Michael Owen has named the starting XI he would pick for England at Euro 2024 – and it’s caused a stir online. The former Liverpool and Manchester United forward left out one huge name as he accommodated Chelsea star Cole Palmer in the team.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Gareth Southgate named his provisional 33-man squad at the start of the week and will have until early June to trim that number down to 26, leaving out seven unfortunate players. There has already been some controversy surrounding a couple of the decisions the England boss made when naming that squad.
Star players like Reece James and Marcus Rashford failed to make the cut, while there were shock inclusions of Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Jarrell Quansah ahead of James Ward-Prowse and Levi Colwill. Despite some fans’ displeasure at some of the players included in the provisional list, many believe the starting team is fairly predictable with left-back being the only real place of contention.
Gareth Southgate has named his provisional 33-man England squad for Euro 2024, but he will soon need to trim his squad down to just 26 players.
In terms of the back-line, Owen had little issue naming the goalkeeper and defenders he’d like to see given a starting berth in Germany. This isn’t the area of the team that’s particularly controversial, as he told TNT Sports: “Pickford in goal. I’d say Kyle Walker at right-back and Luke Shaw, if he’s fit, at left-back. It will be John Stones and Harry Maguire at centre-half.” Most Three Lions fans will probably agree with his selections at this point.
The former England striker even named an exciting and talented midfield trio of: “Declan Rice as a six, [Phil] Foden and [Jude] Bellingham in front of him.” Foden’s place in the XI could impact others as he can play out wide or in a central position, but Owen has opted to play him alongside Bellingham in the middle.
The starting line-up that Gareth Southgate is likely to select for England’s Euro 2024 opener.
Question marks will surround Owen’s forward line. He knows a clinical goalscorer when he sees one and named Harry Kane, unsurprisingly, as the number nine in his team. Eyebrows will no doubt raise at his choice of wingers as he said:
“I’ve got to find a place for Cole Palmer. I’m going to put Palmer as my right sider, and I’m going to put Anthony Gordon as my left sider.”
Gordon and Palmer have had sensational seasons, but it is largely expected that Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka will occupy the right wing for Southgate when the tournament kicks off in June. Owen did admit the 22-year-old will be a key part of the team, whether as a starter or a rotational option.
Upon seeing TNT Sport’s social media post with the video of Owen discussing his preferred Three Lions team, one fan replied: “It’s not coming home if so.” While another said: “There’s a reason most of these pundits fail when they’re actually given a team to manage.” Another fan commented: “England will be out in the groups if this is the case.”
It will be interesting to see if Owen’s selected 11 spend any time on the pitch together, with Southgate given a headache by the brilliant performances of both Palmer and Gordon for Chelsea and Newcastle respectively during the 2023-24 season.
Owen got his forecasts for Man United and Tottenham horribly wrong, but on the whole his predictions have not aged too badly…CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
