Earlier this week, Gareth Southgate released his 26-player list for the Qatar World Cup. The list faced lots of backlash and criticism, and the Chelsea defender also did not back down.
He uploaded a message showing his frustration about missing the world cup.
“Devastated. The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turn around to make the World Cup would be tight, but I always felt it was possible.”
“I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance of going and truly believed | could help the team. I appreciate there was risk on both sides but it was one I was willing to take. Good luck to the boys. I’ll be back soon. Stay safe & sending love.”
James suffered an injury against AC Milan on 11th October and it was reportedly to keep him out for eight weeks.
This meant that his return date was set on 11th December. Going by the schedule, he would have been fit for the quarter-finals.
Although selecting him only for the speculation, seemed too arrogant to Southgate. Despite the lack of game time, both Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips were selected for the squad.
James made his frustrations crystal clear
James made his frustration even more clear after the squad announcement as he liked a tweet criticizing Southgate’s selection.
The tweet stated a quote by Paul Merson, it read:
“I just find it weird that Gareth Southgate is willing to gamble on Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker but not Reece James? If it was Harry Kane, he would be going – what’s the difference?“
“If it was Harry Kane, they would say, ‘right we’ll take him and use him after the group stages. We need to take one of our best players. I just don’t understand it. Reece James is as important as Harry Kane.”
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