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WAYNE ROONEY and Joe Cole have named two players they feel should have made the cut for England’s 26-man Euros squad.
The two England internationals were on punditry duty for Channel 4 as England fell to a drab 1-0 defeat to Iceland.
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Gareth Southgate initially named a 33-man squad before whittling it down to the final 26-man cut.
The most notable omissions were Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish.
Maguire was struggling with a calf injury, while Grealish misses out due to club form.
Southgate said the Manchester City winger was “devastated” to find out he had missed the cut.
It has also been reported that a senior star approached Southgate to find out why Grealish had been left out, with the squad surprised by his exclusion.
Cole said he had also been caught by surprise by Grealish’s exclusion.
He said: “Maguire has been a stalwart, he’s had an injury. That’s what Gareth’s had to wrestle with.
“Grealish coming out of the squad surprised me. He’s been such a focal point for so many years. Gareth thinks other players in his position are performing better.”
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Rooney defended Southgate’s decisions but admitted he felt Jarrad Branthwaite had been hard done by to miss out.
The Man Utd legend said: “The fans have been crying out for Gareth to make these exciting decisions.
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What Southgate said about axed England stars
WHAT Gareth Southgate said about his axed England stars after confirming his 26-man England squad for Euro 2024.
Harry Maguire
“The decision on Harry [Maguire] is totally about his physical condition and his recovery from the injury. There is no other reason as he is one of our strongest centre-backs.
“Harry has made some progress, but it’s been complicated and we wouldn’t have had him in the group stages. There were too many hurdles to get through without being clear where we might get to.
“Knowing we haven’t got a clean bill of health across the rest of the backline, we need players who are fit and ready to go from the start.
“It was a really difficult call, you know how I feel about Harry, what he’s done for England and for me as a manager. “
Jack Grealish
“I have just delivered a really difficult conversation to a lad who is devastated.
“I think the world of him as a kid.“It certainly doesn’t get any easier.
“You put yourself in the shoes of a player, a parent. You understand that for these players this is a devastating moment.
“We knew we had a couple of really difficult days coming up.”
James Maddison
“Madders [Maddison] and Jack [Grealish] would have provided us with something different as well and they’ve been tough calls.
“They’re calls we’ve gone over and over and over as a group of staff to try to be fair and to try to use the right rationale.
“We back our decisions but we recognise we could have gone a different route. The boys are big characters, fabulous team-mates and great boys to work with.
“It’s sad to have to deliver that news to them.”
Jarrad Branthwaite
“It’s a bit early for Jarrad [Branthwaite]. He has had a fabulous season, it was good to get him on the pitch the other night.
“But of course, in an ideal world, you’d like that balance of left-footers. For him to be in ahead of the others, I don’t think it would have been the right call at this stage.”
Jarell Quansah
“Jarell Quansah has stayed with us. He’s not had the experience of an England international at Wembley. It’ll be great for him to be us for the game.
“Hopefully we’re not needing to call anyone else in.”
“I would have liked to seen Branthwaite in the squad. He’s had an excellent season at Everton.”
Joining Branthwaite, Grealish and Maguire in missing out were James Maddison, Curtis Jones, James Trafford and Jarrell Quansah.
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