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Euro 2024: Gareth Southgate to name expanded England squad because of injury concerns

Last updated on .From the section Englandcomments648

Gareth Southgate will name his provisional England squad on 21 May
Gareth Southgate will name his provisional England squad on 21 May

England manager Gareth Southgate says he will name an expanded initial Euro 2024 squad as Uefa says it will consider requests to reinstate 26-man squads.

Southgate will name a provisional squad on 21 May, two days after the end of the Premier League season.

Unlike the previous two tournaments that had a 26-man limit, Southgate must then reduce his squad to 23 on 7 June.

"There are so many questions on injuries," said Southgate.

"It's inevitable we're going to be naming a longer squad, which is what we did before the Euros here even though we were dealing with 26 then.

"It seems to be [settled at 23]. There is one more Uefa meeting where there's been a little bit of talk amongst some of the coaches about possibly increasing that."

Squad limits were increased from 23 to 26 for the European Championships in 2021 and the World Cup in 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic and the risk of multiple cases of infection within a squad forcing players to isolate.

Ronald Koeman, the Netherlands manager, described Uefa's decision to reduce squad sizes for this summer's tournament as "absurd"external-link this week.

Uefa said it had "taken note" of comments expressed by some national team coaches on the squad size and would listen to the views of coaches at a workshop on 8 April.

Southgate was without key personnel such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luke Shaw for friendlies against Brazil and Belgium this week, while Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire and Harry Kane all departed the camp early with injury concerns.

The FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League finals are all to be played after Southgate names his provisional squad on 21 May, with many of his players likely to be involved and England then have two more friendlies in June.

'It's going to be complicated because [of] the injury situations that we have," said Southgate. "Some will be back playing at the weekend, some will be back playing in a couple of weeks, some will be really close to the end of the season."

End of season timeline

19 May: Premier League final day

21 May: Southgate names provisional Euro 2024 squad

22 May: Europa League final

25 May: FA Cup final

1 June: Champions League final

3 June: England v Iceland

7 June: England v Bosnia-Herzegovina

7 June (late): Deadline for final Euros squad submitted to Uefa

14 June: Euros starts

16 June: England v Serbia (20:00 BST)

Select your England starting XI for Euro 2024

Your England XI for Euro 2024

Select your England XI for their Euro 2024 opener

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648 comments

  • Comment posted by No, at 13:31 28 Mar

    Probably so he can get Henderson, Maquire and Sterling in!!!

    • Reply posted by xraybaby, at 14:09 28 Mar

      xraybaby replied:
      Don't forget Kalvin Phillips.

  • Comment posted by dogeared, at 13:49 28 Mar

    Can't Southgate just go to Man United, it's a win win for everyone. Well, except the Utd fans.

    • Reply posted by Murtoughatesmufc, at 13:59 28 Mar

      Murtoughatesmufc replied:
      29% win rate says he will never even be considered...who wants a loser to manage them......99.98% of England fans DO NOT WANT SOUTHGATE TO GO THE GERMANY

  • Comment posted by conradk, at 13:33 28 Mar

    Like it matters, he’ll name the same players, the same system, the same tactics, and the result will be….. the same. Boring, predictable, and ultimately achieving nothing.

    • Reply posted by jimmychippy, at 13:39 28 Mar

      jimmychippy replied:
      The Belgium game certainly wasn't boring, 19 shots

  • Comment posted by spaniel2, at 13:39 28 Mar

    No doubt Henderson will be alongside Maguire the first names on his sheet. Yawn!🥱

    • Reply posted by And I said, at 15:01 28 Mar

      And I said replied:
      Not Southgate’s fault.

      Grant and Phil aren’t available for the summer, so Henderson and Maguire it is then.

  • Comment posted by Some Bloke, at 13:27 28 Mar

    Breaking news, England manager to name a squad by a deadline

    • Reply posted by Thumbs up from Garnacho, at 17:51 28 Mar

      Thumbs up from Garnacho replied:
      Your right, it's a real none story but Wales & Scotland need to cheer themselves up with the usual "Tally ho old beans I'm English, Southgate Out!! Stick a striker in net" stuff.

  • Comment posted by MKMAT, at 13:46 28 Mar

    Henderson, Maguire, Pickford, Chillwell, Stirling......please no..

    Be brave Gareth and the majority of us will thank you for it, win or lose.

    • Reply posted by Rofflecopter, at 13:49 28 Mar

      Rofflecopter replied:
      Pickford has been fantastic for England season after season. Who would you like to replace him and what do they offer that Pickford doesn't? I can understand your opposition to the other players, but the witch hunt against Pickford is frankly bizarre.

  • Comment posted by paul, at 14:19 28 Mar

    If he wants Henderson involved as he is good in the camp , making him a coach as there is no way he can be included as a player in view of the wealth of riches Southgate has as midfield options.

    • Reply posted by IDW, at 14:29 28 Mar

      IDW replied:
      Not defensive midfield options though.

