Gareth Southgate warned he made Euro 2024 mistake after Arsenal star’s ’embarrassing’ season

Gareth Southgate’s England are in Germany for Euro 2024 (Picture: Getty)

Gareth Southgate has been told he made a mistake taking Aaron Ramsdale to the Euros after the goalkeeper’s ’embarrassing’ season at Arsenal.

Despite only starting ten games last season, Ramsdale travelled to Germany on Monday as part of England’s 26-man squad for Euro 2024.

Ramsdale spent back-to-back seasons as Mikel Arteta’s No. 1 following a £30m move from Sheffield United in 2021, helping the Gunners mount a Premier League title challenge in 2022-23.

While the 26-year-old largely impressed at the Emirates Stadium, Arteta took the decision to sign David Raya from Brentford last summer and make the Spaniard his new first-choice goalkeeper.

The move drastically affected Ramsdale’s game-time last season and has almost certainly accelerated the England international’s departure from Arsenal amid interest from Newcastle United.

Despite enduring a frustrating and inactive campaign in north London, Ramsdale was named in England’s final Euros squad alongside Southgate’s No. 1, Jordan Pickford, and back-up Dean Henderson.

Barring an unfortunate injury to Everton’s Pickford, Ramsdale is unlikely to feature in Germany but Emmanuel Petit nevertheless believes it was a mistake to pick him.

Aaron Ramsdale will play back-up to Jordan Pickford in Germany (Picture: Getty)

Speaking to ex-England striker Emile Heskey for Gambling.com, Petit said: ‘I had a question for you about Ramsdale: how can you pick a player that didn’t play for the whole season?’

Responding to the former Arsenal midfielder, Heskey said: ‘Gareth Southgate is probably looking at the quality of what’s actually coming in behind him.

‘Don’t get me wrong, we had James Trafford playing, he’s a young under 21s player – would you rather put someone like that in to be second or third choice, just to be around it?

‘Because the reality is he’s not going to play, is he. So it would be just to be around it, so we know what the next generation is going to be up against.’

Petit then added: ‘I don’t have any worries about his [Ramsdale’s] quality but I worry about his mental strength, because he’s been through a very difficult year.

‘It was sometimes very embarrassing to watch him on the bench. A goalkeeper is different to a player on the pitch. Mentally, they have to be very strong.

‘After this season, I’m wondering if he’s fit to play a big competition like this – for example if Pickford gets injured.’

England begin their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday night before turning their attentions to Denmark and Slovenia.

The Three Lions are bidding to win their first major trophy since 1966 and Petit has backed Southgate’s side to end 58 years of hurt in Germany.

‘I think this is the Euros for England,’ he said. ‘They are going to win against France, and they are going to win the tournament.’

Assessing England’s chances, Heskey added: ‘Whenever we go into the tournament, we are one of the favourites.

‘We’ve got some fantastic players but one thing we haven’t done in years gone by is gel as a team. I think this team looks a little bit more gelled and we’ve done well in recent tournaments with reaching the semi-finals and a final, but the next step is to win it.

‘Having the right structure and the right togetherness is key because that’s what’s going to get you through. This group is quite a favourable group for England to get their team across the line.

‘However, defensively is where we struggle. Maguire is a big loss even though he had a lot of stick when playing for his club but for England, he has put everything on the line.’

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