SportFootballGareth Southgate\u2019s men play their final game ahead of this summer\u2019s tournament, which begins with a fixture against Serbia on 16 June <\/p>\n
Euro 2024: Southgate addresses Grealish, Maguire and Maddison squad snubEngland host Iceland at Wembley on Friday night in what is the final warm-up friendly before the squad sets off for the European Championships.<\/p>\n
Gareth Southgate has finalised his 26-man squad ahead of Uefa\u2019s formal deadline, and while the debate around inclusions and exclusions will rage on, those in the squad will be aiming to secure their place in the starting eleven with a good showing this evening.<\/p>\n
Notable absences from the 26 include centre-back Harry Maguire and Manchester City winger Jack Grealish, with James Maddison, Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones, Jarrad Branthwaite and James Trafford the others to miss out. These exclusions mean that there are a few places up for grabs in the starting side, with players such as Kobbie Mainoo, Adam Wharton, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marc Guehi all vying for a spot.<\/p>\n
Expect Southgate to name a fairly strong starting eleven as he aims to see how a young, new-look squad has gelled before the Euro 2024 group stage opener against Serbia on 16 June. Follow all the build-up and team news below.<\/p>\n
1717782545Team newsAn interesting selection from Gareth Southgate. In goal, he\u2019s swapped his first- and second-choice \u2018keepers, but you\u2019d think that back four will likely be the one that starts the first game against Serbia on 16 June (as Luke Shaw is touted to return only in time for the second group game against Denmark). <\/p>\n
In midfield, Declan Rice is a guaranteed starter \u2013 does today\u2019s line-up give an insight into Southgate\u2019s thinking in the middle of the pitch? Will he start Kobbie Mainoo while bringing in Jude Bellingham in place of Cole Palmer? It would certainly tally with some fan and expert opinions, though the England boss has repeatedly looked like he\u2019ll favour Conor Gallagher in that third midfielder spot. <\/p>\n
In attack, Foden and Kane will certainly keep their places, and you\u2019d have to expect Gordon to drop to the bench in favour of Saka once the Arsenal man has been properly rested. <\/p>\n
Nevertheless, an interesting insight into Southgate\u2019s thinking. The substitutions he makes will arguably be even more intriguing. <\/p>\n
Chris Wilson7 June 2024 18:49<\/p>\n
1717782125Team newsGareth Southgate makes eight changes to the side that beat Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of the week, having decided on his final 26-man squad yesterday. <\/p>\n
In goal, Aaron Ramsdale comes in for Jordan Pickford, while in defence, Manchester City duo John Stones and Kyle Walker replace Ezri Konsa and Lewis Dunk. <\/p>\n
Declan Rice and Kobbie Mainoo come into midfield, with Conor Gallagher and Trent Alexander-Arnold moving to the bench. <\/p>\n
Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon are chosen in attack in place of Ebere Eze and Jarrod Bowen, while captain Harry Kane starts ahead of Ollie Watkins in attack. <\/p>\n
Chris Wilson7 June 2024 18:42<\/p>\n
1717781705Line-upsIceland XI: Valdimarsson; Anderson, Ingason, Gretarsson, Finnsson; Thorsteinsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Haraldsson; Gudjohnsen, Bjarkason.<\/p>\n
Chris Wilson7 June 2024 18:35<\/p>\n
1717781608ENGLAND XI: Ramsdale; Walker, Stone, Guehi, Tripper; Rice, Mainoo; Foden, Palmer, Gordon; Kane.\u00a0 SUBS: Pickford, Henderson, Trafford, Gomez, Quansah, Konsa, Gallagher, Toney, Watkins, Alexander-Arnold, Bowen, Eze, Wharton, Saka. <\/p>\n
Chris Wilson7 June 2024 18:33<\/p>\n
1717781105Predicted line-upsEngland XI:\u00a0Ramsdale; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Gomez; Alexander-Arnold, Rice; Saka, Foden, Palmer; Toney.<\/p>\n
Iceland XI:\u00a0Valdimarsson; Sampsted, Ingason, Gretarsson, Thorarinsson; Thorsteinsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Haraldsson; Gudjohnsen, Oskarsson.<\/p>\n
Chris Wilson7 June 2024 18:25<\/p>\n
1717780805Mainoo, Wharton, Alexander-Arnold? Solving England\u2019s midfield muddle is a step into the unknownThere have been 77 England matches since\u00a0Trent Alexander-Arnolddebuted in 2018. If he had played in them all, he would be level on caps already with Terry Butcher, wedged between John Terry and Tom Finney. Instead, he has 24 international appearances to his name, the same as Bert Williams and Paul Madeley.<\/p>\n
An attempt to\u00a0reinvent Alexander-Arnold as a midfielder\u00a0\u2013 first criticised by Jurgen Klopp, then adopted \u2013 may have been a consequence of his preference for Kyle Walker and Trippier\u2019s defensive qualities but is a bid to unleash a creator.<\/p>\n
It is, though, something of a voyage into uncharted territory for Southgate and Alexander-Arnold alike. The Merseysider missed the March friendlies against Brazil and Belgium with injury \u2013 Southgate\u2019s selectorial choices are not the only reason why he has so few caps \u2013 and when he\u00a0scored against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday,\u00a0it was with a volley that displayed his technical expertise. But only after beginning in midfield and later reverting to right-back.<\/p>\n
Alexander-Arnold can play passes others cannot imagine, let alone execute. He can add a dimension. But he is learning on the job. Even the rookies\u00a0Kobbie Mainoo\u00a0and\u00a0Adam Wharton\u00a0have more positional experience; they are midfielders by trade. The relatively battle-hardened Conor Gallagher has come to seem the safe option. For Alexander-Arnold, the unproven element is whether he can operate as a midfielder in a defining tournament game, whether he has the positional acumen to shield the defence when out of possession.<\/p>\n
Mike Jones7 June 2024 18:20<\/p>\n
