Gareth Southgate was discussing a ruthless decision to drop a player from a Manchester club ahead of Euro 2024. The rise of other left wingers counted against him. “I feel players in the same area of the pitch have had better seasons, it’s as simple as that,” he said. Two weeks ago, actually, in that it was his explanation for the omission of Marcus Rashford from his 33-man training squad.
It was true up to a point. Jack Grealish was in it and his season was scarcely any more of a triumph than Rashford’s, even if Manchester City were found 31 points above their neighbours in the table. The reprieve lasted a fortnight. When the final cut came, when 33 were reduced to 26, Grealish was culled.
