Manchester City Kyle Walker has revealed how he reacted to Gareth Southgate leaving Jack Grealish out of his England squad for Euro 2024.
Southgate quit his role as England boss after Euro 2024. The Three Lions reached the final of the tournament but they missed out on the trophy as they were deservedly beaten 2-1 by Spain.
The 53-year-old was heavily criticised during the tournament as England struggled in most of their matches en route to the final.
He had several significant decisions to make before the tournament. While England have an abundance of quality in various positions, they also headed into the competition with injury fears.
Harry Maguire’s fitness issues meant he missed the tournament, while Southgate decided against including Man City’s Grealish and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford in his final squad.
Injuries and the arrival of Jeremy Doku negatively impacted Grealish as he struggled during the 2023/24 campaign. Despite this, England’s players were reportedly ‘angry’ at Southgate’s decision to omit the winger from his final squad.
Walker has now admitted that Southgate’s decision with Grealish “massively shocked” him.
“Massively shocked,” Walker said when asked for his reaction to Grealish’s omission.
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“Because first and foremost I know what Jack brings not just on the field but off the field.
“He is like the knit that brings everyone together because he’s so bubbly and is such a great character.
“We all know what he can do on the football field. He has something different that the others didn’t have.”
Walker admitted he disagreed with Southgate’s decision, but he did not have a conversation with the former England boss at the time as this would have not “sto
“I can’t go against what he thinks I might have a different opinion,” Walker added.
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“I might have pulled someone in and dropped someone out. You don’t know. But he’s had to a really tough decision where someone was always going to miss out.
“Obviously, there was a little leadership group of me Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham and Saks [Bukayo Saka].
“We tried to make sure the messages that the manager was trying to get onto the field were understood and very clear to the players. And you have to work as a team, so if we’re fighting tooth and nail before we’ve even got there because I think he’s not brought my mate [Grealish] over – it’s not really going to stand us in good stead.
“Do I think Jack should have been there? Probably yeah, because I feel that he brings something different. But again it’s not down to me to decide who’s in the squad and who’s not in the squad.”
