World Cup: Gareth Southgate Explains Harry Maguire Selection Amid Fan Outrage Over Fikayo Tomori’s Absence

• Gareth Southgate has explained Harry Maguire's selection amid fan outrage over Fikayo Tomori’s absence
• Angry fans took to social media to protest some of Southgate’s decisions in picking his 26-man England squad
• They were particularly critical of the fact that Maguire and Eric Dier, but Southgate believes experience matters most

Gareth Southgate has come out to explain his reasons for selecting the likes of Harry Maguire and Eric Dier for his England squad, at the expense of much younger talents.

This comes amid an online outrage from fans, who remain adamant Southgate made a mistake in leaving out some superstars.

Eric Dier in particular has come under fire in recent weeks after making high profile mistakes for his club Tottenham Hotspur.

On defence for the Three Lions, Southgate went for Maguire, Dier, the Manchester City duo of John Stones and Kyle Walker, Everton’s Conor Coady and Arsenal’s Ben White.

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On why he went for Maguire and Eric Dier, Southgate said as quoted by Metro:

“We’ve picked our more experienced defenders. We think the younger ones have got some really good qualities, but we don’t think they’ve done enough to push the more experienced ones out.”

“We’ve got to pick that up on Wednesday when we see them on the training pitch. We need to know who’s playing, what’s their load. Some have played less regularly. We’re picking up various fitness levels and we’ve got to get that right on the training pitch.”

Fans react to the squad

His explanation however, did not stop fans from coming for Southgate for his selection, with many saying Tomori - a Serie A champion with AC Milan - should have been part of the squad.

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“Feel for Tammy & Tomori. One scored almost 30 last season, the other a Serie A champion. Southgate questioned form & experience, while picking others with much less of it. Both admired & appreciated here in Italy. Keep your heads up," one fan said.

“Tomori is better than all the central defenders selected in the England National team. He is playing champions league football week in and week out. Maybe the colour of his skin has to do with his exclusion,” another added.

“The fact that Maguire gets a call up over Tomori is beyond me. Ten Hag really is the first manager to see the light by not playing him.”

Big names missing from squad

Sports Brief also explored some of the other big names missing missing from England’s World Cup squad.

Chelsea youngster Gallagher got the nod ahead of Southampton's James Ward-Prowse in midfield, with Jadon Sancho is the most notable name left out of the attack.

Brentford’s Ivan Toney, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, and James Ward-Prowse of Southampton are some of the few other talented players who did not make the cut.