Gareth Southgate suggested Chris Smalling was dropped from his 25-man England squad as he wanted defenders able to use the ball from the back.
The Three Lions face both Germany and Brazil at Wembley this month and Southgate has handed first senior call-ups to promising trio Tammy Abraham, Joe Gomez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Smalling was an unused substitute in England’s victories over Slovenia and Lithuania last month, as the team qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but the Manchester United centre-back was not named on Thursday afternoon.
Asked about his decision, Southgate explained: ‘I 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.
‘Young’s performances warrant a recall. 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.
‘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.’
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