Gareth Southgate announced his England squad earlier today ahead of their Euro 2024 qualifying games against Italy and Ukraine. There are no new faces to the squad but there are recalls for Ivan Toney, Marc Guehi, Reece James and Ben Chilwell.
Ivan Toney 100% deserves his recall because he's been in excellent form for Brentford this season and I'm hoping that he'll get the chance to earn his first cap having not played at all the first time he was called up. He might have a lengthy ban hanging over his shoulders for breaking betting rules but Toney still deserves a place in the squad because of the form he's been in since being left out of the World Cup squad.
I was very surprised to see Marc Guehi recalled as Crystal Palace have been struggling recently and he wasn't someone I was expecting to see in the squad. As for Chelsea pair Ben Chilwell and Reece James, I'm not surprised to see them in the squad. James hasn't been in great form since recovering from injury but he was still expected to return to the squad after missing out on the World Cup. Ben Chilwell deserves his recall as he's been in good form for Chelsea recently.
In terms of the rest of the squad I was very surprised to see Conor Gallagher included as he hasn't had enough game time for Chelsea over the last few months. I thought he was going to replaced by James Ward Prowse who is playing regularly and in better form despite playing in a struggling Southampton side. I wasn't surprised to see Trent Alexander Arnold dropped because he's having a tough season with Liverpool. Plus England have more than enough options at right back anyway. I was however surprised to see Ben White dropped as he's having a solid season with Arsenal. But with the amount of right backs we back I can partly see why he was dropped. Raheem Sterling being left out was initially surprise but after hearing Southgate say that he's injured during his press conference, I could understand why Sterling has been left out.
FULL ENGLAND SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS:
Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Nick Pope (Newcastle)
DEFENDERS:
Kyle Walker (Man City), Kieron Trippier (Newcastle), Reece James (Chelsea), John Stones (Man City), Harry Maguire (Man United), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Luke Shaw (Man United), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea)
MIDFIELDERS:
Declan Rice (West Ham), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Kalvin Phillips (Man City), Phil Foden (Man City), Mason Mount (Chelsea), James Maddison (Leicester), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jack Grealish (Man City)
FORWARDS:
Marcus Rashford (Man United), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Ivan Toney (Brentford)
Comments