‘What an absolute waste of a spot in the squad’
Fans are fuming with Gareth Southgate’s decision to include Luke Shaw in the England squad as the defender looks likely to sit out the rest of the Euro 2024 campaign.
Shaw failed to train with the squad once again on Saturday raising suspicion that an announcement about his departure from the camp could be imminent.
The United defender has been side-lined for five months through injury but England’s medical staff had been liaising with United’s and they had hoped the 28-year-old would be available for the bench in England’s final Group C game against Slovenia on Tuesday.
One fan fumed: “What an absolute waste of a spot in the squad.” Whilst another labelled the decision to take the United man to Germany as ‘reckless’. “Why did England call on Luke Shaw when Lewis Hall was hitting form and could do with international experience. What a reckless decision.”
The news has further dented the fans faith in manager Southgate as many criticized him following England’s disappointing draw with Denmark.
“Gareth Southgate has shot himself in the foot yet again over his decision to pick Shaw for his squad,” one fan said on X. Another asked: “What was the point in taking Luke Shaw? England will be out before he’s ready.”
Fans pointed out the other options Southgate had when he decided on his squad: “The likes of Chilwell, Mitchell and Hall are all sat at home whilst an injured player takes up a squad place. Southgate has got absolutely everything wrong this summer.”
One fan joked: “He must make great cups of tea and coffee.”
As anger grew on social media, the Telegraph shared a worrying statistic. Over the past two tournaments (Euro 2020 and the World Cup 2022) the England player who played the most passes to Harry Kane was Luke Shaw. So far this tournament, the player who has played the most passes to the England captain is goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The stat backs up Southgate’s decision to take the United defender but it appears that it is a gamble that will not pay off.
