.
One week earlier, Gibbs-White dictated the rhythm of the game from a deeper in midfield against the misfiring champions Manchester City, spraying around passes like vintage Glenn Hoddle.
At Portman Road, he was deployed in the same role by Nuno Espirito Santo and still made more passes in the final third than anyone else on the pitch.
Watching on, three thousand away fans sang disparagingly about England’s new manager. They also chanted: ‘England’s No 10’ – to which Gibbs-White responded by shrugging his shoulders.
Morgan Gibbs-White shone for Nottingham Forest on Saturday in a 4-2 win at Ipswich Town
The game came one day after Thomas Tuchel had left Gibbs-White out of his England squad
Fans chanted: ‘England’s No 10’ – to which Gibbs-White responded by shrugging his shoulders
Gibbs-White brings energy, he is aggressive and, most importantly in this team, has the vision to see forward-pass options on the turnover of possession and the quality to find the targets.
‘Huge talent, so much talent,’ said Nuno of Gibbs-White.
But Anthony Elanga was the Forest player who made the difference at Ipswich, with two of the three goals scored inside six first-half minutes and they reinforced in third.
Jens Cajuste and George Hirst scored consolations for the home team, either side of Jota’s goal.
