Gareth Southgate says Manchester City’s Champions League triumph is “fantastic” for England, as he refused to condemn party boy Jack Grealish for his wild celebrations at winning the treble.
The England manager is set to leave out his five City players – Grealish, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips and Phil Foden – for Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier here in Malta after they were given extra time off to celebrate the win over Inter Milan in Istanbul last Saturday.
Southgate now has no fewer than 10 regulars to have won the European Cup, more than any other previous England manager – also including Liverpool pair Trent Alexander-Arnold, who could start in midfield, and Jordan Henderson, and Chelsea’s Reece James, Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell, all missing from the squad through injury.
“All those experiences are helping us as a team,” Southgate said at the Ta’ Qali National Stadium on Thursday night.
“Declan [Rice, West Ham captain] is another who has come through a big European final. They are all references for the players and on the big night, you can't beat that experience. It’s fantastic for us. We always reference that with the players and talk to the players. we think they are important factors and that’s part of the reason the team is evolving.”
Grealish appeared on social media in varying degrees of drunkenness during what appeared to be a three-day bender, which included a trip to Ibiza with City teammates after the Final and the club’s ecstatic trophy parade through Manchester.
Southgate acknowledged only that there was a line between deserved celebrations and maintaining professionalism ahead of an international fixture, but did not condemn the 27-year-old.
“There is [a line],” Southgate said. “But we weren’t thinking of including the City players for [the Malta] game.
“We needed to give those guys the time to take everything in. But point number one, they all wanted to come in to be with the group, which is fantastic.
“They need to recover, they need to sleep, they need to eat well and we want to get them ready. I’ve seen enough to know what could help us tomorrow and then Monday’s game [against North Macedonia] is a few days further on. We’ll have to see what we come out of this game with as much as anything else, really.”
With Rice and Phillips both expected to be rested, Southgate is considering experimenting with Alexander-Arnold in midfield again after the full-back’s impressive outings in a more advance role for his club.
“He is more than capable of playing there and it can be really exciting,” Southgate said. "If we were to do that, we would not be expecting perfection because there is a lot to learn, particularly without the ball.
“With the ball, that is a more straightforward transition for him now. He has been playing there a little bit more for his club so it is something for us to consider, definitely.”
