England national team coach Gareth Southgate Many surprises emerged with the selection of his squad ahead of the 2024 European Championship, which begins in Germany on Friday, June 14. While Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford is the most glaring omission from the 33-man provisional list, his team-mate Harry Maguire and Manchester City's Jack Grealish are the most notable absentees Final lineup of 26 players For the championship. The Three Lions continue their preparations by facing Iceland at Wembley Stadium on Friday.
What injury did Harry Maguire suffer from?
Maguire started five of the Three Lions' seven matches at Euro 2020 (played in 2021), all five of their matches at the 2022 World Cup and each of their eight qualifying matches for the upcoming tournament. It is certain that he would have started at centre-back in Germany, but was ruled out due to a muscle injury This resulted in United missing the last four Premier League matches, as well as the FA Cup final win over City.
Southgate revealed that Maguire has made progress in his recovery, but… He will not be available to play in the group stage. The England coach was not prepared to sacrifice another fully fit player in another position to take a tenth defender who may or may not be fit to play.
England squad for Euro 2024
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal).
Defenders: Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Mark Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United) . – Kyle Walker (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Connor Gallagher (Chelsea), Kobe Maino (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace).
straight ahead: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan . Tony (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
Grealish is paying the price for losing his place at Manchester City
Grealish The situation, on the other hand, is completely different. He was City's attacking midfielder This has been a regular occurrence in Southgate's squad over the years, but he has played less frequentlyHe started once at Euro 2020 (he also participated in three matches as a substitute), came off the bench three times at the 2022 World Cup and played in four of the eight matches in the Euro 2024 qualifiers (he participated in two matches).
However, he was expected to be in the squad for the tournament in Germany, however Losing his place in Pep Guardiola's first XI ultimately cost him. Grealish started just 10 of the 38 Premier League games In the 2023/24 season, though, he played from the start in all eight Champions League matches for which he was available.
Southgate talks about 'very difficult decisions'
to explain Why were Grealish and James Maddison, Tottenham's player, excluded?Southgate said the following: “We just feel Other players had stronger seasonsEspecially in the last six months or so. Attacking zones, in particular, we have a lot of options, all a little different.
“Both Madders and Jack offer us something different as well. They were tough calls, tough calls That we as a group went over and over again. “We stand by our decisions, but realize we could have taken a different path.”
England is considered by many to be one of the favorites to win the tournament And they will start their campaign against Serbia In Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, June 16. They will also encounter Denmark (Thursday, June 20, Frankfurt). Slovenia (Tuesday, June 25, Cologne) in the third group.
