BBC pundit Michael Brown has reacted Tuesday’s news that Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling has once again been left out of the England squad by Gareth Southgate.
England boss Gareth Southgate has today named a provisional 33-man squad for upcoming Euro 2024 preparation games with Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iceland. Afterwards, it’ll be finalised into a 26-man group for the tournament itself, which begins in mid-June.
Chelsea’s only two representatives in the Three Lions squad are Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher.
BBC pundit reacts to Raheem Sterling’s latest England snub
When you consider that Raheem Sterling hasn’t been picked for an England squad since the World Cup in December 2022, perhaps it’s not the biggest surprise that he’s not going to the Euros this summer.
The experienced winger has had a challenging season where he lost his Chelsea starting position, but he still finished up with 10 goals and eight assists across all competitions.
Southgate admitted the experienced attacking duo of both Sterling and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.
Michael Brown thinks that Sterling’s England omission is one of the major talking points from the squad announcement because you’re overlooking so much know-how when you ignore the Chelsea man.
“The main talking point is that experience for people who have been mainstays, Brown told the BBC’s Football News Show special.
“Look at Raheem Sterling in terms of what he has done. He has the ability to change games with his pace and that level of aura when he gets into those positions. He has been there and done it.
“Not having him or Marcus Rashford at the top of the pitch with their experience is a big one.”
How many caps do England’s forwards have?
Sterling, who’s sitting at home watching the Euros this summer, has a very impressive 82 England caps. He’s scored 20 goals for his country, too.
Here below is a list of the England forwards selected by this time around by Southgate and their amount of senior international caps: