Gareth Southgate has lifted the lid on his decision to select Luke Shaw over Ashley Young in his 23-man squad for England’s UEFA Nations League campaign.
The Three Lions host Spain at Wembley on September 8 before facing Switzerland at the King Power Stadium just three days later and Southgate has made several changes to the party that traveled to the 2018 World Cup.
While 18 of the 23 players who finished fourth in Russia have maintained their places, Young, Gary Cahill, Jamie Vardy, Phil Jones and Nick Pope have dropped out. Jones and Pope were both unavailable through injury but Young, Cahill and Vardy all make way for younger English talent. The latter two all but confirmed that they had retired from international football in the week.
Manchester United defender Luke Shaw earns England recall Unai Emery overturns Wenger's rule in training to get stricter with Arsenal players Mourinho reacts to Ed Woodward's decision to give Anthony Martial a new Man Utd contract Manchester United left-back Shaw, who last played for England in March 2017, replaces Young, while Joe Gomez and Adam Lallana come in for Cahill and Vardy. James Tarkowski and Alex McCarthy have also made the cut.
Gareth Southgate has made five changes to the squad he took to Russia (Picture: Getty) Asked about his conversations with Young, Cahill and Vardy, Southgate revealed: ‘I’ve had discussions with them around their involvement and what we’d be looking to do in the next few months in particular. ‘Those guys are older and – in a couple of their cases – aren’t playing much with us. ‘I recognise that, when you’re travelling with England and not playing for a fair bit of time, that’s a different sort of role. I did that myself for a few years. ‘There’s a point where I don’t need to know what those guys can do as we’re looking to bring younger players through. ‘It was great that we were able to have mature conversations about that.’ Luke Shaw last played for England against Germany in March 2017 Southgate believes that Shaw has returned to his ‘powerful best’ after returning from a double leg fracture. ‘He has had a difficult period in terms of adapting to a new club. A really horrendous injury he had to overcome,’ Southgate said. ‘I’m really impressed with the physical condition that he is in. ‘He had an extra edge to his game in the last couple of matches I’ve seen. He’s shown an aggression to his play, a desire not to lose. Back to his powerful best.’ Gary Cahill and Jamie Vardy have all but retired from international football (Picture: Getty) Explaining the make-up of his squad, Southgate said: ‘We’re obviously coming off the back of a successful summer, so I think there’s a good foundation for us to build on. ‘With us only being three games into the season, I felt some continuity was important so those who were with us in the summer deserve the right to go again. ‘Others haven’t really had the opportunity to force themselves ahead of those guys. MORE: FOOTBALL Real Madrid to give Cristiano Ronaldo's old No.7 shirt to £20m star Hoffenheim speak out on their move for Arsenal starlet Reiss Nelson Kurt Zouma sends message to Maurizio Sarri over Chelsea return ‘From here we have a two-year lead into the European Championships, so I want us to try and capture what we had this summer and why they felt it went well – but, once we’re through this camp, there’s going to be competition from others. ‘People are going to have to play at a good level to retain their places.’
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/30/gareth-southgate-explains-why-hes-picked-luke-shaw-over-ashley-young-7897351/?ito=cbshare
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