Three positives for Southampton with Ward-Prowse out of England squad
By Marc Walker
Ben White added to the England squad. Well done to him but I think it's madness that Ward-Prowse misses out essentially because Southgate has two players who aren't properly fit in his squad. Maguire shouldn't be in the squad given he's just started running.
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) June 7, 2021
Huge respect
What has been notable from the recent England squad debates is that Ward-Prowse has significant support from fans of many clubs and from journalists covering the Three Lions.
He has clearly made an impression with his set-pieces but also his all-round game. His performance against Romania saw many fans calling for him to be Trent Alexander-Arnold’s replacement in England’s 26-man squad for Euro 2020.
It was confirmed on Monday morning that Brighton’s Ben White would be taking the final spot in Gareth Southgate’s group and this caused much confusion amongst supporters online. White also impressed against Romania, but England looked well-stocked on defenders already.
As Matt Law says in his tweet above, Ward-Prowse is hugely unfortunate not to take a place on the bench at the very least and could have provided bits of quality when his teammates needed it coming from the substitutes.
Concerns about the fitness of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson also add to the situation. Henderson was only able to play his first football for over four months on Sunday, whilst Maguire has not even taken part in England training yet with tournament football just four days away.