England manager Gareth Southgate has been criticized by Michael Owen for his decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of his Euro 2024 squad.
Southgate has raised eyebrows with some of his decisions for Euro 2024, leaving out established stars like Rashford, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling in favor of youngsters like Adam Wharton, Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah. Southgate said Rashford’s absence was because “ other players had better seasons,” and the Manchester United striker reacted to the news by wishing the team luck in the tournament.
The absence of Rashford (still followed by PSG) came at the end of a difficult season for the Red Devils striker. The 26-year-old has scored just seven Premier League goals and has been overtaken in the race for Euro 2024 by the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins, who have all impressed in the Premier League. Yet Owen is disappointed by Southgate’s decision and believes Rashford’s speed, in particular, is a huge asset to the team.
Michael Owen very disappointed
Owen expressed his frustrations on X thus: “Very surprised that Gareth Southgate left Marcus Rashford out of his team. It’s true he’s had a mediocre season by his standards, but tournament football is different and he’s always been confident in an England shirt. We have a lot of talented attacking players, but very few who have the pace of Rashford. In such a large team, it was worth taking the risk.”
This is the first time that Rashford has not been called up to the England squad by Southgate, but the Three Lions coach still has plenty of firepower at his disposal. England fans will get their first glimpse of the squad next month when Southgate’s side face Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland in friendlies ahead of Euro 2024.
