Saturday, October 12, 2024

Maddison and Jones out with two certain to follow and three England stars warned

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James Maddison and Curtis Jones are out of Euro 2024 and Alan Pardew has named the England players who could follow.

Ahead of this summer’s tournament, Gareth Southgate selected a 33-man preliminary squad but will have to cut this down to 26 players by midnight on Friday.

Southgate will have some tough calls to make for his final squadCredit: Getty

Notable omissions already include Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson, as well as Reece James and Ben Chilwell.

But a further seven names, who originally made the 33-man squad, will not travel to Germany with England for Euro 2024.

James Maddison was the first player to have been told he will not be in the final 26 and the Tottenham star has already left the Three Lions camp.

talkSPORT understands Curtis Jones has also been cut, while Jarell Quansah and James Trafford are almost certain to be left at home.

Speaking to Sam Matterface on White and Jordan before the Maddison news, former Crystal Palace boss Pardew named the players who he believes are at risk of missing the final squad.

Besides Jones, Quansah and Trafford, Pardew named Ezri Konsa, Ivan Toney and Jarrad Branthwaite as players who could miss out.

He also speculated that Harry Maguire or Luke Shaw could be left at home due to injury, while midfielder Adam Wharton could be in trouble if the Manchester United duo are both selected.

However, the omission of Maddison and Jones could provide a boost to Palace star Wharton’s hopes of making the plane to Germany.

Pardew has revealed which players he believe won’t make it to Euro 2024Credit: talkSPORT

Matterface then pointed out that he would be taking a lot of attacking players, but Pardew explained: “Yeah because most of those also double up as midfield players. So don’t get carried away with, ‘We’ve got 11 strikers.’

“There are also central midfield areas that they cover, [Jack] Grealish, Trent [Alexander-Arnold] for example, you know, whatever. But I personally think that when you look to see games out, it’s not often you really take defenders off.

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“To win games, nine times out of ten you’re taking forwards off to try and produce some new ideas, try and create a different problem for the team. The more options you have in the attacking element is always essential in my view, and I always used to overload my bench with attackers.”

England’s preparations for the Euros kicked off on Monday with a 3-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, with another test against Iceland coming on Friday, live on talkSPORT.

The Three Lions’ first clash in Germany comes on June 16 when they play Serbia before further fixtures against Denmark and Slovenia in Group C.

England’s provisional Euro 2024 squad

Gareth Southgate will trim his squad down to 26 players

GOALKEEPERS: Aaron Ramsdale, Dean Henderson, James Trafford, Jordan Pickford

DEFENDERS: Harry Maguire, Jarrad Branthwaite, Jarell Quansah, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Lewis Dunk, Luke Shaw, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Joe Gomez

MIDFIELDERS: Adam Wharton, Conor Gallagher, Curtis Jones, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Trent Alexander-Arnold

FORWARDS: Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze, Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, Jack Grealish, James Maddison, Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Ollie Watkins

Pardew’s predicted cuts: James Trafford, Jarrad Branthwaite, Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones, Ivan Toney, Harry Maguire or Luke Shaw or Adam Wharton

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