“He was worth the risk” - Michael Owen calls out England boss for dropping Manchester United star from Euro 2024 squad"
Former England striker Michael Owen has taken a dig at current boss Gareth Southgate for omitting Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford from his UEFA Euro 2024 squad. The 26-year-old attacker is coming off a lean seasaon with the Red Devils.
His poor club form has seemingly cost Rashford a place in the England squad for their Euro 2024 campaign next month. However, Owen feels his compatriot is a different beast in international competitions and should be on the plane to Germany.
Owen tweeted that Rashford's pace alone warranted him a place in the squad:
"Very surprised Gareth Southgate has left MarcusRashford out of his squad. Granted he’s had a poor season by his standards, but tournament football is different, and he’s always been confident in an England shirt. We’ve many talented attacking players but very few with Rashford's pace. In such a big squad, he was worth the risk."
Rashford has 17 goals and six assists for his country, having played the last two editions of the Euros and the FIFA World Cup. However, he's out of Southgate's squad for the upcoming Euros, with the Three Lions looking past his compatriot owing to his lean season with United.
How did Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford fare in his last major tournament for England?
Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford had a decent campaign for England in their last major international tournament - the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - where Gareth Southgate's side lost 2-1 to France in the quarterfinals.
Rashford contributed three goals in five games, including one in the 6-2 group-stage win over Iran and a brace in the 3-0 win over Wales in their final group game.
However, after featuring for only 25 minutes in the 3-0 Round-of-16 win over Senegal, Rashford came on for the final five minutes in the loss to France but couldn't impact proceedings.
At his last appearance at the Euros, Rashford played only 83 minutes across five games - without making a goal contribution - as Southgate's side lost to Italy on penalties in the Wembley final after a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes.