‘Little controversy but one bizarre omission’ reacting to Gareth Southgate’s final England Euro 2024 squad

Football is a game that divides opinion and you’d have to scour the country thoroughly to find anyone who entirely agreed with every decision Gareth Southgate made as he whittled his final England squad down to just 26 players this summer.

In truth, the Three Lions boss was probably forced to make some of the most ruthless decisions of his career, and arguably some of the most challenging that any England manager has had to make given the sheer size of the talent pool available this time around.

There was no room for tournament mainstays from previous editions such as Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Reece James, Jordan Henderson, Eric Dier and Ben Chilwell. 

While in-form stars such as 19-goal Dominic Solanke, Morgan Gibbs White and Fikayo Tomori were all left at home and that's before we even got started with the final 33-man squad.

In the end, following a 3-0 warm-up friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was decided by Southgate that James Trafford, Jarrell Quansah, Curtis Jones, Harry Maguire, James Maddison, Jack Grealish and Jarrad Branthwaite would all be cut from the final England squad.

When it comes down to it, few of these decisions were really shocking or controversial, Trafford had impressed with the U21s in a stunning tournament which saw him keep six straight clean sheets while also saving a penalty in the final, but his first season at Burnley never really went to plan and in a season where the Clarets conceded 78 goals he was fairly lucky to even make the 33-man squad. At 21 his time will likely come again but this was a tournament too soon.

The same can be said for Reds pair Jarrell Quansah and Curtis Jones, who despite having impressive seasons are still making a name for themselves at Anfield and as of yet are working towards becoming undisputed starters at club level.

On the surface, the decision to drop Maguire appeared to be Southgate’s most controversial and surprising decision to date. The Manchester United star's form has at times divided opinion at club level, but for England he has rarely put a foot wrong in major tournaments.

However, Southgate promptly addressed this in his press conference: “Harry has made some progress but it has been complicated and we definitely wouldn't have had him in the group stages. There were too many hurdles to get through without really being clear about where we might get to. Given that we haven't got a clean bill of health across the rest of the backline as well, the decision became that we needed cover and players that are fit and ready to go from the start.

"It was another really difficult call. You know how I feel about Harry Maguire, what he has done for England and what he has done for me as a manager."

There was also little surprise about the decision to drop Maddison despite the undoubted ability he possesses at his best. Last season, many, myself included, felt the former Leicester City man was a shoo-in for the tournament in Germany.

However, despite starting the season like a house on fire - winning the Player of the Month a combination of injuries and a slight dip in form ultimately cost him his place. This was something Maddison himself admitted in a tweet as posted on X: “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.”

Grealish, Britain’s first £100m player, also falls into a similar category to Maddison. At the peak of his powers in the run-up to Euro 2020, many were pining for the Brummie to be included in the line-up, he possessed that something different with the ball at his feet, the ability to get fans off their seats, draw in fouls and take on defenders.

However, in recent times he seems to have lost some of that freedom at Manchester City and it’s hard to ignore the fact that Grealish’s 11 goals and 11 assists across three Premier League seasons are almost identical to breakout Newcastle star Anthony Gordon who has managed almost identical figures in just one season for the Magpies.

Perhaps the most bizarre omission from the England squad, however, was the call to drop Everton youngster Jarrad Branthwaite season for the Toffees where has remained an imperious presence despite an avalanche of issues off the pitch where the club were deducted eight points for breaching profit and sustainability rules.

The 21-year-old played a total of 35 games for Everton and was a near ever present in a team which conceded just 51 times in 38 games - giving them the fourth best defensive record of any team in the league and a tally only bettered by Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City - three teams pushing for the title with considerable talent at their disposal.

Southgate said: "I think it is a bit early for Jarrad. He has had a fabulous season and it was good to get him on the other night (Against Bosnia).”

However, given England’s shortage of left footed defenders with only the unmatch fit Luke Shaw, it seems strange for England to drop their only left footed defender.

Particularly when he has had a stronger season then the likes of Lewis Dunk, Marc Guehi and Joe Gomez who have all been selected ahead of him.

Statistically speaking Branthwaite made the most interceptions (12) inside his own half, helped the Toffees keep the second most clean sheets in the league (13) and the second highest rated English centre back in the league (6.9) based on average matchday performance, according to WhoScored.com.

His absence leaves England in a position where they are likely to play with four right footed defenders and seems a wrong call given Branthwaite’s ability to also play as an emergency left back - a position of course where England are already short as the only natural choice for Shaw as he battles for fitness.