Gareth Southgate has been handed a tough dilemma this month as he prepares to lead England to the UEFA Nations League finals.
England’s semi-final is set for June 6 against the Netherlands, just five days after the Champions League final.
A whopping nine of Southgate’s original 27-man squad came from either Tottenham or Liverpool, with Alli, Dier, Winks, Trippier, Rose, Kane, Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, and Gomez all selected.
However, the England gaffer was then tasked with cutting this down to a 23-man squad, at the expense of Spurs stars Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks, along with Nathan Redmond and James Warde-Prowse.
This comes after Winks has only just recently returned to training after undergoing groin surgery (Independent), and Tripps has endured a pretty torrid season in a Spurs shirt.
Trippier was one of England’s heroes in the Russia World Cup last summer, as well as the campaign leading to the country’s Nations League qualification. Winks missed out on the 2018 World Cup squad through injury.
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Southgate has now revealed why he dropped the Spurs lads (FA): “Harry Winks is a player we really like and that’s a tough one because he’s not played for a couple of months and we don’t get to see him in training. He is back training with Spurs, he might be involved at the weekend but we wouldn’t see him until two days before the game.
“So when we had other midfielders who are either with us or who are playing regularly, that was the only thinking behind that decision. Harry could still come into that mix and has done very well for us whenever he has played with England, so is a player we like.
“Of course, Kieran Trippier has had such a big impact, he had such a brilliant World Cup. He has been a really valuable member of our squad and has a great attitude with us, real passion in playing for England but Trent and Kyle have finished the season so strongly. So it is a position where we have got real competition for places. That is as hard a decision as we have had to make.”
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