Ex-Manchester United star Phil Jones has insisted that Marcus Rashford could have certainly offered England something after the forward was left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024.
After a poor season that saw Rashford score only eight goals across all competitions, the 26-year-old was not even named in Southgate’s provisional 33-man squad.
The Three Lions boss elected to go with the likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, and Jack Grealish.
Grealish was later dropped as Southgate’s final 26-man squad was recently revealed.
While not many would argue with the fact that Rashford didn’t fully warrant a seat on the plane, there have been noises from some quarters that Southgate would have been best served by picking the Carrington academy graduate, perhaps as an option from the bench.
Michael Owen took to X (formerly Twitter) and opined that not many have the quality of Rashford, who can almost single-handedly come up with something out of absolutely nothing.
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 Rashfords…
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) May 21, 2024
This is a perspective shared by Jones, someone who shared a dressing room with Rashford.
Jones told Ladbrokes 1-2-Free (via The Mirror), “Rashford is the one I would identify as the biggest decision. It’s a tough call, and I’m not saying it’s the right or wrong call.”
“I always think Marcus – even if he’s not had the season he’d have liked – has the ability to do something special.”
“I know him as a person, and as a player, and I think he could have certainly offered something, especially in games where we’re struggling to break teams down.”
Jones added, “You know, he’s got that little bit of brilliance – that little bit of magic where he can just take it out of his feet, whip one in the top bin and win you the game.”
“But, again, there are so many talented players to choose from – so there’s always going to be someone who misses out, and unfortunately it’s him this year.”
England kick off their Euro 2024 campaign in slightly less than a week when they face Serbia in their opening group stage clash.
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