England likely to be without star names in Euro 2024 build-up – Gareth Southgate

By Sports Desk December 03, 2023

England manager Gareth Southgate is gearing up to be without a number of star names in his Euro 2024 build-up.

The 23-man squad is likely to include players who will feature in the Champions League final on June 1 at Wembley, just 15 days before their Group C opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen.

Southgate faced a similar difficulty before the inaugural Nations League finals in 2019, when seven players arrived late after Liverpool beat Tottenham in the Champions League final.

There were similar headaches ahead of the last Euros as Chelsea and Manchester City contested the 2021 Champions League final, but Southgate insisted it was just an occupational hazard he would have to cope with.

“You would love to have all of the players for all of the preparation camps, but that’s not our reality,” Southgate said.
“We’ve dealt with that in the past, so we know what it needs to look like.

“It’s important they get some sort of psychological break in between but, of course, the longer they play, the less you can give them is the reality.

“What we’ve got to do now is, now we know the draw, look at the opponents for those (warm-up) games again a bit more clearly.”

England have already confirmed March warm-up friendlies against Brazil and Belgium at Wembley.

The Euro 2020 runners-up are understood to be planning two further friendlies on home soil against as yet unspecified opposition.

Related items

  • Allegri says Juventus future will become clear in next two weeks Allegri says Juventus future will become clear in next two weeks

    Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said questions regarding his future will be resolved in the next couple of weeks after the Bianconeri's slump continued with Sunday's 1-1 draw with Salernitana.

    Juve looked set for a humiliating Serie A loss at home to Stefano Colantuono's already-relegated side, only for Adrien Rabiot to equalise in stoppage time.

    It was a fifth straight league draw for Allegri's side, who have slipped to fourth in Serie A, seven points behind second-placed Milan and level with Bologna in third.

    Juve were neck-and-neck with recently crowned Scudetto winners Inter at the turn of the year, and their dismal end to the season has seen Allegri's position called into question.

    Asked about his future on Sunday, Allegri said: "Just be patient a little bit longer, in 10 to 15 days you'll know what will happen next year. 

    "Anyone who has played football knows that even the great teams can experience a moment of difficulty when the games become tough. We will certainly have to grow."

    Wednesday's Coppa Italia final against in-form Atalanta presents an opportunity for redemption.

    "The final against a team like Atalanta that has grown a lot will certainly be balanced," Allegri said. "It's a one-off game and we will have to try to make as few mistakes as possible.

    Regarding Sunday's match, the 56-year-old said the performance was not satisfactory but stressed the importance of avoiding defeat.

    "We started reasonably well, then made a mistake in our decision-making. We became disjointed and we didn't hold our positions," he said.

    "You can't lose a match like that, otherwise you risk never picking yourselves back up again."

  • Atalanta not favourites for Coppa Italia final against Juventus, insists Gasperini Atalanta not favourites for Coppa Italia final against Juventus, insists Gasperini

    Atalanta do not consider themselves favourites for Wednesday's Coppa Italia final against Juventus despite their strong form, says coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

    Atalanta have enjoyed a fantastic season, reaching the Europa League final – where they will face unbeaten Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on May 22 – and the Coppa Italia showpiece. 

    La Dea are also in the driving seat to secure Italy's fifth Champions League place for next season, after Sunday's 2-1 home win over Roma took them three points clear of the Giallorossi with a game in hand.

    On Wednesday, an out-of-form Juve side await Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico, as Gasperini seeks his first trophy with the club he joined back in 2016.

    "I think it's a bit much to suggest we'd be favourites against Juve. We are in good form, but it's difficult to tell playing every three days," Gasperini told DAZN on Sunday.

    "Naturally, we go into this Coppa Italia final with great enthusiasm."

    Atalanta's Milan loanee Charles De Ketelaere produced another fine performance against Roma, scoring twice inside 20 minutes.

    With 13 goals and nine assists, he is one of three Atalanta players to record 22 goal involvements in all competitions this season, alongside Gianluca Scamacca (17 goals, five assists) and Teun Koopmeiners (15 goals, seven assists). 

    Manchester City and Leverkusen (four apiece) are the only teams in Europe's top five leagues with more players with at least 22 direct goal involvements. 

    "Everyone knew he could play, or Milan would not have made an investment like that. He deserves the credit, he was going all over the place, right, left and centre tonight," Gasperini said of De Ketelaere.

    Lorenzo Pellegrini reduced the deficit for the visitors with a penalty after 66 minutes, but overall Atalanta were dominant.

    While Gasperini was happy with the win, he did not enjoy the wastefulness of his side.

    "I don't know if we've learned a lesson, other than we had so many scoring opportunities and did not aim properly, otherwise we would have killed it off a lot earlier," he said.

    "Failing to win this match really would have caused us a lot of problems."

  • Vilahamn wants to use FA Cup final defeat as 'beginning' for Tottenham Women Vilahamn wants to use FA Cup final defeat as 'beginning' for Tottenham Women

    Tottenham Women manager Robert Vilahamn believes his side will use their FA Cup final defeat to start something special, rather than ending their good work.

    Spurs were hammered 4-0 by Manchester United Women in Sunday's Wembley Stadium showpiece as Ella Toone and Rachel Williams were on target before Lucia Garcia's second-half double.

    Vilahamn's side failed to manage a shot on target but the Spurs boss suggested his team will catch up to the women's elite clubs.

    "The main thing I said was this is not the end, it is the beginning," Vilahamn said.

    "We still have a gap between us and the top teams but that's normal. We are closing the gap but we haven't closed the gap yet."

    Tottenham finished sixth in the Women's Super League as well as reaching this final, their first FA Cup showpiece appearance in their short history.

    Vilahamn wants his Spurs players to use this defeat as motivation going forward.

    "If you take away the feelings right now, you need to look at these players doing some incredible things this year," he said.

    "We are at Wembley playing in front of our fans and they are actually enjoying it and staying, and supporting us after.

    "We got a good experience today and we are learning how to play at Wembley more times. We need to look at it that way because the players are amazing."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.