Gareth Southgate announced his England team for the upcoming friendlies in March. What do fans think of the squad?
Who is in Southgate’s squad?
Despite rumours indicating that Jack Butland would be re-called into the England squad, manager Gareth Southgate has remained loyal to his core group of shotstoppers; Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone.
Liverpool’s Joe Gomez also received a call-up for the first time since 2020, while Anthony Gordon and Jarrad are the only two fresh inclusions hoping to make their first appearance for the senior team.
Southgate continues to remain loyal to his most faithful of general, Harry Maguire, who hasn’t played for Manchester United over the course of the past month.
West Ham’s January signing Kalvin Phillips has finally lost his place after a worrying few months in east London. James Maddison returns in his stead after recovering from a long-term injury, providing Southgate with another option in a noticeably thin looking midfield.
Here we go then.
Your #ThreeLions for March camp! 🦁
— England (@England) March 14, 2024
Southgate addresses Ben White Situation
Despite being picked in the previous two major tournament squads, Ben White’s early exit from the 2022 World Cup camp has fuelled rumours ever since, with the Arsenal right-back not making any subsequent England squad.
Gareth Southgate has finally addressed the situation in his latest squad announcement, admitting, “clearly on form I can’t sit here and say he doesn’t deserve to be in.
“We – John McDermott and I – had a call from Edu (Arsenal sporing director) last week and he said Ben didn’t want to be considered for England squads at this time.
“For me that is a great shame. He is a player we took to the Euros, a player we took to the World Cup and I spoke to him post-Qatar because I wanted to pick him.
“He is not available to us and there is no issue between us at all and I also should say there is never any issue with (coach) Steve Holland because that has been mentioned in articles and I don’t like that.
“I want that door wide open. He would be in this squad but he’s not available to us and I have to focus on who can help us.”
What did Gareth Southgate say about other selections?
Southgate has decided to leave ease in-form youngster Kobiee Mainoo into the England set-up.
Explaining his decision he said: “I think that he’s (Mainoo) doing brilliantly for a young player, and we’re never slow to put a young payer into the seniors, but he’s only had a handful of games and you have to be very careful development-wise in making those decisions at the right time.
“We think ideally we should allow him that space to develop at his own speed. He’s not at the point in terms of number of games that Jude [Bellingham] or Bukayo [Saka] were when they came in for the first time.
“But I repeat he’s doing really well for a young player, he’s a good footballer, you can see that and he’s getting some fabulous experience at Manchester United at the moment and looks a really good character.”
Southgate also explained why he left out Phillips. He simply said: “Unfortunately, his form just hasn’t been good enough. I’ve spoken to him, he knows that.”
Social Media Reacts to Latest England Squad
Fans have been vocal on Twitter (now X) about Southgate’s squad. It seems the inclusion of Jordan Henderson has annoyed fans , with the likes of Mainoo and Luton’s Ross Barkley in purple patches of late. Here’s what they had to say:
Henderson over Kobbie. Hmmmm pic.twitter.com/XTqh4DGiCm
— UtdTruthful (@Utdtruthful) March 14, 2024
Henderson instead of Barkley or Mainoo is shameful.
— Andy Martin (@fpl_tactician) March 14, 2024
Joe Gomez. Well deserved
— Dan (@001Oxygen) March 14, 2024
Sam johnstone over Jack Butland 🙈🙈
— thatguycalledross (@guycalledross) March 14, 2024
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