Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.
England manager Gareth Southgate has named his 27-man squad for this summer’s Nations League Finals, and already a number of his interesting inclusions and omissions are making headlines.
One of the more controversial calls made by Southgate, was his decision to select left-backs Danny Rose and Ben Chilwell of Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City respectively, over the recently crowned Manchester United player of the year Luke Shaw.
When asked if it was difficult to leave Shaw out, Southgate said:
“No, Ben Chilwell and Danny Rose have been excellent. At the moment they are ahead, they have played well for us and have been completely committed to the England shirt.”
Elsewhere, Southampton attacking midfielder Nathan Redmond makes a surprise return to the international fold having not featured for England since winning his first cap in 2017.
The 25-year old Saints winger finished the 2018/19 Premier League season in fine form under the direction of Austrian boss Ralph Hasenhüttl, though nobody expected his spike in performances to earn him a national team recall.
Redmond’s Southampton team-mate James Ward-Prowse also makes the cut, while there are also places in the 27 for Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, Tottenham’s Harry Winks and blossoming Borussia Dortmund superstar Jadon Sancho.
Winks is 1 of Tottenham 5 players in Gareth Southgate’s selection, and in total, 16 of the 27 players were picked from clubs in the Premier League’s “big 6”.
Time to get set for the #NationsLeague finals 👊#threelions https://t.co/9DK41BN93H
— England (@England) May 16, 2019
Full Squad List
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Tom Heaton (Burnley), Jack Butland (Stoke City)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Michael Keane (Everton), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Nathan Redmond (Southampton), Declan Rice (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur).
Attackers: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Callum Wilson (AFC Bournemouth).
How England might line-up
England’s Fixtures
England take on the Netherlands in the Semi Finals of the Nations League at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães on June 6th.
The winner of that tie will meet either Portugal or Switzerland in the Final of the Nations League at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto on June 9th, while the two losing teams face off for 3rd place in Guimarães earlier the same day.
England begin their Euro 2020 qualification campaign a few months after that with home matches against Bulgaria and Kosvo on Saturday the 7th and Tuesday the 10th of September.
