Ruthless Southgate picks squad grounded on brutal reality

England manager Gareth Southgate has shown his ruthless edge but also exposed his concerns about injuries with his provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024 in Germany.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is the big casualty, along with former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who have both been axed.

Southgate's party has revealed serious headaches around selections in defence - so what are the big issues to take away as the countdown to Germany continues?

Rashford’s exclusion from England’s provisional squad for Euro 2024 will grab the headlines but Southgate has made a decision that is ruthless but also grounded in brutal reality.

Manchester United’s forward would only have been selected on memory as opposed to what he has delivered this season, which is not much. He would have been a punt at best and major tournaments are no time for those.

Southgate’s hard-nosed selection is spot on.

Rashford’s form has not merited selection, his chances reduced even further by rivals for his position such as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United both having outstanding seasons.

It became clear Rashford faced a fight to make the plane to Germany when he only appeared briefly as a substitute in the two March friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

And any temptation to pick Rashford on past form and contributions in previous major tournaments was correctly far outweighed by his dismal form at club level for United this season.

Rashford scored 30 goals in 56 games last season but has only hit the target eight times in 42 matches this term – and therein lies the rationale behind Southgate’s decision.

The player’s reaction was typically classy and dignified, swiftly taking to Instagram to wish Southgate and his squad well for Euro 2024.

Whether this is the end for Rashford at England level remains to be seen but he will need to perform far better and rejuvenate his career – potentially away from Old Trafford – to work his way through a talented queue of players in his position and get back to where he was.

Henderson is another high-profile member of England’s old guard to be culled in the squad, but it is another example of Southgate’s often overlooked colder side when it comes to selection.

Henderson survived the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but his decision to move from Liverpool to the low-key and less intense Saudi Pro League with Al-Ettifaq proved ill-fated and unpopular, the 33-year-old hearing his name jeered by fans on subsequent Wembley appearances with England.

He quit Saudi Arabia after six months to join Ajax but an international career that was increasingly spent on the margins now looks over.

Henderson joins another of Southgate’s former stalwarts, Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling, in international exile. Sterling's name is no longer even mentioned in the England conversation such as been his fall from grace since the Qatar World Cup.

Kalvin Phillips is another who has suffered a similar fate, eventually leaving Southgate with no reason to select him despite the manager showing loyalty and giving him every chance to rediscover the form that made him a stand-out in England’s run to the Euro 2020 Final.

Phillips’ career came to a dead stop after his move from Leeds United to Manchester City and the loan switch to West Ham United that was designed to re-ignite his claims for England and Euro 2024 was nothing short of a personal nightmare.

Eric Dier might have hoped to revive his England career after a good loan spell at Bayern Munich but, as with Henderson, Sterling and Phillips, Southgate has cut ties with that particular part of his past.

If there is one area of Southgate’s squad list that almost reads like a cry for help, it is at left-back, which looks like a serious problem ahead of Euro 2024.

Luke Shaw is the undisputed first choice when fit but to say Southgate sounded downbeat about his chances of making the tournament would be a masterpiece of understatement.

He has not played for England this season, has been out for Manchester United since sustaining a hamstring injury at Luton Town in February and recently suffered a setback.

It left Southgate to admit: “He’s up against it. He’s missed a lot of football. I’m not sure what’s realistic at this time but I have to say he’s a long shot.”

Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell has also had his injury problems and was poor in the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, meaning he has been left out of the squad.

The cupboard is bare so will Southgate turn to his tried and trusted Kieran Trippier, who is 33 and has had injury problems of his own at Newcastle United, or Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, who can play at left-back but is not a specialist?

The situation, to say the least, is not ideal.

Gareth Southgate has named 11 defenders in his 33-man list that will be reduced to 26 before the England squad leaves for Germany.

This alone illustrates the problems Southgate must sift through, and quickly, before he finalises that group he hopes will end the wait for a major men’s trophy stretching back to the 1966 World Cup win.

It explains the presence of a gifted group of young defenders, led by Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Liverpool youngster Jarell Quansah, alongside the more established names.

Southgate’s trusted central defensive pairing of Manchester City’s John Stones and Harry Maguire of Manchester United have both had problems this season with either fitness or form – and in the latter’s case both.

This means Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa, who had an outstanding campaign as Aston Villa reached the Champions League, are in the mix.

It will be odds-on that Stones and Maguire will start together in the first Euro 2024 match against Serbia on 16 June if fit, but Southgate can take nothing for granted.

On injuries, Southgate admitted: “There are a significant number. That will be apparent with the players who missed the last games of the season and those who have just come back. I’ve never known so many unknown injury situations.”

Southgate also confirmed he had not spoken to Arsenal’s Ben White about his availability – again something he has got right as it has to be down to the defender to contact the manager personally after withdrawing from England contention, not the other way around.

If there is one area where Southgate has problems of the right sort it is in attack, where England have an assortment of talent that would be the envy of every other coach in the tournament.

Captain Harry Kane is non-negotiable while, at first glance, it would appear he will be flanked by Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka on the right and Footballer Of The Year Phil Foden on the left.

It means Southgate must find a format to suit Foden because so much of the strategy will be built around England’s young superstar Jude Bellingham, who has taken Real Madrid by storm this season.

Foden has been magnificent playing centrally for four-time Premier League champions Manchester City and Southgate hinted at his adaptability when he said: “Phil has played off the right and off the left. The key with him is where he ends up, not his starting position.”

Southgate faces tough choices elsewhere after admitting there is a danger of taking too many forwards to a major tournament because “they need a lot of love”.

It looks like Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins will fight it out with Brentford striker Ivan Toney to be Kane’s deputy, with the former ending the season in much better form and the latter on a barren streak after scoring from the spot in the friendly against Belgium.

Elsewhere, the upcoming friendlies with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland provide a final opportunity for the likes of West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, the Newcastle United wide man Anthony Gordon and Manchester City’s Jack Grealish to push their claims.

Unlike elsewhere, this is an area where Southgate has a genuine embarrassment of riches.