Gareth Southgate explained his decision to include Luke Shaw in his 26-player Euro 2024 squad while excluding Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish, and James Maddison.
Southgate noted that although Maguire could have contributed under his previous leaderships, his inclusion would disrupt the team’s balance.
He also addressed Maddison’s comments about potentially offering “something else” to the team and explained why Grealish, despite a strong performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina, was not selected.
Regarding the one “gamble” in his squad, Southgate mentioned Shaw, who hasn’t played since February, and provided an update on when the Manchester United left-back would be ready for the competition.
On Grealish and Maddison’s exclusions, Southgate stated: “While some players have performed well throughout the league season, others have had stronger performances in the last six months.
Recent impressive displays highlighted some of these points. We have numerous options in the attacking half, each offering something slightly different.
“As a staff, we’ve had extensive discussions to ensure fairness and provide proper justification. We stand by our choices but recognize there were other possible decisions. It’s tough to deliver such news to these great team players and wonderful individuals.”
