There were no major surprises in Gareth Southgate’s final 26-man European Championship squad as he conceded anything less than a semi-final place would be seen as failure for the Three Lions.
Trent Alexander-Arnold kept his place among those who will turn out for England this summer as Jesse Lingard, Ollie Watkins and James Ward-Prowse were among those to miss out.
Uncapped trio Aaron Ramsdale, Ben Godfrey and Ben White also failed to make the cut – but Southgate revealed those six would form the standby group in case of injury between now and the start of the finals.
Lingard is set to start Wednesday’s friendly against Austria at the Riverside Stadium having missed the chance to represent England at a second major tournament following his fine form at the 2018 World Cup.
Southgate reconnected the England team to a disillusioned fan base during that run to the last-four in Russia and knows he is now expected to deliver a similar result – or better – during a tournament played out largely in front of home fans.
“Yes, it probably will,” he said when asked if anything less than reaching the final stages of the competition would be seen as a failure.
“I think we’re realistic about that, we have to live with that expectation. We know the excitement around the team and it’s great, we’re now relevant.
“Expectations were lower [in Russia]. We’ve got some exciting players – that’s the challenge.
“I’ve got to try to manage the expectations for the players, I accept the situation as a manager, there’s expectation, I have to deliver.
“We have to deliver as a group of staff, it’s not about me in terms of if we can be successful. But, of course, it’s about me if we fail. No problem, that’s the gig.”
Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson were also among the named retained by Southgate – even though the pair are injury doubts.
England Euro 2020 squad
Goalkeepers:
- Jordan Pickford
- Dean Henderson
- Sam Johnstone
Defenders:
- John Stones
- Harry Maguire
- Tyrone Mings
- Conor Coady
- Kyle Walker
- Kieran Trippier
- Reece James
- Ben Chilwell
- Luke Shaw
- Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders:
- Mason Mount
- Declan Rice
- Jude Bellingham
- Jordan Henderson
- Phil Foden
- Kalvin Phillips
- Jack Grealish
Forwards:
- Raheem Sterling
- Marcus Rashford
- Jadon Sancho
- Harry Kane
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin
- Bukayo Saka
Maguire suffered an ankle injury recently and sat out Manchester United’s Europa League final defeat to Villarreal, while Henderson has not played for Liverpool since February.
“Both of the players are not where you would want them to be in terms of being available for the game against Croatia,” conceded Southgate – who intends to give Liverpool skipper Henderson some minutes against Austria.
“We are realistic about that. But they are outstanding players, but when you are talking about Maguire who hardly ever misses a game and Hendo, who has made a living out of making the impossible seem possible, then maybe they can get there.
“With Jordan and Harry, we have selected a squad that, if they don’t get there, we are not in a situation where we are short of numbers and we haven’t got cover. Even though you would have a timescale for their recoveries, you only need one small setback and you are into the next game or the next phase of the tournament.
“It is not like repairing a machine – it is a human body and you can have little setbacks for any number of different reasons. Our aim is to progress them the best that we can.
“The most important thing is that we don’t push them beyond the point they are ready for – that would be stupid, negligent.
“But if we can them to the point where they can contribute to the team, that would be fantastic for us because we know what outstanding players they are and outstanding characters.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/34Cksi7
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