[ad_1]
Gareth Southgate refused to give Jack Grealish guarantees over his place at Euro 2024 and cast doubt on Harry Maguire being fit for England’s first game.
Southgate, who was more optimistic about Luke Shaw’s chances of recovering from injury for the tournament, is gathering his final preparations this week. The England manager is set to cut seven players from his 33-man training squad after assessing his side when they meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina in a friendly at St James’ Park on Monday night and Iceland at Wembley on Friday.
Competition for places is fierce and Southgate, who is considering giving Cole Palmer his first international start, has major concerns in defense. Maguire has not played since April 27 and Southgate said he did not know whether the Manchester United centre-back would be ready when England begin their tournament by facing Serbia on June 16.
Mark Gueye is expected to start in Maguire’s absence, but replacements for Shaw are harder to come by. Shaw is England’s only recognized left-back and has not played since February. It is encouraging, however, that Southgate has set a positive tone for the defender’s rehabilitation.
“I have to say he’s progressing very well,” Southgate said. “I think I said last week that until we had the players in front of us working with us, there was a lot of information that we didn’t have. We are pleased with how he is progressing. He still has some work to do before he can take the field in a game situation. But he has a good chance.”
Attention turned to England’s wealth of attacking options and the conundrum Southgate, who showed his ruthless side, missing Marcus Rashford, faces the question of whether to pick Grealish. Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze and Palmer all had stronger seasons than Grealish, who was an unused substitute in Manchester City defeat by United in the FA Cup final.
Southgate, who also has James Maddison in attacking midfield competition, hesitated after being asked if the City playmaker was in danger of missing out.
“I don’t think we’ve determined that yet,” he said.
“I think we know where we’re likely to be. It’s hard to be that specific because we keep sitting around saying, “Okay, if it’s this or that…” But then someone else in the room says, “Yeah, but what if we lose that player over there or that a person not coping with their hurt? Do we need another one in this area?” Weather is our friend this week. It’s worth using the time.”
Grealish’s hunger was clear when he reported early for duty last week. “I haven’t spoken to him specifically about the cup final,” Southgate said. “But he was really bright and loves being here. He had good energy for his workouts. He hasn’t played that much this season. I’m sure he’d like it to be different, but we know the qualities he can bring. He is a player we enjoy working with and a character we like in the group.”
after the promotion of the newsletter
Southgate, who said he had not thought about using a back three, wondered if there were more threats to Grealish’s position this time around. “I don’t know about more pressure because I think you’re always competing at this level with good players,” he said. “There are a lot of good players in that part of the pitch and they are all competing. We think we know who the season’s best have been. What we don’t fully know is how much we need to take or how much we can afford to take because of the cover we might need in other positions as well.”
The omission of Jordan Henderson and Calvin Phillips created an opening alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham in midfield. Southgate is expected to use these friendlies to see if Trent Alexander-Arnold deserves to start in place of Conor Gallagher, Koby Mainoo and the uncapped duo of Curtis Jones and Adam Wharton.
“There are a few different options,” he said. “Whatever they are, it will be a bit new, different, because we are talking about a player who doesn’t play there regularly or a young player who comes there to play. In fact, we look forward to working on this.”
Southgate has been impressed by Alexander-Arnold’s “quality on the ball” and the Liverpool right-back’s growing understanding of midfield play. “Over the last year or so, playing there for his club, he’s gotten more comfortable getting the ball in tight areas. It is not quite the same as getting with the tangent line of a country. The geography of the field is slightly different. But that’s the quality of the ball. That’s why we tried him before, because we felt he could offer something that we didn’t have at that stage.”
John Stones, Bukayo Saka and Gordon are not in contention to face Bosnia. The game came too soon for the Stones after the cup final and Saka and Gordon were given time to complete their injury recoveries.
[ad_2]
