Gareth Southgate made some surprising calls with his latest England squad announcement.
Southgate dropped a total of seven stars from the national team ahead of upcoming friendly fixtures against Germany and Brazil.
The England boss admitted that leaving Manchester United defender Chris Smalling out was his “toughest call” but he didn’t mince his words when explaining his rationale for axing the United centre-half.
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) November 3, 2017
Two of the more notable absentees were the Liverpool pair, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge.
Both have struggled for playing time and anything resembling consistency with the Reds this season and that’s ultimately what inspired Southgate to leave them out.
And while club manager Jurgen Klopp is thrilled to see young Joe Gomez earn his first England call-up, he does not agree with the decision to snub Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sturridge.
“It is not our decision but if Gareth Southgate saw the last few games I think for sure he could have invited all three of them,” Klopp said, via the Liverpool Echo.
“Both of them would play in other Premier League teams quite regularly. If he makes it now like this (you have to be starting regularly for your club), it could be difficult in the future if he sticks to this plan 100% – not for us but maybe for England.
“Daniel had a few injury problems previously and they always called him up because he is still the striker everyone thinks about. If he thinks he doesn’t need him I cannot change it.
“Ox is coming into a new club and that always needs time to adapt. I think he made big steps since he was here but, again, I cannot call him and say ‘Please, call him up’. Not possible.
“I am not sure what he (Southgate) said because he didn’t speak to me. I only heard from the Press how it was.”
Gomez’s first invitation to join the England squad came as positive news for Klopp, as did Alberto Moreno’s call-up to the Spanish side.
But after questioning whether Southgate had watched Liverpool play in recent weeks, Klopp admitted that it was somewhat bittersweet to discover which of his players would be leaving on international duty.
“We heard about Alberto this morning, Joe Gomez yesterday – we were happy and then we heard in the same moment Daniel Stuurridge and Oxlade-Chamberlain were not in so we cannot celebrate one thing and not think about the other,” Klopp said.
“Joe deserved it, he is a wonderful young player who has made big steps in the last few weeks. He’s ready for this.
“On Alberto, it’s really nice. It is quite difficult to get a call from the Spanish national team, they have not a lot of weaknesses. He has been really consistent this season.”
