Gareth Southgate reveals his reasoning behind snubbing Ben White for England AGAIN – despite admitting he’s been ‘solid’ at Arsenal

• Ben White has not been called up for England duty since last year’s World Cup
• The Arsenal defender left the Qatar camp prematurely due to ‘personal reasons’
• He has earned four caps for the national side, the last of which came in 2022 
• Gareth Southgate has named his England squad for the upcoming internationals

Gareth Southgate has revealed why Ben White is continually missing out on the England squad, despite admitting the defender has been ‘solid’ for Arsenal so far this season.

White, who left England’s World Cup squad prematurely for ‘personal reasons’ last year, has yet to return for the Three Lions and once again missed out on a place in Southgate’s squad on Thursday.

England face Malta and North Macedonia in the upcoming international break and Southgate has named an almost identical squad to last time out, snubbing former stalwart Raheem Sterling again.

When asked about White’s continual exclusion from the squad, the Three Lions boss urged that his exclusion was purely for footballing reasons.

Denying any lingering fallout from the World Cup last year, Southgate said: ‘I assume (he’s up for selection). Ben’s been very solid for Arsenal this season. He is a different profile of fullback, a centre-back playing at full-back.

Gareth Southgate has revealed why Ben White is continually missing out on the England squad

Southgate has named a very similar group in his latest England squad ahead of the Three Lions upcoming final two Euro 2024 qualifiers at home to Malta and away to North Macedonia

‘He’s doing a good job for his club, he’s just behind a couple of others in the reckoning at the moment.’

White has again been a virtual ever-present for Mikel Arteta’s side this season with 17 appearances already in all competitions, but has been unable to add to the last of his four international caps earned last year.

Southgate also resisted the temptation to select Reece James and Eberechi Eze, who have only recently returned from injury, in his latest squad.

There was a distinct lack of new faces as Southgate played it safe, with the likes of Cole Palmer overlooked.

Southgate explained that he wanted continuity in his team, which had been performing well in assuring Euro 2024 qualification with two games to spare.

Asked about Sterling’s absence, he said: ‘The team are playing really well, we had an exceptional win here against Italy last time around. Who do we leave out to bring him in?’

‘The door is 100 per cent open. There is no doubt about that. In terms of his quality and personality. He is crucial part of the journey we have had. 

‘We have stuck with that group, and deliberately not made changes. It is fair to the guys in the squad.’ 

England squad in full 

Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale

Defenders: Levi Colwill, Lewis Dunk, Marc Guehi, Harry Maguire, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Ollie Watkins, Callum Wilson

Source: Read Full Article