If anybody knows about creativity in midfield it’s Kevin De Bruyne – and his comments about Jack Grealish could come back to haunt Gareth Southgate for his England squad selection
Gareth Southgate will now need to solve the “creative problems” Kevin De Bruyne backed Jack Grealish to address for England.
Grealish’s exclusion from Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 has caused quite a stir both in and out of the Three Lions camp. There was reportedly shock amongst his team-mates, with one senior player said to have approached the manager about the decision.
It was also claimed to have caused surprise from members of the Germany national team, who feared Grealish’s abilities with the ball at his feet more than his competitors for the seat on the plane. Southgate is now banking on the likes of Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze and Jarrod Bowen to stand up and fill his shoes.
He’s undoubtedly a unique talent, as De Bruyne pointed out all the way back in 2020 after they’d faced off in the Nations League and before they’d become colleagues at Manchester City. “I rate him very highly,” said the Belgian.
“He’s somebody I mentioned before, talking to the team-mates at City, in a random conversation. In England, they talked about creative problems in midfield, but he brings that to a team. He deserves a shot.”
It remains to be seen how Grealish’s absence will or won’t impact England’s chances at the Euros. But Nemanja Matic is glad Serbia won’t have to deal with him in their opening group game.
Matic, who retired from international football in 2020, took to Twitter/X and argued: “I would always like to have players like @MarcusRashford and @JackGrealish in the team – players who can decide the game with one move. Not selected/good news for us.”
Southgate said his call to axe Grealish, and fellow attacking midfielder James Maddison, was purely down to how their form of late compared to his other options – with Eze, Gordon and Bowen all having a better second half of the season.
“The fact is we’ve got some players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league and we just feel other players have had stronger seasons – particularly in the past six months or so,” he admitted.
“We’re blessed with options in attacking areas, all offering something slightly different. Madders and Jack give us something different as well, so they’re tough calls.
“We’ve gone over it and over it as staff to try and be fair. We back our decisions but we recognise we could have gone a different route. Both boys are big characters and great to work with.”
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