Roy Hodgson has criticised Chelsea’s Reece James for the statement he released earlier this week about his World Cup omission.
Gareth Southgate officially named his 26-man England squad today that he will take to Qatar for the World Cup, which includes the Chelsea trio of Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher.
James, who’s usually a regular for the Three Lions, was left out. The 22-year-old did confirm a day in advance that he wasn’t going to Qatar because of his knee injury.
Chelsea’s wing-back posted on social media yesterday: “Devastated. The minute I injured my knee, I knew the turn around to make the World Cup would be tight, but I always felt it was possible. I’ve worked harder than I ever thought I could to give myself the best chance of going and truly believed I could help the team. I appreciate there was a risk on both sides but it was one I was willing to take. Good luck to the boys. I’ll be back soon. Stay safe & sending love.”
Roy Hodgson criticised Reece James
Former England boss Hodgson has admitted that he’s not a fan of the wording in the James statement,. He think Southgate is well within his right to leave him out due to injury fears.
“I’m not really in favour of what Reece James has done here,” Hodgson said.
“I think that would have been a discussion he’s had with his club and with doctors. He’s had the discussion with Gareth. The decision has been made.
“To go out and say ‘If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have done it,’ but who wouldn’t? Which player is not going to say, ‘I could make it?’ The decision has got to be made by doctors and specialists. Finally, by the man who is going to live or die by the player’s performances.”
You can fully understand that James is devastated to miss out on a World Cup tournament, especially when it looked like he had a great chance of nailing down a spot in the starting line-up.
Gary Neville attempted to console on Instagram the Chelsea youngster by saying he will play in future World Cups.
He will have to watch from home to see how England fare in Qatar, but we’ve got to agree with Neville that his time will come.
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