Gareth Southgate's England 'fitness' comments are unfair to Everton star after Euro 2024 decision

Gareth Southgate’s comments about England’s current ‘physical issues’ following their defeat to Iceland border on ironic after omitting Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite from the Euro 2024 squad.

Branthwaite was initially included in the 33-man preliminary list but was one of the seven players dropped from the official squad. It meant Southgate chose John Stones, Lewis Dunk and Marc Guehi as his centre-back options with the latter duo boasting more experience across the past six to 12 months for their country.

Speaking after their disappointing defeat to Iceland, which marked one win in five games ahead of the tournament, Southgate bemoaned their injury issues after claiming he didn’t want to risk John Stones after he was forced off early as a precaution. “We were managing so many different things throughout that game and we ended up with a relatively young team on the pitch. The physical side is a slight concern because we have so many physical issues. “It’s not perfect [to have lost], but I’ve been involved in a lot of these last matches before a tournament as a player as well. No excuses for the result but there’s a lot of things we can put right quickly. Physically, the team is not perfect. We’ve got to make the best of that.”

While arguments can be made over whether Branthwaite is ready for a tournament of this scale are viable, one thing that can’t be disputed is that certain selected players have struggled to consistently play 90 minutes. Stones played 90 minutes just once in the league across the past two months of the season while Guehi had managed just 108 minutes of action since February.

In contrast, Branthwaite was a consistent figure for Everton, starting 35 out of 36 games after missing out in the first two weekends of the season. Plus, he ended the year with four clean sheets in six games and would have offered England an in-form, left-footed option. Moreover, his overall figures have been hugely impressive, especially among U23 centre-backs.

Southgate’s reasoning for leaving him out was that he believed it was a ‘bit early’ for him at this stage of his career and now he enters the tournament under pressure after a poor run and question marks over his centre-back pairing - and that lack of clarity and decisiveness could cost England.