Lee Carsley announced his final England squad yesterday ahead of their upcoming Nations League games against Greece and the Republic.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Lewis Hall are the only new faces to the squad, whilst there are recalls for Aaron Ramsdale and Curtis Jones.
This is what I make of the squad:
I was very surprised that both Harwood-Bellis and Hall were called up as I wasn't expecting them to. But between the two of them, I think Hall's call up was deserved as he's done well at Newcastle since he's been at the club. In terms of Harwood-Bellis, I didn't think that he did enough to earn a call up. That is probably because he's playing in a struggling Southampton side that have conceded a lot of goals.
In terms of the players that were recalled, Curtis Jones deserves his recall as he's been in good form for Liverpool. He hasn't started games consistently, but he has played well in the games he has played in recently. Notably the wins against Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen.
Ramsdale's recall was a surprise as I was expecting Nick Pope to keep his place. Pope might not be great with the ball at his feet, but I was still expecting to be in the squad ahead of Ramsdale.
As for the rest of the squad, there is not much to say as the other players that are included were the ones I was very much expecting to be in the squad. John Stones is the only noticeable absentee out of all the squad regulars, but he is currently out with a foot injury which makes his exclusion understandable.
FULL ENGLAND SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton)
DEFENDERS: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton), Rico Lewis (Man City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle)
MIDFIELDERS: Declan Rice (Arsenal), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Man City), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Curtis Jones (Liverpool)
FORWARDS: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Jack Grealish (Man City), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)
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