Arsenal legend Ian Wright has defended the nine England stars who came in for stinging criticism from captain Harry Kane for withdrawing from the Three Lions squad.
Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Levi Colwill, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden all withdrew from the squad for Nations League games against Greece and Republic of Ireland with Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite joining them later in the week.
It prompted frustrated comments from Kane on Wednesday with the Bayern Munich star suggesting some of his teammates were choosing their clubs over the country.
That spate of withdrawals had little impact on England’s performance with Lee Carsley’s side cruising to a 3-0 win in Athens on Thursday night. Ollie Watkins settled any nerves with the opener after seven minutes with Jude Bellingham’s shot forcing an own goal from Odysseas Vlachodimos. Curtis Jones wrapped up the win on his England debut with a cute backheeled finish late on.
Ahead of kick-off, Wright leapt to the defence of those who dropped out – including Arsenal stars Saka and Rice who were carrying injuries heading into the international break.
‘What I would say in respect to the players that have pulled out, you would like to have seen them there,’ Wright said.
‘But we are talking about a period of time where the players have seen that the FA have chosen not to have the manager for this game.
‘What kind of message are you sending to the players? I’m not going to blame the players or question integrity of the players in respect of them joining up, but if they have got the knocks and they feel like they’re going to sit out this one, then the opportunity should be for those coming in.
‘The big issue is the scheduling, that’s what it comes down to. The managers are talking about it, the players are talking about it, people are getting injured and they are glossing over that.’
Kane’s comments came with England awaiting the arrival of new manager Thomas Tuchel who will not take the reins until January with Carsley remaining in charge as interim boss this month.
Wright was shocked by Kane’s comments, pointing to the FA’s own decision on Tuchel’s arrival in defending those who stayed at home.
‘I was very surprised if I am totally honest as you are talking about somebody who has been in the trenches with those guys,’ Wright said.
‘Every single England call-up is important, every single one is an opportunity and it just felt like we are talking about the captain of a bunch of players who has said that Gareth [Southgate] has brought them together and everything is so strong – to go from all that unity in the squad to then a few withdrawals and then you’re hearing the lack of commitment.
‘Again, I have to go back to the FA. The FA have chosen not to have their [new] manager here.
‘They’ve kind of set a precedent for it, but for Harry to say that about the players he’s been in the trenches with, two finals, semi-finals of the World Cup. Knowing the calibre of the players, to then say he is disappointed to see them not coming, especially with the fixtures and how the game is going crazy, it was a bit of a shock to me.’