Gareth Southgate has made some surprising decisions in selecting his England squad for the Euros, most notably snubbing Jack Grealish. The £100 million Manchester City star, who shone at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, will not be traveling to Germany this summer. This decision is unexpected, given Southgate’s past praise for Grealish, despite a lackluster 2023/24 season.
Southgate acknowledged Grealish’s tendency to be “brutally honest” about his performances, which can negatively affect his confidence. “Sometimes I think he’s too hard on himself,” Southgate noted before England’s 1-0 win over Australia in October, calling Grealish a “fabulous talent.”
Despite his admiration for Grealish and fellow England reject James Maddison, Southgate explained his choices: “We’re blessed with options in attacking areas, all offering something slightly different. Madders and Jack give us something different as well, so they’re tough calls. We’ve gone over it and over it as staff to try and be fair. We back our decisions but we recognize we could have gone a different route.”
Grealish, with 36 caps, has only played in two of England’s last six matches. The final squad includes high-quality attackers like Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze, and Jarrod Bowen.
James Maddison expressed his disappointment on X, acknowledging his recent form struggles: “Devastated doesn’t quite cut it… I feel I bring something different & had been a mainstay in this whole qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany but the manager has made the decision and I have to respect that. I’ll be back, I have no doubt. Wishing the boys all the luck in the world out in Germany.”
Other players cut from the final squad include Harry Maguire, Jarrad Branthwaite, Curtis Jones, James Trafford, and Jarell Quansah.