Gareth Southgate addressed the media at Tottenham Hotspur’s Training Ground on Thursday, confirming the Three Lions’ finalised 26-man squad that will compete in Germany this summer.
Having previously named a 33-man provisional squad for friendly fixtures against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland, Southgate has confirmed the seven players who won’t be on the plane to Germany ahead of UEFA’s June 7 deadline.
Burnley’s James Trafford and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite miss out on a spot in the final squad, with Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah also set to watch the tournament from home – though Southgate confirmed that Quansah will remain with the squad for Friday’s clash with Iceland at Wembley.
With mainstay defender Harry Maguire cut from the squad due to an ongoing injury that would see him miss out on the group stages, it is the omission of Jack Grealish and James Maddison that seems to have sparked the most intense outrage online.
Embed from Getty Images“We’ve got some players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league and we feel other players have had stronger seasons, particularly in the last six months or so,” Southgate explained.
“We’re blessed with a lot of options, and some different. Madders and Jack offer something different… we back our decisions but acknowledge we could have gone in another direction.”
While the injured Maguire was too big of a risk for Southgate, there is room for his Manchester United teammate, Luke Shaw, who “has progressed really well in the past couple of weeks.”
“We think he will be able to be involved in the second group game,” suggested Southgate, who added “I think you can take one gamble, and that’s one gamble which we have enough evidence on that we can take.”
Perhaps one of the shock inclusions in this finalised squad is Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton. Having signed for the Eagles earlier this year, his rise to prominence has been rapid – and in his press conference, Southgate stressed that “it’s important we don’t put too much pressure on him.”
“There’s an impressive way he passes a ball, a crispness to it. You can ask the Palace boys, he’s shocked them.”