Gareth Southgate has described his decision to drop Marcus Rashford, continue to exclude Jadon Sancho and keep faith in Harry Maguire as “fairly straightforward” as he reflected on his squad announcement for the Wembley friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.
The England manager has given a first call-up to the Crystal Palace centre-half Marc Guéhi, recalled the Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope and the Arsenal centre-half Ben White and omitted Kyle Walker, although he said the Manchester City defender would return for June’s Nations League ties. It was the status of Rashford, Sancho and Maguire – the Manchester United trio – that dominated the discussion.
Rashford and Maguire are in dreadful form but Southgate said it had never crossed his mind not to select the latter, mainly because the centre-half has been so dependable for him over the past four years. It felt a little pointed when Southgate referenced how Rashford had regularly withdrawn from squads since the beginning of last season.
According to Southgate, Sancho has been “better” for United of late, having struggled to settle after his £73m move from Borussia Dortmund last summer. But he still remains behind a clutch of wide attacking players, including Emile Smith Rowe, who has scored nine Premier League goals for Arsenal and has retained his place in Southgate’s squad for the games on 26 and 29 March.
Southgate has spoken to Rashford but he said that he wanted to meet him face-to-face after the camp. The forward has made eight appearances for England since November 2019, totalling only 320 minutes.
“From time to time I do go and do that with players [meet them], especially when a player is with us as often as he [Rashford] has been over a period of four years,” Southgate said. “But in the last eight squads, he has ended up pulling out of five [actually six] while Maguire has been in the team and a key part of the team for massive matches over a long period of time.
“For various reasons, Marcus has dropped out of that a little bit. We have players in that area of the pitch playing at a better level, so it is harsh but that is the nature of elite sport unfortunately.”
It was put to Southgate that he had made some big decisions with his selection. “I don’t think they are big decisions, really,” he replied. “I think they’ve been fairly straightforward.”
Rashford has scored only twice for United since November, has lost his place in the starting XI and is considering his future at the club.
The 24-year-old remains his own harshest critic and Southgate suggested that the answers had to come from within. “Marcus is very realistic,” Southgate said. “He will be searching as much as anybody to get that form back. It is important, perhaps after this camp, for me to go and sit with him and find out a bit more what is going on. But also there is a reality that we are not working with him every day so there is a limit to what that is probably going to achieve.
“Ultimately there is a big responsibility for any player. I often hear that this coach or that coach has got the best out of somebody but the very best players play well for pretty much every coach they play for. Always as a player you look at yourself first.”
Maguire, who has struggled for form at various points during the season, endured a new low on Tuesday when the Old Trafford crowd cheered his substitution in the Champions League exit against Atlético Madrid.
Goalkeepers Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Wolves), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Ben White (Arsenal)
Midfielders Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Declan Rice (West Ham), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards Tammy Abraham (Roma), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
“Clearly he has not been at his very best but I am pretty assured by how he has been with us,” Southgate said. “It will be good to spend some time with him when he has got a few days without a game and that would be a good moment for everybody to clear their heads and get a new focus and stimulus with us for the next couple of weeks.
“I don’t see any logic in us leaving him out. I’m not sure who else would be coming in to play at a higher level who we could really hang our hat on in a World Cup situation [at the end of the year]. I’ve got great faith that we can get him into a structure to accentuate his considerable strengths and protect, like all players, the areas where they need protecting.”
