Jack Grealish has expressed his gratitude for the faith Lee Carsley has shown in him after being omitted from England’s Euro 2024 squad, but he also predicted that the interim head coach might face sleepless nights trying to accommodate all the talented players at his disposal into one cohesive team. Grealish played a key role in England’s recent matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, starting in the No 10 position as Carsley secured convincing victories to begin his tenure. The Manchester City forward scored in the 2-0 win over Ireland but is expected to compete with Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer, who were absent last month, for a spot against Greece at Wembley on Thursday night.
Grealish recently celebrated the birth of his first child, a daughter named Mila Rose, with his partner Sasha Attwood, calling it “the best moment of my life.” When asked if he or Carsley would be experiencing more sleepless nights in the coming weeks, Grealish replied, “I think he’ll have a lot more with the players that he’s got to pick from.” Grealish also acknowledged that he couldn’t recall the last time he started two consecutive matches for England and thanked Carsley for his support after being left out of the Euros squad by Gareth Southgate.
“I didn’t really agree with it because it’s just me,” Grealish told BBC Five Live about his exclusion in the summer. “I felt like I didn’t have the best season. You know, I didn’t ... you look at some players, for example, in my position, even the likes of Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, people like this, they scored a lot of goals, which 100% I agree with. But I just know that my game is not just about goals. I think I give so much more to the team than just goals.” Grealish added, “I thank the manager here for giving me that chance and having that trust in me. It’s obviously really meant a lot. I think 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 really helps me. 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.”
Harry Kane’s availability for the match against Greece remains uncertain after the England captain trained indoors on Tuesday following a groin injury sustained during Bayern Munich’s draw with Eintracht Frankfurt. Scans have revealed no major damage, but Kane’s participation is still in doubt. “Good news with the scan,” Kane told Cleats Club, a new social media app he has invested in. “It has come back all positive. So, I’m with England now. It’s a short camp, two quick games. So I’m just going to take it day-by-day, see how it’s feeling and go from there. It’s a busy period of the season so I’m bound to pick up little niggles so it’s important to recover.”
Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins is poised to start if Kane is unavailable, and Carsley might consider Dominic Solanke, who was recalled to the squad for the first time in seven years. Solanke, who helped England win the Under-20 World Cup in 2017, expressed his eagerness to make up for lost time. “Everyone’s journey is different,” he said. “I was in the England setup throughout all the age groups. We had great teams, we won quite a few trophies so that was great memories. Hopefully we can do it for the seniors now as well. It would be nice to win some trophies. That’s the next step for the country.”
