England squad: Why Gareth Southgate made an error leaving on-fire Southampton ace Charlie Austin out of the 25
Saints forward has netted more goals than any other English star this season with eight, while Jamie Vardy has just three
ONE of the major talking points from Gareth Southgate’s England squad announcement revolved around a certain striker.
And for once, that wasn’t Wayne Rooney.
Instead, fans were left baffled when Southgate decided to snub the most in-form striker in the country, Charlie Austin.
Keep up to date with ALL the England news and gossip on our page.
The Southampton ace, 27, has netted eight goals from just 14 appearances – the most by any Englishman this season in all competitions.
Austin sits level with Theo Walcott – who has been named in the Three Lions’ 25-man squad.
The omission makes for head-scratching reading, only becoming more confusing when you take a look at how the forwards selected have fared this term.
Most notably of course is Jamie Vardy – who has found the net just three times this season, including one in the Community Shield.
The Foxes forward has very much gone the way of Leicester this season in massively under-performing by their now lofty standards.
Neither Vardy, Riyad Mahrez or Leicester have even come close to reaching the heady heights of last term, but the England forward hasn’t scored in two months, yet has been named in the England squad.
Meanwhile, Harry Kane joins Vardy on just a trio of strikes – however he has spent a chunk of the season on the sidelines thanks to injury.
Daniel Sturridge, despite not scoring a single Premier League goal this season is in the England squad, with four to his name in all competitions, thanks to his love of the EFL Cup.
Marcus Rashford also has half as many goals as Austin with four this season.
Jermain Defoe is another to have failed to make the 23-man squad, despite netting six times this season for a hugely underwhelming Sunderland side.
The rest of the goals in England this year have been notched by the star midfielders, such as Raheem Sterling, Michail Antonio and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, all with five.
Midfielder-turned-left-back James Milner has four, while players such as Dele Alli and Ross Barkley -neither of whom were named in the squad – have three apiece.