‘As simple as that’: Rashford breaks silence on England omission as Southgate details reasoning behind decision

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 06: Gareth Southgate, England manager speaks to the media with Marcus Rashford at Wembley Stadium on September 06, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Marcus Rashford has been omitted from Gareth Southgate’s provisional Euros squad.

The manager named his 30-man selection this afternoon, which he will need to trim down to 26 players following England’s warm-up friendlies at the beginning of June.

Their first fixture of the tournament is penned in for June 16 against Serbia, and as has been the case in recent years, the Three Lions are among the major favourites to go all the way and clinch the trophy in Germany.

While Rashford missed out, his fellow Manchester United teammates Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw were all called up, despite the latter struggling with yet another injury-plagued season.

Mainoo, 19, has been granted a second consecutive inclusion just two months on from making his senior international debut.

Rashford reacts as Southgate has his say

Reacting to the official announcement at 2pm, United’s No.10 took to Instagram to wish his nation well. He shared a story that reads: “Wishing Gareth and the boys all the best for the up-and-coming tournament.”

Meanwhile, Southgate explained the reasoning behind his decision in his subsequent press conference.

“These are difficult calls… players who are very good players. With Marcus, I just feel other players in that area of the pitch have had better seasons. It’s as simple as that.”

Rashford, 26, has scored eight times in 42 appearances across all competitions this term, yet Jack Grealish, who has scored three goals and started just 10 Premier League games, has made the cut.

More Stories Gareth Southgate Harry Maguire Kobbie Mainoo Luke Shaw Marcus Rashford

1 Comment

  1. Truly heartbreaking when you know what Rashford could be with a Manager who knows what he’s doing. That, unfortunately rules out ETH and Southgate. ETH has shown us his abilities all season (none), if Southgate had picked Marcus for England, he’d had brought him on as a sub with 5 minutes left of a match England weren’t winning, and all the ABU would pile in when he didn’t score 2/3 goals in the last few minutes. With, luck, we’ll have a decent Manager next season, and Rashford’s tally will be in high twenties.
    Oh, yeah: and England won’t win the Euros, they or Southgate will bottle it as they always do.

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