Southgate admits to being worried that Shaw, Maguire, Ben Chilwell or Kalvin Phillips have not played regularly at club level since the start of the season, but have been called up because these are england’s mainstays.
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jordan Pickford (Everton) or Marcus Rashford (Man Utd) are the names absent due to injury.
Tottenham defender Eric Dier returned to the team for the first time since November 2020.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney also made his first call-up to the England squad, scoring five goals and two assists through his first six Premier League games.
List of 28 England internationals
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse
Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Ivan Toney.
England manager Gareth Southgate caused controversy by ignoring Jadon Sancho and summoning Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw to play in the UEFA Nations League at the end of September.
On September 15, Southgate announced the list of 28 England players preparing for two UEFA Nations League matches against Italy on September 23 and Germany on September 26.
Maguire and Luke Shaw’s call-up were the most controversial. Man Utd’s duo have been unconvincing since the start of the season and have lost their starting spot in recent games. Shaw hasn’t even regained his best form because of the injury.
Southgate also caused discontent by skipping Ben White , the defender who started all six of Arsenal’s Premier League opening games, to choose Maguire or Conor Coady – the centre-back who is playing for Everton on loan from Wolves.
“How did Maguire and Coady get called up to England instead of White?” the @afcevan Twitter account asked.
“White is becoming the most underrated player he can be in the Premier League. This was a scandal when Southgate dropped White and picked Maguire, Coady,” @PatrickTimmos1 commented.
Bypassing Jadon Sancho and summoning Jack Grealish was another controversial decision by Southgate.
Sancho flourished under Erik ten Hag, contributing two premier league goals and one goal in Man Utd’s 2-0 win over Sheriff in the second leg of group E europa league on the evening of September 15.
Grealish, meanwhile, has neither scored nor assisted, nor has he started at City since the start of the season.
“Southgate’s choices mean nothing. It’s right to dismiss Sancho when he didn’t play well under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But why was Shaw called up when there was no starting spot? Why are Grealish and Mount hired when they are in very bad form?” commented @UtdEllis.
“White and Sancho are black when they’re not summoned. Southgate called up a lot of players who didn’t start at the club, and slammed the door on White, Sancho,” @markgoldbridge commented.
