Gareth Southgate has no regrets over his handling of Harry Maguire’s position in the England team and says he expects the defender to be back for their triple-header in October.
Maguire will not face Iceland on Saturday after Southgate withdrew him from the squad, a Greek court having convicted him on four counts following a fracas outside a bar in Mykonos. He maintains his innocence and has been granted a full retrial. The Manchester United player had been named in Southgate’s selection on the day of his trial, only to be taken out hours later when the verdict was handed down.
“No, not at all,” Southgate said when asked whether he felt any embarrassment at calling Maguire up in the first place. “I think everybody is now aware how complex this case was, which wasn’t as it was initially reported in any way.
“I felt it important to support our player, so I always knew the timing of the case was potentially going to mean we would have to change something in a relatively short period. But we had a squad to pick of 25 and lots of things to prepare for, so we couldn’t delay just for one situation.
“That ended up being as it was. I have to live with that. It didn’t bother me, the reaction to it, I knew that would come. But the chain of events … I think would be the same if I did it again.”
Southgate confirmed he had been in contact with Maguire and that the centre-back would be in consideration when England face Wales, Belgium and Denmark next month. “Yes and yes,” he said. “We’ve been in touch right the way through the last two and a half weeks.
“It has clearly been a really difficult period for him and the last few days have been very important for him to relax, get away from all the attention and mentally get a rest. I think he needed that switch-off; he can go back to his club and, absolutely, we would look to involve him in October.”
from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3lMuDbk
via IFTTT
No Comment