  • Comment posted by Defund The BBC, at 13:26 28 Mar

    10 defenders and a goalkeeper?

    • Reply posted by Quintessential Dichotomy, at 13:30 28 Mar

      Quintessential Dichotomy replied:
      Bad idea, that would probably not be successful. Probably better you don't attempt to enter into management at this stage of your development.

  • Comment posted by Billy bob, at 13:47 28 Mar

    How many teams actually used all 26 players at the last couple of tournaments? I doubt it was many. 23 is plenty.

    • Reply posted by Sirrantsalot, at 14:30 28 Mar

      Sirrantsalot replied:
      23, but with Henderson, Maguire, Phillips, Rashford, plus 3 others injured but included anyway, means effectively only 16 players.

  • Comment posted by Alcoa bars, at 13:53 28 Mar

    Slow news day?
    Even as an England supporter this is getting a bit boring, endless articles on who what where and when and Euros months away!

    It's obvious certain players are cast iron certs, Kane, Bellingham, Pickford, Stones, Rice so just wait until season over and injury situation known then announce squad/team.

  • Comment posted by Oldgolfer, at 13:46 28 Mar

    If they have injury concerns why play even more friendlies in June. Pick some kids if they have to to keep the key player safe. They dont need the games to get match fitness, after the season finishes in fact they probably could do with a good rest

    • Reply posted by NB, at 15:51 28 Mar

      NB replied:
      I think you make a good point, but as Bellingham said after the Belgium game, some of the players have very limited experience of playing together and could probably do with a bit more opportunity of being on the same pitch at the same time...

  • Comment posted by Quiverbow, at 13:36 28 Mar

    So he can name three more players who won't step onto the pitch. Isn't 23 enough to cover any possible injuries? Next time they will want a squad of 30. Rather like substitutes. They wanted it increased to five, so it was. Now they want it increased to seven. Soon, it will be like American Football when they change all 11.

    • Reply posted by No, at 13:43 28 Mar

      No replied:
      Extra three defenders of course!!!

  • Comment posted by Supermaxiboy, at 13:27 28 Mar

    If Henderson gets in to the squad Southgate should be sacked immediately

    • Reply posted by IDW, at 13:33 28 Mar

      IDW replied:
      Why? There's not great depth in that position. Rice, Mainoo and Henderson are about the best we have for the DM role.

  • Comment posted by paul, at 14:22 28 Mar

    Why does he pick young defenders in his squad and then not play them , he still knows nothing about them

    • Reply posted by Murtoughatesmufc, at 14:24 28 Mar

      Murtoughatesmufc replied:
      To give the impression he is a proper manager, but refusing to play them shows his secret agenda

  • Comment posted by chris, at 18:37 28 Mar

    Maguire
    Maguire
    Pick ford
    Mount
    Henderson
    Henderson
    Maguire
    Maguire
    Mount
    Sterling
    Maguire
    Dier
    Dier
    Chilwell
    Maguire
    Maguire
    Maguire

    • Reply posted by feetball, at 21:09 28 Mar

      feetball replied:
      And ‘McGuire” of course.

  • Comment posted by PetreDyche, at 14:42 28 Mar

    What would Jordan Henderson bring to the dressing room that Harry Kane, John Stones and Kyle Walker don't already? Absolute waste of a squad number

    • Reply posted by 40bob, at 20:17 28 Mar

      40bob replied:
      only stones and walker know what winning feels like.

  • Comment posted by Draxx, at 15:01 28 Mar

    Why bother naming a provisional squad? Just name a squad at the deadline.

    And those late friendlies ... what are they for? Too late to learn anything and too close to the Euros for injuries. No sensible player will risk injury, so they won't put in much effort.

    • Reply posted by Murtoughatesmufc, at 15:03 28 Mar

      Murtoughatesmufc replied:
      Friendlies only played because GS got us relegated from NAtions league...otherwise we'd have been playing for a pot

  • Comment posted by Smithsonian, at 19:03 28 Mar

    5 goal keepers...18 defenders.....6 midfielders and 1 lone striker......thats a positive guess....lol

  • Comment posted by Murtoughatesmufc, at 13:57 28 Mar

    Scared manager leaves back door open for proven failures to fail again and again.

    Hendo/Maguire/Shaw/Chilwell.....JUST SAY NO!!! GARETH

    • Reply posted by Chris, at 14:07 28 Mar

      Chris replied:
      Out of interest, why have you included Shaw? He is England's best LB.

  • Comment posted by rubber undies, at 20:40 28 Mar

    Southgate could pick pelè, Klinsmann, Shilton, Messi, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, de bruyne, batistuta and Zidane and still couldn't win a tournament.

    • Reply posted by DavidM, at 20:50 28 Mar

      DavidM replied:
      True, that's because it wouldn't be a team allowed in any current tournament. Perhaps we could create a new one!

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