Gareth Southgate announced his England squad earlier today ahead of their Euro 2024 qualifying games against Malta and North Macedonia. Eberechi Eze is the only new face to the squad whilst there are recalls for Sam Johnstone, Trent Alexander Arnold, Tyrone Mings, Lewis Dunk, Marcus Rashford and Callum Wilson.
Eberechi Eze deserves his call up because he's been in excellent form for Crystal Palace over the last month or two. He's scored 6 goals since Roy Hodgson returned to Palace and has at times stepped up as their go-to man in the absence of Wilfried Zaha. Because of this and the potential he has, he definitely deserves his call up to the senior squad.
Trent Alexander Arnold deserves his recall because he's been in excellent form since the last international break. He's impressed a lot in his new hybrid role in the Liverpool team and will hopefully be used in midfield during these two games as it's arguably his best position.
Tyrone Mings and Lewis Dunk also deserve their recalls as they too have been in good form recently. Dunk has been excellent all season for Brighton as they qualified for Europe whilst Mings has become a key player in the Aston Villa backline under Unai Emery. He's been a completely different player since the Spaniard took over at Villa Park.
Callum Wilson deserves his recall as well because of the form he's been in since missing out on the last squad. He's scored 11 goals since the last international break as Newcastle qualified for the Champions League and with Ivan Toney obviously suspended, Wilson was the clear favourite to replace him with the form he's been in recently.
Marcus Rashford's recall was probably expected given the form he's been in this season. He missed the last break through injury and despite missing Man United's last few games through injury, he should be fit by the time the squad meet up next month.
I was however surprised to see Sam Johnstone recalled as I was very much expecting to see Nick Pope to be included. But after hearing that Pope was ruled out through injury, I can understand why Johnstone was included.
In terms of the rest of the squad I was very surprised to see both Conor Gallagher and Kalvin Phillips included because they haven't played a lot of football recently. They also haven't had great seasons because of them not playing enough football and not taking their opportunities when called upon. I was also surprised to see Ben White left out the squad as he's had an exceptional season with Arsenal. I was expecting him to be involved with Reece James out injured but again he misses out for the second squad in a row.
FULL ENGLAND SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace)
DEFENDERS: Kyle Walker (Man City), Kieron Trippier (Newcastle), Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool), John Stones (Man City), Harry Maguire (Man United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Luke Shaw (Man United)
MIDFIELDERS: Declan Rice (West Ham), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), Phil Foden (Man City), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jack Grealish (Man City), James Maddison (Leicester), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
FORWARDS: Marcus Rashford (Man United), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
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