Southgate sends subtle England warning to Rashford after Belfast bender
Marcus Rashford has been warned his behaviour is under the microscope ahead of the Euros - both “on and off the pitch.”
Manchester United star Rashford was fined two weeks’ wages after going on a nightclub bender in Belfast which infuriated his club manager Erik ten Hag. Rashford has also endured a disastrous drop in form this season which is in stark contrast to his displays last year when he was chasing a new contract.
Gareth Southgate has consistently picked Rashford throughout his tenure but there was a clear message from the England boss that he will be watching all of his players in the next few months.
England boss Southgate will name just one more squad in March for the friendlies with Brazil and Belgium at Wembley before picking his 23 for the Euros this summer. Competition is particularly fierce in the forward areas and Southgate said, while he has not spoken to Rashford in the past few weeks, he is keeping an eye on him.
Southgate said: “I haven't spoken to many of our players at all since December. I've let them get on with their club football. There are one or two I've spoken to but generally they are back from their clubs and it's not for me to interfere.
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“We’re five weeks away from picking a squad, although so much happens to players over the period between November and March that we’re always sitting and observing everything on and off the pitch.
“Then in a few weeks’ time we’ll have decisions to make on the whole squad and there’s going to be a lot of attention on that because it’s the final squad before the Euros.”
Rashford was fined a total of £650,000 but scored in his first game back at Wolves last week when United won 4-3 at Molineux. Meanwhile, Gus Poyet says playing England at Wembley will be like a “home game” after they were drawn with Greece in the Nations League.
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England boss Gareth Southgate has warned Rashford he is watching him closely (UEFA via Getty Images)Greece boss Poyet, the former Spurs and Chelsea midfielder, lives in London and is relishing the showdown in League B2 which also includes Finland and Republic of Ireland. Poyet said: “It’s very interesting! When I spoke to people straight after I said it’s great that it’s London. I live there so I won’t have to travel too far to go to Wembley.
“I think it was written in the stars. As soon as we knew that England went down to League B and we went up, then all my family and all my friends in England were saying ‘you will play England for sure.’
“For us it’s a big, big challenge, to play against England, who are one of the favourites, to win not only the Euros but probably the next World Cup as well. We will try to compete and hope we can take the knowledge from the tough games we’ve had into September.”
Greece were put in England’s Group because they initially drew Kazakhstan but UEFA deemed it was too far for travel as they were with both England and Ireland. Poyet has even been linked with the vacant Ireland job while the Irish FA have made England under-21 boss Lee Carsley their No1 target.
Gareth Southgate, who stepped up from the under-21s to the senior job, praised Carsley and admitted it is a tough decision. England boss Southgate added: “He enjoys the job he has with us. We’re really happy working with him and from our perspective he really understands the development part of his role, the fact we’re gonna pinch his best players all of the time!
“I’ve done the job and it’s not easy. But he’s done it exceptionally well, he’s got a way with players and they enjoy playing for him. Him and his coaching team are adding to the development of those players which is fantastic for us.
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"It’s more John McDermott’s role as technical director to discuss things but he’s done a fabulous job but we’ve got a fabulous connection with all our junior teams. We have a club environment basically and we try and share as much as we can and we’re always interested to know more and more about the younger players.”
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