Gareth Southgate announced his provisional squad for Euro 2024 earlier today ahead of their warm up games against Bosnia and Iceland.
Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones and Adam Wharton are the only new faces to the squad whilst there are recalls for Dean Henderson, James Trafford, Kieron Trippier, Marc Guehi, Luke Shaw, Trent Alexander Arnold, Jack Grealish and Eberechi Eze.
Let's see what I think of the squad.
I'm surprised that all three of the new faces have been called up as I wasn't expecting any of them to receive a call up. Jarell Quansah has had a decent season with Liverpool and deserves a chance around the senior set up, but I didn't think he was ready for a call up.
Curtis Jones has put in some decent performances for Liverpool over the course of the season and has done well with the U21's. But I don't think he's done enough to warrant a call up as he hasn't been a regular for Liverpool or made many contributions.
Adam Wharton on the other hand has been excellent for Crystal Palace since joining the club in January. But I think his recent call-up has come too soon for him as he only found some form towards the end of the season. In order to be called up for your country, you need to be playing well over a long period.
Out of the players that have been recalled, I'm surprised that James Trafford and Marc Guehi have been recalled. Trafford's recall is surprising because he lost his place in the Burnley team to Ari Muric at the back end of the season. Guehi's recall is surprising because he's missed a chunk of the season through injury and has only just returned. I think he needed more minutes in the tank for him to earn a recall to the squad.
Jack Grealish's recall in a tiny bit surprising as he hasn't had his best season with Man City. But I do understand why he has been included as he's been included in past squads and is someone who can be a useful weapon off the bench should England need him.
Eberechi Eze deserves his recall as he had a strong end to the season with Crystal Palace and he'll be looking to put himself in serious contention of making the final 26-man squad. Especially with the form he's been in.
The rest of the players that were recalled were all expecting to be recalled. Luke Shaw has been out injured for the last few months and there will be questions marks over his fitness, but I was still expecting him to make the squad as he's our first choice left-back, a position England are very light in.
Kieron Trippier hasn't had his best season with Newcastle, but he was expected to be recalled after missing the last camp though injury. He's also someone that Southgate trusts and someone who has never let Southgate down.
Henderson was someone I was expecting to be recalled because of Sam Johnstone being injured and he has played in Johnstone's place at Crystal Palace whilst Johnstone has been out injured.
Trent Alexander-Arnold missed the last international break due to injury and was expected to return because he's one of the most creative players in the squad.
In terms of the rest of the squad, I'm surprised that Ivan Toney has again been called up because he hasn't been in good form for Brentford recently. He did play well against Belgium during the last international break, but he hasn't scored since then. I thought Dominic Solanke was going to get a call up as he's had the better season and has been in form longer.
Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford exclusions were the right decision because neither of them have done enough to be in the squad. Rashford has been out of form all season and in order to be selected for your country, you need to be in good form. Henderson meanwhile hasn't played at a high enough level all year and in order to represent your country, you need to be playing at a high level. He might've left Saudi Arabia for Ajax in January in order to keep his place in the squad, but he hasn't been in good enough form since joining Ajax.
FULL ENGLAND PROVISIONAL EURO 2024 SQUAD
GOALKEEPERS: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), James Trafford (Burnley)
DEFENDERS: Kyle Walker (Man City), Kieron Trippier (Newcastle), John Stones (Man City), Harry Maguire (Man United), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Man United)
MIDFIELDERS: Declan Rice (Arsenal), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Kobbie Mainoo (Man United), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Man City), James Maddison (Tottenham), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Jack Grealish (Man City), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace
FORWARDS: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Ivan Toney (Brentford)
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