Gareth Southgate has suggested that he will be for the 26-man squad at the European Championship in Germany this summer and revealed that the issue is expected to be discussed at a Uefa coaches’ meeting next month, where it will have support.
Southgate’s plans for the past international window have been disrupted by injuries, and there is a growing feeling that larger squads are needed for the tournament due to the body demands of the players.
Uefa has agreed to increase the number at Euro affected by the recent time, which took place in the summer, from 23 to 26. Fifa extended the measure until the Winter World Cup in Qatar, but Uefa was supposed to return to 23 this summer.
The leaders of the competing Euro nations will meet on April 8 and 9 for a two-day workshop in Dusseldorf and Southgate will have last week’s events in mind. After selecting a first team of 25 players for the Wembley friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, the English coach saw Bukayo saka and then Harry Kane return to their clubs to get treated without playing. Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire were health issue against Brazil; John Stones against Belgium, while Sam Johnstone was absent at training. Jordan Henderson and Cole Palmer had fitness problems and could not play.
“There is another Uefa meeting where some coaches talked a little bit about the fact that [the squad size could go from 23 to 26],” Southgate said.
He had to deal with many other health issue problems, the most worrying being Luke Shaw’s Achilles tendon which pushed him to qualify for the Final.
Southgate was asked if he would support the push for 26-man squads. “Well, given where we are now!”he replied with a smile.
“We have to make the best decisions [about the choice] with what we know, and some of them will be medical decisions right now. We were able to do them correctly in the [two] previous tournaments. We were able to give people time [to recover after putting them in the team]. But at 23, it’s definitely more difficult.”
Southgate will name his provisional squad – also known as the training squad – on May 21, which is two days after the end of the Premier League season. But he could have players in the Europa League final on May 22, the FA Cup final on May 25, the Conference Europa League Final on May 29 and the Champions League Final on June 1.
England will play heat-up matches at St. James’ Park on June 3 against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland on June 7 at Wembley Stadium. Southgate is due to submit his final squad to Uefa that night at midnight cet, just an hour after the end of the match in Iceland.
Southgate said it would be “really difficult to be really definitive” on the identity of the players he wants in his final group by naming his expanded training squad. “It will depend on where some of the injuries are and also on the number of players in the European finals,” he said. “I always prefer the players to be clear about the role they play when they come in. I will probably try to at least manage expectations during this period.”