Wayne Rooney jumped to the defence of James Maddison after Gary Neville suggested that the Tottenham man made a mistake by leaving the England squad early this month.
James Maddison missed out on England’s Euros squad
Southgate’s decision to leave Maddison out of the final 26-man squad came as a surprise to many Tottenham fans, as well as some neutrals.
While the attacking midfielder had not been in the best of form since returning from injury back in February, he had been a pivotal part of the England set-up recently and had played a key role in qualification for the Euros.
However, Maddison himself took to social media to admit that he perhaps did not do enough in the second half of the season and gave Southgate a decision to make, with the 27-year-old confessing that he was heartbroken not to be on the plane to Germany.
Wayne Rooney leaps to Maddison’s defence
Neville suggested on The Overlap that the midfielder should not have left the squad early and insisted that if it was him, he would have stayed.
Responding to Neville’s comments, Rooney responded: “I wouldn’t. No way. Why would you have stayed?”
Neville then suggested that he would have felt that he owed it to his teammates to remain professional and continue training with them, to which Rooney shot back: “But not every player is you. Not every player can give that support. You have got big players.
You have got Grealish there, Harry Maguire, who I know was upset, even though he was injured. You have big players and personalities. So, for them to hide their emotions and support their teammates. You hope they could do that, but it’s very difficult.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Neville’s point is certainly understandable but it is completely normal for Maddison to feel disappointed and feel extremely hard done by and I am sure Southgate would have understood the Tottenham man’s decision to leave the camp when the decision was made.
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