TAA FOR THAT, UEFA... IF WANTED, ONE OF BEST BACKS IS AVAILABLE, GARETH
AS expected, it looks as though UEFA will allow squads for the Euros to be expanded from 23 to 26.
Call it the Trent Alexander-Arnold clause.
No more sleepless nights for Gareth Southgate, wondering if he actually can upset the Liverpool full-back’s legion of admiring pundits and give Alexander-Arnold the summer off, instead preferring the more prosaic skills of Kieran Trippier.
Trent can come along anyway, even if it is only to be a human training cone.
Just remember to bring a decent book because there will be plenty of time to kill.
Premier League managers have to select squads of 25, but at least they get 38 matches to have a crack at.
Southgate and his fellow national team bosses are getting 26 for a maximum of seven matches, as long as UEFA’s executive committee ratifies the idea, which it looks certain to do.
It is a mild farce.
For all the talent at Southgate’s disposal, it is now going to be as hard to get out of his squad as it is to get in it.
At least we will soon know if Southgate (right) really has got something against James Maddison.
Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it is no major deal. Even though, in Southgate’s case, it will cause more problems than it solves.
In camp, keeping those who know they will be nowhere near the starting team happy is always a difficult task. Now, he is going to have even more who know, as much as an honour it is to be selected, they are really just making up the numbers.
Sounds harsh, but you will be able to list them when Southgate announces his 26.
And those players know who they are.
It seems preposterous, unthinkable even, but perhaps one or two might politely decline, or at least decide to give an, erm, long-standing niggle a rest. If you know what I mean.
The England squad is scheduled
will to meet up on Saturday, May 29 – with the exception of those taking part in European club finals – and could be together for six weeks.
That is a long time to be in a bubble with 25 other lads.
Selecting 26 also takes a lot of the jeopardy out of Southgate’s announcement. He is paid the big bucks to make tough calls, such as omitting a player who has been widely hailed as one of the best right-backs in the world.
The next thing you know, the 15 players surplus to the starting XI will be allowed on the bench.
It will look like an NFL match. But the five-sub rule – on which, hopefully, the Premier League will stay out on a limb and continue to resist – is already taking football down that route anyway.
Again, it is no big deal, but the squad expansion for the Euros means the tournament becomes just that little bit more bloated.
And it was bloated enough already.