Southgate's regeneration game will define his career

England manager's cull of older players is boldest move yet

- LAWRENCE OSTLERE

Every tournament squad requires an England manager to make one or two hard choices, the odd tense conversation with a loyal lieutenant to give bad news, delivering a quick bullet to the temple. But the body count this time was like something from an episode of Squid Game.

Gareth Southgate left out Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Kalvin Phillips and Ben Chilwell when he chose his initial 33; he chopped Jack Grealish, James Maddison and the half-fit Harry Maguire when he decided his final 26. Throw in others who have lost their places, like Mason Mount and Eric Dier, and Southgate has culled nearly 400 caps’ worth of experience since the World Cup 18 months ago.

There are 12 tournament debutants in the Euro 2024 squad, compared to only three in Qatar; the median number of caps has dropped from 23 to 12. The most common criticism of Southgate’s eight-year reign has been his faith in the same old players – loyalty to a fault – yet this squad is at the other extreme. Crystal Palace finished the season with an impressive seven-game unbeaten run and four of their players have been parachuted in.

Grealish was perhaps the most surprising omission of them all. One young girl arrived at Wembley on Friday night wearing England’s brand new away shirt (RRP £84.99) complete with GREALISH printed on the back. He is popular with the players, too, and Declan Rice mourned his exit in an interview on Thursday, shocked that one of his “best mates” in camp had left, a view echoed by the majority of the squad.