1717780205The answer to England\u2019s biggest Euro 2024 conundrum? Trent Alexander-ArnoldIf you missed Trent Alexander Arnold\u2019s performance on Monday night, picture Marco van Basten\u00a0volleying the skin off a high ball\u00a0from a tight angle into the far corner; picture Hakim Ziyech\u00a0swerving a 60-yard pass\u00a0onto his teammate\u2019s big toe; picture Lionel Messi\u2019s\u00a0invisible throughball\u00a0to slice open Netherlands. Well, Alexander-Arnold did all of that in one night.<\/p>\n
Even allowing for a little journalistic hyperbole, and noting that he was up against the plucky but toothless Bosnia and Herzegovina in a friendly, this felt significant.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s 3-0 win\u00a0didn\u2019t tell us much that we didn\u2019t already know. But what it did show was the effect of Alexander-Arnold as a No 6, an intriguing solution to Gareth Southgate\u2019s conundrum of who to play alongside Declan Rice behind England\u2019s preferred No 10, Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n
Deployed there \u2013 next to Conor Gallagher with Rice rested \u2013 Alexander-Arnold played at a walking pace Andrea Pirlo would be proud of, socks rolled down, using every bevel of his boot to spray passes to far-flung corners of the pitch. For much of the game he stood, scanned and sent the ball as far as his throwing leg could in a performance to be measured not by distance run but yards gained.<\/p>\n
Mike Jones7 June 2024 18:10<\/p>\n
1717779605Gareth Southgate looks to prize versatility over speciality with Ezri Konsa a big winner for EnglandWith the news of the squad announcement, we can begin to look into the rationale behind Southgate\u2019s decisions, and the potential fixes to his various selection headaches \u2013 starting with the back four. <\/p>\n
On Monday, Ezri Konsa\u2019s third position of the night was his first-choice role. He ended up at centre-back. He started off at right-back, while the two specialist right-backs in the\u00a0England\u00a0side,\u00a0Kieran Trippier\u00a0and\u00a0Trent Alexander-Arnold, played on the left and in midfield respectively. When Konsa went forward at set-pieces, he earned a penalty that Cole Palmer scored, inadvertently denied Jarrod Bowen a goal and instead led to Harry Kane finding the net. And yet the most significant post of Konsa\u2019s evening was another altogether, one where he is rarely seen: left-back.<\/p>\n
Simply the fact he moved there indicated an importance in\u00a0Gareth Southgate\u2019s planning.<\/p>\n
With England\u2019s lone bona fide left-back Luke Shaw injured and a doubt for\u00a0Euro 2024, with Trippier looking the likeliest deputy,\u00a0Konsa\u2019s odd-job man status against Bosnia and Herzegovina\u00a0was highly revealing. He could be an emergency left-back in Southgate\u2019s planning. His chances of playing on the right are increased if Trippier and Alexander-Arnold are used elsewhere.<\/p>\n
A newcomer has come to look very probable to take up a place in England\u2019s eventual 26-man squad.\u00a0Joe Gomez\u00a0may have finished the game at left-back but despite rather more experience in a position he has played, and played well, for much of winter for Liverpool, he looks behind Konsa, another defensive jack of all trades.<\/p>\n
Chris Wilson7 June 2024 18:00<\/p>\n
1717779005Ask Miguel Delaney anything as Gareth Southgate selects his final 26 man squad for Euro 2024Miguel Delaney\u00a0is here to chat tactics and answer your questions after Gareth Southgate named his final England squad<\/p>\n
He wans to hear who you think should be on the plane to Germany \u2014 and whether you agree with Southgate\u2019s picks. He\u2019ll share his thoughts and theories with you in the comments.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also keen to hear your assessment of Southgate\u2019s tactics and what you make of the team during the match against Iceland.<\/p>\n
If you have any thoughts or a question for Miguel, submit them now, or when hes join you live at 7pm on Friday 7 June for the \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d event.<\/p>\n
Mike Jones7 June 2024 17:50<\/p>\n
1717778405The problem facing Jack Grealish as he reaches crossroads after England cullGareth Southgate\u00a0was\u00a0discussing a ruthless decision to drop a player\u00a0from a Manchester club ahead of\u00a0Euro 2024. The rise of other left wingers counted against him. \u201cI feel players in the same area of the pitch have had better seasons, it\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d he said. Two weeks ago, actually, in that it was his explanation for the omission of\u00a0Marcus Rashford\u00a0from his 33-man training squad.<\/p>\n
Each may deem himself unlucky in one respect: when\u00a0England\u00a0were short of compelling alternatives at left-back, holding midfield and central defence, they were elbowed out when four in-form upstarts forced their way into the squad: Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze and Jarrod Bowen did not quite all come from nowhere but they amounted to a pincer movement, overwhelming the established order of Grealish and Rashford.<\/p>\n
But the problem rests with Grealish the footballer. His three seasons at City have been littered with trophies. On a personal level, however, only one \u2013 2022-23 \u2013 ranks as a triumph. This year, he only had two brief bursts of form, in December and early April. He finished the campaign as an unused substitute, Jeremy Doku\u2019s dynamism was preferred as the substitute sent on to try and change the FA Cup final.<\/p>\n
If it suited City in their treble-winning season that Guardiola had made the maverick Grealish an altogether duller footballer, now it may not benefit anyone.<\/p>\n
Chris Wilson7 June 2024 17:40<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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