England star Jack Grealish has criticised Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave him out of his squad for Euro 2024 earlier this summer as the Three Lions prepare to face Greece on Thursday night.
Grealish has been a regular for England in recent years.
However, he was surprisingly left at home for the European Championships – with Southgate unconvinced after the winger endured a difficult season at Manchester City.
Now, speaking ahead of England’s clash with Greece, Grealish has opened up on the snub.
England star Jack Grealish has opened up ahead of his side’s showdown with Greece
PA
He has criticised Southgate’s decision, insisting he ‘didn’t really agree with it’.
And the former Aston Villa star also revealed it was a call that left him ‘devastated’, too.
“I will be honest with you – I didn’t really agree with it,” he said.
“You can imagine how I was absolutely devastated. It was one of the most difficult periods of life in terms of football.
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“It was difficult to just watch the games, especially for someone like me who watches so much football.”
Grealish then proceeded to point out that he’s a serial winner these days.
He has won three league titles during his time with City, as well as the Champions League and FA Cup.
Grealish added: “I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn’t meant to be.
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“I felt like I didn’t have the best season.
“If you look at some players in my position, for example Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, they scored a lot of goals.
“But I know that my game is not just about goals. I give so much more to the team than goals.
“You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself as quite an experienced player now.
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England star Jack Grealish is enjoying his football under Lee Carsley as Thursday’s clash with Greece looms
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“I’ve played in a lot of big games — Champions League finals and FA Cup finals.”
Grealish has also hailed Lee Carsley, who is currently in charge of the team on an interim basis.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “He played me in both games and hopefully I repaid him by scoring in Dublin [against the Republic of Ireland]. It was nice to play in the No 10 role.
“I wanted to come here and train well and play well. I thank the manager, Lee Carsley, for giving me that chance and having that trust in me. It’s really meant a lot.
England star Jack Grealish was left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024
PA
“Throughout my career, when I’ve played under managers that have shown a trust in me and communicated with me the way he has in the past two camps, it has really helped me.
“I’ve felt a lot of love from the manager.
“It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can’t speak highly enough of him since I’ve been here.
“He gets across to us how he wants us to play and how he wants me to play personally. The younger lads with him at the Under-21s said he is like a proper father figure.”