Euro 2024: Gareth Southgate Leaves Out Grealish and Maguire in Squad Overhaul

Gareth Southgate has called for unity within the newly revamped England squad after several notable players were excluded from the final 26-man roster for Euro 2024.

Manchester City’s Jack Grealish, Manchester United’s Harry Maguire, and Tottenham’s James Maddison are among the high-profile absentees. Liverpool’s Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah, Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, and Burnley’s James Trafford were also left out as Southgate reduced his initial 33-man list.

Half of the squad that Southgate took to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been omitted, while 12 players are set to make their debut in a major tournament.

Maguire’s exclusion was mainly due to a calf injury that would have ruled him out of the group stages. Grealish and Maddison were replaced by younger talents like Newcastle’s Antony Gordon and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer. Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Eberechi Eze were also included despite their lack of experience at this level.

Southgate emphasized the importance of team bonding during preparations, which continue with a final warm-up game against Iceland at Wembley.

“Of course, we have a lot of changes from Qatar if you go back as far as that,” Southgate said. “The decision on picking a squad is always a moment in time. Sometimes you perhaps regenerate the group more than you were expecting a couple of months ago but that has already brought a hunger, a competitiveness and the key now is we have to bond as a group.”

“There are some players who have been with us a long time where those bonds are really strong and we’ve got to find that. The group have got to work together. They’ve got to realize that when we pick teams, the 15 who are disappointed will be key each match to us doing well because a lot of them are going to come into the game.”

Luke Shaw was selected despite not playing since February due to a hamstring issue. Southgate added: “At the moment, we think he can have some involvement in the second group game. But of course, you’ve got to keep hitting the markers. He’s had a good volume of work operating at good speeds as well. I think you can take one gamble and that’s the gamble that we’ve got enough evidence to believe it can pay off.”

Grealish, who only started 10 Premier League games this season, missed out despite being a key player in past tournaments. Maddison’s form post-injury didn’t meet expectations, leading to his exclusion.

“Devastated doesn’t quite cut it,” Maddison wrote on social media. “Trained well and worked hard all week but if I’m honest with myself, my form for Spurs when coming back from injury in the second half of the season probably wasn’t at the levels I had set which gave Gareth a decision to make.”

Southgate commented on the tough selection process: “The fact is we’ve got some players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league and we just feel other players have had stronger seasons, particularly in the last six months or so. I think we saw some fantastic performances the other night that underlined some of that.”

Maguire’s absence is significant given his 63 caps for England. “Harry has made some progress but that’s been complicated,” Southgate said. “We definitely wouldn’t have had him in the group stages and there were too many hurdles to get through without really being clear of where we might get to.”

The final squad for the European Championship includes seasoned players and fresh faces ready to prove themselves on the international stage.

England Squad for Euro 2024:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale

Defenders: Lewis Dunk, Joe Gomez, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Gallagher, Kobbie Mainoo, Declan Rice, Adam Wharton

Forwards: Jude Bellingham, Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins

Image courtesy Deposit Photos.