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Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, Jack Grealish, Manchester City, Football
Ben McCrum
Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, Jack Grealish, Manchester City, Football
Ex-Manchester United defender Wes Brown has had his say on Gareth Southgate’s decision to drop Jack Grealish from the England squad.
Euro 2024 gets underway on Friday night in Germany and England head into the tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
England boast one of the best squads at this year's Euros and are being widely tipped to go all the way with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Phil Foden all expected to play starring roles.
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But their final 26-man squad featured one particularly notable absentee, with Southgate forced into a difficult decision when omitting seven players from his initial 33-man group.
Jack Grealish, who has 36 caps for England and often made important appearances off the bench both in Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, was not picked by Gareth Southgate for the tournament.
And former England defender Brown thinks he knows exactly why Grealish was omitted.
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Speaking on Reach’s Euro Thrash podcast, Brown said: “He will be disappointed, but I do think it's down to his club. He hasn't started as many games as he would have liked to.”
Grealish made 36 appearances for Manchester City in a season where they won a record-breaking fourth Premier League in a row.
But players like Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon and Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze were included instead of him to cover the left-wing position which is expected to be primarily occupied by Phil Foden.
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Brown also suggested that the speed of the duo may have ultimately influenced the England boss' decision to drop Grealish.
"I just feel the manager's gone with pace. I think if you look at Anthony Gordon in that Iceland game, you know he brings this attacking pace. Straight out fast breaks, he's in,” Brown added.
“Grealish plays a little bit differently. We know he likes to get on the ball early and then do his thing."
But the former Manchester United player is adamant that the decision won’t negatively impact Grealish next season and could push him to improve his game further.
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He added: “You always want to prove to the manager and to everyone that the selection is wrong.
“And you do start the next season quicker and think 'I'm going to show you what I'm about, I should have been selected or I'm going to be selected next time because I'm going to put everything into it'.”