England manager Gareth Southgate has announced his 25-man squad for upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast. Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho of Manchester United have been left out of the England squad. Whereas, Crystal Palace center-back and U-21 captain Marc Guehi has been called up for the first time.
Gareth Southgate admission
After Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were left out of England’s team, Gareth Southgate stated that there are other players “ahead” of them. Kyle Walker has also been left out of the 25-man squad, with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Chelsea’s Reece James picked. But Gareth Southgate has stated that the Manchester City right-back will be available for the June internationals.
Southgate claims Rashford and Sancho were pushed out of his team because of the form of others. Players like Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden were preferred over the United duo in the wide attacking areas.
Rashford, who has scored just twice since November is often being used just as a substitute by Interim United Manager Ralf Rangnick. Gareth Southgate in his press conference said that: “It is a difficult time for [Rashford]. He’s clearly not at his best. There’s plenty of time, we know a lot about Marcus anyway, and hopefully, he can rediscover some of his forms.”
However, despite receiving more playing time for United in recent weeks, Sancho is once again left out.
Southgate calls Guehi.
Guehi, who joined Palace from Chelsea in the summer, has made an impression in his first Premier League season under Patrick Vieira and has been promoted from the U21s.
The England manager comments on Guehi’s inclusion: “With Marc, he’s had a really consistent season. I’ve been very impressed with him on and off the ball. In the biggest games, he’s been very calm.”
“We know a lot about him through our development teams as well – he’s a junior World Cup winner – so there are some center halves who are pushing and we’re very close, but we’ve added Marc and Ben White this time and we think it’s a good opportunity to see two slightly younger players and see how they cope being with us.”
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