Gareth Southgate says he is facing a “complicated” Euro 2024 selection choice given England’s potential fitness and availability issues heading into the summer.
This is the first time since the 2018 World Cup that the 57-cap former defender is having to pick a 23-man squad for a major tournament after it was expanded to 26 following the coronavirus pandemic.
But Southgate could name even more than that at the provisional squad announcement on May 21 as the England boss will have injury concerns to deal with and the late arrival of key players.
The final squad is not due to be submitted to UEFA until June 8, but some may not even have joined up with the team by that point due to cup finals, denting numbers for the warm-up friendlies against Bosnia and Iceland.
Asked how many extra headaches returning to a 23-man squad will throw up given the issues he is juggling, Southgate said: “Yeah, it’s going to be complicated, because firstly the injury situations that we have.
“Some will be back playing at the weekend, some will be back playing in a couple of weeks, some will be really close to the end of the season.
“Then we’re going to have the European finals, the FA Cup final and the two friendlies that we’ve got ourselves.
“It’s inevitable we’re going to be naming a longer squad, which is what we did before the Euros here even though we were dealing with 26 then.
“We really don’t know (how many will be in the provisional squad) because there are so many questions on the injuries at the moment.
“But we’ve gained valuable information about so many players this this week.”
Absentee-hit England suffered their first defeat in 15 months in Saturday’s late 1-0 loss Brazil at Wembley, where Jude Bellingham scored an even later goal to salvage a 2-2 draw against Belgium three days later.
Southgate had to experiment far more than he expected during the friendly double-header due an unprecedented injury list that left him without a third of the 40-odd players on his long list against Brazil.
Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Sam Johnstone all withdrew from the squad over the course of the camp, with Jordan Henderson unable to feature in either match.
“I had a plan on Saturday night for Tuesday that got blown apart in 12 hours, so to have a plan for something in two and a half months’ time at the moment is faintly ridiculous.” Southgate said.
“We know some of the core parts of that, we know who’s been able to play at that level, who our very best players are.
“And the rest, we’ve got a lot clearer picture of what people are capable of from the two games that we’ve played.
“We’re just going to see how people are when they come back into form, whether they can do that fitness-wise with their clubs.”
Anthony Gordon, Ezri Konsa and Kobbie Mainoo all made their debuts over recent days, with Ivan Toney registering his first goal – from the penalty spot – against Belgium on his first international start.
The quartet boosted their chances of making the plane to Germany, with 18-year-old Mainoo’s stock arguably growing the highest.
The Manchester United talent staked his claim for a midfield spot with out-of-sorts Kalvin Phillips omitted, Trent Alexander-Arnold injured and Henderson unavailable.
Mainoo won his first cap off the bench against Brazil and, just four months after making his first Premier League start, was named player of the match for his display on his full England debut on Tuesday.
“He gives us a different profile of midfield player to anything else we’ve got,” Southgate said.
“He’s adapted and adjusted brilliantly. You can’t believe his age, really, that he’s just taking it all in his stride as he has.”
Asked if he was confident Mainoo could shut out the noise after such an impressive full debut, he said: “I think, firstly, he seems very mature, very calm. He knows he’s making his way.
“We’re absolutely delighted with what he’s done, first and foremost, and then there’s a lot of the season still to be played with his club.”
Bayern Munich 3-0 Union Berlin: Kane nets twice in easy Bundesliga win
Harry Kane scored twice to propel Bayern Munich to a 3-0 win over Union Berlin on Saturday.
Vincent Kompany's team moved, temporarily at least, to the top of the Bundesliga standings with the minimum of fuss at the Allianz Arena.
The Bavarians, who host Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday, opened the scoring with a 15th-minute penalty from England captain Kane before Kingsley Coman curled a shot past keeper Frederik Ronnow to make it 2-0 two minutes before the break.
Union were constantly on the back foot and could do nothing to stop Kane from stabbing in his second goal from close range six minutes after the restart.
Kane, who also scored a hat-trick against Stuttgart two weeks ago, now has 11 league goals this season.
Undefeated in the league and eager to reclaim domestic dominance after last season's double by Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern have now scored 32 goals and conceded seven in nine Bundesliga games.
Data Debrief: Goals, goals, goals
Bayern just cannot stop scoring. While they may be struggling in the Champions League, they are flying domestically, and they have now netted 50 times under Kompany in all competitions this season.
They are the first club from Europe's five major leagues to reach the 50-goal mark in this competitive season.
Meanwhile, since detailed data collection in 2004-05, only one player has collected more direct goal contributions in the first nine matchdays of a Bundesliga season than Kane this season (16), and that was the former Tottenham captain himself last year.
Barcelona boss Flick calls for LaLiga suspension after Spanish floods
Barcelona are in high spirits ahead of Sunday's derby against Espanyol, though Hansi Flick does not think LaLiga matches should be played this weekend.
Barca thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu last weekend to establish a six-point lead in LaLiga but their city rivals Espanyol are 20 points behind and languishing in 17th place, a point above the relegation zone.
Yet Flick feels it is wrong that LaLiga is playing on in the wake of the flash floods that have devastated regions of eastern Spain, with Valencia particularly impacted.
Madrid's game against Valencia was naturally postponed, but most other fixtures in Spain's top tier are going ahead.
"If it were me, I might [suspend LaLiga] because it is an incredible tragedy for Valencia and Spain as a whole," Flick said.
"We have spoken with Ferran [Torres] who is from the area, and it is not easy to decide whether the game should be played or not.
"It is a tragedy. It was something similar in Germany three years ago, it is horrible. We will do everything we can to help. The rest is for LaLiga to decide."
Barca do hold a brilliant record against Espanyol, having not lost in their last 26 encounters with their city rivals.
Flick, though, warned his side against any complacency.
"I know what a Barca-Espanyol derby means. It will be a tough match, for sure. After a fantastic week, it is important to be at 100% tomorrow, with intensity and maximum quality," Flick said.
"We always prepare well for the next game. After the celebrations, we focus on the next game. We work on what we want tomorrow. It's a very long game in the league and we focus on the next game."
Barca have taken 30 points from their first 11 league matches this season, their second-highest tally at this stage of a campaign in the competition, after 31 points in the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2017-18 seasons.
Simeone: It makes no sense to play after Spanish floods
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is unhappy that most LaLiga matches will go ahead this weekend after catastrophic floods swept the eastern region of Spain.
The deadliest flash floods in Spain's modern history have killed over 200 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the region of Valencia.
The tragedy is already Europe's worst flood-related disaster since 1967 when at least 500 people died in Portugal.
Saturday's clash between Valencia and Real Madrid, as well as Villarreal against Rayo Vallecano, are among several games postponed over the weekend after the floods.
"It doesn't make any sense," Simeone told reporters ahead of his side's home game against Las Palmas on Sunday.
"What is happening is very hard; it is very moving to see the people who went out on the streets to help, who with a shovel and their tools are trying to collaborate and that speaks very well of the country, of the people, and we want to help wherever we can.
"There are people having a very hard time, it's very sad and they tell us to continue and here we are, continuing."
Last month, Las Palmas named former Espanyol boss Diego Martinez as their new coach, and while Simeone is not pleased that the game is going ahead, he is prepared for a tough encounter.
"We have a tough game against a team that has improved a lot since the arrival of the coach," Simeone said.
"They are more forceful and I imagine a dangerous game, with a lot of counter-attacking, fast people in attack and we will try to have a game with these situations under control and get it out with the help of our fans, which is always fundamental."
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