ENGLAND SPLIT OVER STERLING
STERLING
ENGLAND players have been left divided over Raheem Sterling’s treatment by head coach Gareth Southgate, who staunchly defended his management yesterday of the forward’s bust-up with Joe Gomez.
While one group are firmly behind Southgate’s stance, several players tried to persuade him not to drop Sterling — and it is understood Gomez was among them.
As the furore over the bombshell story reaches fever pitch, we can reveal:
Some members of the England squad are shocked at the decision to axe Sterling for tomorrow’s Euro 2020 clash with Montenegro.
Several players believe the matter should have stayed in-house — questioning why the FA had to publicly reveal the decision to axe Sterling.
Sterling, who left St George’s Park after the incident to ‘cool off’, issued a heartfelt apology to Gomez and his team-mates following the clash.
England vicecaptain Jordan Henderson tried to broker peace between the pair — even though he did not report to St George’s Park until last night.
The FA are probing the incident, which could leave Sterling facing a separate misconduct charge, though the prospect of him facing further sanctions is unlikely.
Southgate was not due to speak publicly until today — but the England manager held a hastily arranged press conference yesterday to address Sterling and Gomez’s heated altercation.
The pair became embroiled in an angry exchange in the canteen of St George’s Park, resulting in the FA announcing Sterling would not be considered for the Montenegro game.
Sportsmail can reveal that some players were surprised at the decision to omit Sterling from the squad for England’s 1,000th international. And we understand some members of the squad feel there has been an over-reaction to the incident, although it is important to stress that a group of players are backing Southgate’s hardline stance.
Sources also indicate that there is a feeling within the camp that the matter should have remained in-house after the pair put the issue behind them after Sterling apologised.
Southgate reasserted his authority, saying: ‘I have discussions with all of my staff and discussions with the leadership group, but, ultimately, I’m the manager and I make the decision. Raheem is a very important player for us, but I felt it was the right thing. We’re like a family and all families have disagreements, but the most important thing for any family is that you communicate and work through those disagreements.’
The flare-up had been brewing since Sunday’s title showdown between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield when Sterling and Gomez confronted each other at the end of the game.
Gomez was one of the first to arrive at St George’s Park on Monday and made a beeline for Sterling to clear the air.
However, emotions escalated, resulting in Sterling grabbing Gomez by the throat and scratching the Liverpool defender under his right eye in the process.
Players intervened to separate the pair before Sterling was permitted to leave the premises in a car to cool off. When he returned, he addressed the entire squad to apologise and said sorry personally to Gomez, who has been admonished of responsibility by Southgate.
Despite the spat being dealt with, Southgate, after talks with his backroom team and player leadership, still insisted on axeing Sterling. ‘Gareth was keen he did not want to make the decision himself,’ revealed Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell.
‘He wanted to come to the right decision with the leadership group. So it obviously got spoken about and the decision has been made and we are all on board with that.’
The decision has left some players surprised given the players have buried the hatchet. Players feel such flashpoints happen at club level on a regular basis and there is a concern Sterling has been exposed unnecessarily.
Liverpool played a key role in brokering peace between the team-mates, with Reds skipper Henderson speaking separately to the duo on the phone.
Sterling’s unavailability means he is facing the prospect of travelling to Kosovo on Saturday to play what is likely to be a Euro 2020 dead-rubber, something unlikely to excite the forward.
Indeed, sources at Manchester City feel Sterling has been hung out to dry by the FA, who they feel should have foreseen the potential for tension between him and Gomez.