Chris Smalling has been dropped for the friendlies against Brazil and Germany
Gareth Southgate today named his England squad for the upcoming friendlies with Germany and Brazil later this month.
The Three Lions boss has handed debut call-ups to Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Joe Gomez.
However, there are some notable names missing, including Manchester United defender Chris Smalling who was in the last squad.
And Southgate has claimed his omission is because he wants centre-backs who can “use the ball from the back”.
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When asked about the decision to drop Smalling, the England boss said: “have huge respect for Chris. He is a player playing at a big club.
“We want to play in a certain way and the players I have brought in I want to see using the ball from the back and building it up in a certain way.
“Generally speaking we want to look at younger players, and develop the team.
“But I’ve always said if a more senior player is playing well and warrants the call-up, we should include them.”
Southgate’s defensive picks include; Danny Rose, Ryan Bertrand, Phil Jones, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire, Joe Gomez and Ashley Young.
And the England boss admitted to being impressed by Young’s performances for United this season in particular.
“Young’s performances warrant a recall,” he added.
“We want to play with wing-backs – I think it’s a role he can perform, left or right, very well. He’s played very well for Manchester United.”
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