Wayne Rooney 'shocked' by Gareth Southgate mistake that could cost England the Euros
Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney (Picture: BBC)
Wayne Rooney says he was ‘really shocked’ Gareth Southgate did not take a fully-fit left-back to Euro 2024 and ‘very surprised’ Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell failed to make the England squad.
Southgate admitted he took a ‘gamble’ by selecting Luke Shaw in his 26-man squad despite the left-back’s injury-stricken season for Manchester United.
England hoped Shaw would be fit enough to feature in the second group game against Denmark but the 28-year-old was absent throughout the group stage and remains a double for the knockout stages.
That forced Kieran Trippier to fill in at left-back but the Newcastle United star has offered little going forward despite contributing to the best defensive record at Euro 2024.
Some pundits have suggested Kyle Walker should move across to left-back to offer England more potency behind Phil Foden and allow Trent Alexander-Arnold to play on the right, while Ian Wright has even proposed dropping Bukayo Saka into the role.
All of these headaches could have been avoided, according to Rooney, if Southgate had picked Chelsea’s Chilwell in the squad.
Like Shaw, Chilwell also struggled with injuries during the 2023-24 campaign but featured for the Blues towards the end of the season.
Ben Chilwell in action for Premier League club Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
‘I was very surprised and really shocked that Ben Chilwell didn’t get picked,’ Rooney said on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast.
‘Just for balance of having a left-footed player there. You’re talking about a player at Chelsea. He has been good for England in the past, he’s a good left-back and he’s been at tournaments as well.
‘So I was really surprised he wasn’t selected and now you’re left with [Kieran] Trippier or [Joe] Gomez.’
Rooney added: ‘I think at the moment it has to be Trippier or Gomez who plays there.
‘Or do you bring Kyle [Walker] across? For me he’s been the best right-back in the world over the last few years so do you take that away from England?
‘There’s so many imbalances and questions from that point of view. The left-side of the pitch has been a bit of an issue for me.
‘That’s the one area now where I don’t know what he will do. It will be interesting to see what Gareth Southgate does in the next game.’
Despite underwhelming so far in Germany, England advanced to the knockout stages of Euro 2024 as Group C winners.
Southgate’s side face Slovakia in Sunday’s last-16 tie before a potential meeting with Switzerland or reigning European champions Italy in the quarter-finals.
Rooney is optimistic England’s performances will improve in the knockouts but admits it is a ‘problem’ that so many star players are under-performing.
‘There are so many really good attacking players in the team – Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka,’ he said.
‘We are seeing them perform on a weekly basis for their clubs but not for England. There is certainly a problem.’
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