Gareth Southgate admits Raheem Sterling was “not particularly happy” after being snubbed for an England recall.
The 28-year-old is one of the national team’s most experienced players but has not added to his 82 caps since December’s World Cup quarter-final exit to France.
Sterling missed England’s March meet-up through injury and a nagging hamstring issue led to what his camp described as a “mutual decision” to focus on recuperating his body after a rocky first season at Chelsea.
But the forward did not receive the recall he hoped for after a strong start to the campaign, with Southgate overlooking him for September’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine and friendly in Scotland.
“We were really pleased with the group (in June),” the England manager said.
“To bring Raheem back in we have to leave someone else out and on the back of three games I didn’t think anybody in this group of attacking players warrants being left out.
“It’s really good to see him start the season so well. He looks in good condition, he looks hungry.
“He’s obviously an important player for us and has been an important player for us.
“But we have in those attacking areas just behind the nine a lot of competition for places.
“I think all of those players have started the season well and certainly the group that are with us has done really well for us in the in the recent games.”
Put to the England boss that Sterling has missed three squads in a row, he said: “He was not available for the last two and of course that’s given other people the opportunity to play well and to establish themselves in the group.
“It’s a difficult call and Raheem is not particularly happy about it, but I understand that because he’s an important player for us.
“I’m convinced he’s going to have an excellent season with Chelsea, there’s no doubt about that.”
Southgate made a point of calling Sterling about his decision as he was conscious that he has been “a really big player for us” and wanted to acknowledge how well he has been playing.
“Raheem is always really respectful with how he responds and deals (with things),” the England boss said.
“He will always say ‘look, I respect your decision’ but of course he wants to get back in the group. And I wouldn’t expect that to be any other way.”
A statement from the player’s camp reinforced that Southgate’s “decision has been respected”, adding that “Raheem will continue to focus on his domestic form”.
The forward has started Chelsea’s first three Premier League matches of the season, scoring twice and providing an assist in Friday’s 3-0 win against Luton.
While Sterling was overlooked, Southgate kept the faith with England vice-captain Jordan Henderson despite his controversial move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq.
There was also a place for former Manchester United captain Harry Maguire and Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips, despite neither having played a minute of club football this term.
Southgate highlighted that “I haven’t always said we just pick on form because clearly that hasn’t been the case in a number of positions”.
England’s absentee-hit central defence and lack of single pivot midfield options help explain the involvement of Maguire and Phillips, but they are not guaranteed to keep their places if club issues remain.
“I think with Harry, the injuries to (Raphael) Varane and (Luke) Shaw probably mean that there is unlikely to be any change there in terms of a change of clubs,” Southgate said ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.
“So, no, I can’t sit here and say it’s an ideal situation with either.
“With the centre-backs, we have got a chance for others to come in (due to absences) and there are others playing in the role.
“In midfield it’s more of a concern because of the specifics of the position.
“I know I’ve talked about the low numbers of English players playing and people say: ‘What are you moaning about? You’ve got a great squad to pick from’.
“But it’s the positional specifics. There is a lack of depth in certain areas – left-back is one and midfield pivot is definitely another.”
Southgate largely stuck with the tried and tested for September’s double-header, but there was a place for uncapped Chelsea defender Levi Colwill and, more surprisingly, Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah.
“Two young players who are doing very well, who have done well with our junior teams,” Southgate said. “Levi, of course, had some time with us in the summer anyway.
“Eddie is coming in because it’s an area where we’d like to have a look at him.
“He’s a young player with a really good pedigree, very good finisher and it’s good for him to have some time with us.
“I think he’s record goalscorer with the Under-21s as well.
“He’s not had the chance to work with us up to this point but he’s a player that we’re really interested in.”
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights
Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.
He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.
Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.
Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.
The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.
Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.
Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr
After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points.
It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.
They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.
This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.
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