Yahoo News Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka given England hope for Euros as Gareth Southgate makes attacking vow
Jack Grealish missed out for England last week due to injury
(Getty Images)Gareth Southgate has given hope to Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka by revealing he wants to accommodate as much of England’s attacking talent as possible at the Euros.
The Three Lions manager has a wealth of forwards to choose from ahead of this summer’s finals and is trying to cram in as many as he can, with Phil Foden the latest to press his case to be included in the starting XI.
That will leave Grealish and Saka sweating on their positions, with Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho all certainties to be included.
Southgate is closing in on his final 23-man squad and revealed his decision to experiment with a back four in the games against San Marino, Albania and Poland was to enable more attacking players to be involved.
“We’ve clearly got, or normally got, so many good attacking options,” said Southgate. “I mean, we haven’t had this week the number of options that we would normally.
“So ideally you want to get attacking players on the pitch and that’s harder with a back three, of course.
“But there is that balance of making sure that we are not open at the back, so we have just got to find that correct balance.
“Heading into Russia we were very clear we were going to be 3-5-2 and were very clear we were going to pick the players to fit that system.
“We’re a bit more fluid and adaptable now and we’d like to cover some different possibilities. We have some exciting wide players and players who can come in off the line and play as an attacking eight or 10.
“We do have different options in those creative areas. Some of the are still learning how to win. But we’ve got to find a way of getting them into the squad.”
Southgate knows he will break the hearts of a host of players when he picks his final squad, and says he has already started preparing some for disappointment.
He added: “That is a difficult message, very difficult and nobody looks forward to that. But I’ve always got to remember that it’s worse for those receiving it than it is for those giving it, so you’ve got to have that empathy with how the players are feeling.
“I’ve spoken to quite a few already this week and I will do over the next couple of weeks, so that they know exactly where they sit because I think that’s helpful. You’ve got to manage expectations and have some reality about what they might need to do between now and the end of the season.”
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