‘Door open’ for Sterling despite latest England snub

Gareth Southgate insists Raheem Sterling and Ben White’s current England exiles are based solely on footballing reasons and that “the door is open” for both players to restart their international careers in time for Euro 2024.

The Three Lions coach named a 25-man squad for the upcoming qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia on Thursday, having already booked their place at next summer’s finals in Germany. Sterling and White have been omitted for the fifth consecutive time and neither player has played since leaving England’s World Cup base in difficult circumstances at the World Cup in Qatar last year .

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Sterling flew to London after a flight to his Surrey home, but returned a day before England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to France, in which he was a substitute at the 79th minute.

White left the camp early after the group stage for what the Football Association described at the time as “personal reasons”, but has not been selected since, despite excelling in an Arsenal team that pushed Manchester City close to the Premier League title last year.

Sterling amassed 82 caps and had started every knockout game in the tournament under Southgate until England’s last-16 tie in Qatar against Senegal. Southgate said: “The door is 100% open, not only for Raheem but also for other players who are not in this team. There is no doubt about that.

“We don’t need to know his quality, his personality. He plays a crucial role in why we have come the way we have in recent years. I can only repeat what I have said these last few years. recent years. “There are few selection meetings. The team is playing very well. We had an exceptional victory against Italy last time. Who should we leave out to bring him in? It’s that simple really.

“We stuck with this group throughout this qualifying campaign. We deliberately didn’t make a lot of changes because we felt it was fair to the guys who were in the team.

“The performances have been excellent. There is huge competition for places. There is no doubt that Raheem looks dangerous for his club. He has looked reinvigorated since the start of this season.

“As I said, there are a few players who are not in this team – either they are injured or the door is absolutely open. We will always be open to that. There are players in this team who missed big chunks of time – Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier – we had that kind of situation a lot.”

Asked if White was available for selection, Southgate replied: “I suppose so. Ben has been very solid for Arsenal. He has a different full-back profile. He is a central defender who plays really at the back. He’s doing a good job for his club but he’s just behind a few others in our calculation. [there are no lingering issues from the World Cup]. We have Kyle, Kieran, Trent [Alexander-Arnold], we have Reece James. There are some good young people arriving. We are on a good path. The defense is playing well, that’s where we’re at.”

Southgate revealed he wanted to call up James, but the Chelsea defender “didn’t quite feel ready” after returning to action recently following a hamstring injury, while Callum Wilson, Bukayo Saka, James Maddison and Jude Bellingham were all selected despite injury. scares at club level.

“We could lose one today after a scan, we could lose one tomorrow,” Southgate said. “We don’t really know. You’d be surprised how complicated it is to select a team. All clubs are sensitive to information and you try to piece it all together.

“So, I can’t be sure that everyone in this team will be there on Sunday night. Different levels of doubt. Callum Wilson is probably the biggest doubt. But equally, I’m pretty confident that the others can come through. They are I’m looking forward to being part of the team and it’s a really good sign.”

Southgate is out of contract next December but has insisted he is relaxed about his future.

“I think any manager who thinks beyond seven months is really in a privileged position,” he said. “I’m super excited about this tournament. We’re really preparing for the next tournament and I think everyone in international football lives from tournament to tournament, so for me I’m really comfortable with this position.

“I love working with this team, I also love working with the staff that works around the team. We’re looking forward to the next few months.”

Asked if he had considered the possibility of reaching a decade in charge by remaining at the 2026 World Cup, Southgate added: “I haven’t even thought about it at all. The last time we played Malta here, I found out I was taking the team four days before camp.

“Most of the things I’ve done in my life since I finished playing, I didn’t know about it until a few days before it happened. I’m not one to worry sort of a plan in mind of what my career was going to become. Let’s just enjoy what we’re doing, try to do it the best we can and get on with it.

“But I’m not just interested in accumulating games or accumulating years. It’s about being the best team possible and meeting those challenges. I’m not just here to collect caps.

“It’s about doing the job as best I can, being excited, motivating the players, having the level of performance we’ve had for six or seven years. We’ve been in the top five for five years . years. These are consistent good performances and results, that would indicate. I really don’t think about it.”