Southgate accused of 'bottling' Grealish decision despite England inclusion

Gareth Southgate made a glaring error over Jack Grealish and Jesse Lingard as he named his England squad for Euro 2020.

That's the verdict of former Tottenham and England Under-21 midfielder Jamie O'Hara, who claims the Three Lions boss "bottled" leaving Grealish out of the frame.

Southgate unveiled his 26-man squad on Tuesday, with Aston Villa captain Grealish handed the No.7 shirt after a brilliant Premier League season.

There was no room for Lingard, however, with the Manchester United playmaker one of the seven players cut from the 33-man preliminary squad despite his hugely impressive second half of the campaign on loan at West Ham.

O'Hara delivered a scathing verdict of Southgate's decision, highlighting Grealish's injury problems which limited him to just two Premier League starts since February.

"You've got Jesse Lingard who has dropped out of it and, in my opinion, he's the guy in form," O'Hara told talkSPORT

"He wasn't playing at the start of the season and moved to West Ham in January and set it alight.

"He's in great form, he's fresh, he's fit. Jack Grealish is not fit, Jordan Henderson is not fit, Harry Maguire is not fit, Luke Shaw picked up an injury.

"You're talking about players who are not really fit but you have Jesse Lingard, who is 100 per cent fit, flying, wants to play, wants to be involved.

"Let's be real about this right now. Gareth Southgate has picked Jack Grealish because he's bottled not taking him."

Grealish isn't the only player who should have made way for Lingard in O'Hara's eyes, with the 34-year-old also questioning the decision to take Leeds stalwart Kalvin Phillips to the Euros.

He added: "Lingard should be in front of Kalvin Phillips. You have to take people who are going to make a difference.

"What does Kalvin Phillips do that Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson can't do?"

O'Hara also warned that England's current crop of talented players may struggle to live up to their billing, just as the so-called golden generation of the 2000s did.

"The pressure is on England this time around," said O'Hara. "When we played in the World Cup and everyone loved it and brought the nation back together and everyone started supporting England again.

"It was because we'd given up hope a little bit. There was no pressure on the team, no one was expecting us to get out the group, then we got to the semi-finals.

"The problem Gareth has now, and he has to get right, is that the pressure is on. These players have come to the fore and are at the top of their game.

"Everyone loves them and expects it, a bit like the golden generation with your (Frank) Lampards and your Becks (David Beckhams), and they struggled. They didn't cope with that well."

Did Southgate make a mistake leaving Lingard out? Comment below.