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Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, Jack Grealish, Manchester City
Chris Byfield
Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, Jack Grealish, Manchester City
England players believe Gareth Southgate made a mistake by not including one player in his Euro 2024 squad, it has been claimed.
On Thursday, the Three Lions played out a dismal 1-1 draw with Denmark, just days after claiming a nervy 1-0 win over Serbia.
England went into the tournament among the outright favourites, and while they remain at the summit of Group C with a game against Slovakia remaining, their performances will need to seriously improve to progress deep into the knockout stages.
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And England’s lack of attacking flare thus far will naturally have players and fans talking about those left at home.
In Independent writer Miguel Delaney’s newsletter, he claimed that more England players had started to speak about how it was a mistake to not bring Manchester City star Jack Grealish to the tournament.
Players were allegedly surprised when the call was announced while they are “more amazed” now, after two toothless attacking displays.
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Speaking about his decision to exclude Grealish earlier this month, Southgate said: "The fact is we've got some players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league and we just feel other players have had stronger seasons - particularly in the past six months or so.
"We saw some fantastic performances the other night, which underlined some of that, and in the attacking area of the pitch, we're blessed with a lot of options and they're all slightly different.
"Jack [Grealish] would have provided us with something different as well and they've been tough calls.
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"They're calls we've gone over and over and over as a group of staff to try to be fair and to try to use the right rationale.
"We back our decisions but we recognise we could have gone a different route. The boys are big characters, fabulous team-mates and great boys to work with.
"It's sad to have to deliver that news to them."
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