Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham players told to 'park rivalries' for England duty

A number of Tottenham and Liverpool players will meet in Madrid days before teaming up with England
AFP/Getty Images
James Olley16 May 2019

Gareth Southgate has warned his England players they will need to “park their rivalries” to win the Nations League after an intense end to the season at club level.

Arsenal face Chelsea in the Europa League Final four days before Liverpool and Tottenham contest the Champions League Final on June 1 in a remarkable climax to a domestic season which saw Manchester City pip the Reds to the Premier League title on the last day.

Given the uncertainty over various players’ availability for the Nations League semi-final on June 6, Southgate this afternoon named a 27-man long list which includes a recall for Southampton midfielder Nathan Redmond as well as Tottenham duo Harry Kane and Harry Winks, both of whom have been sidelined through injury of late for Spurs.

The prospect of a London derby in Baku and two English teams competing for the biggest prize in club football has raised the possibility that cliques could return to an England camp previously split by such divisions under previous managers and Southgate said: “That is going to be a challenge for us because they are a close group, they are a group of players that get on brilliantly.

“But what’s clear is that these clubs clash in big matches and we’ve got to make sure we handle that well as a group and make sure we always bring them back to when we are with England, we talk about the things that make the difference. We’ve done that really well.

“They’ve got to park the rivalry, that intense rivalry that’s going to grow and make sure we keep what’s made us powerful over the last period of time as an England team.”

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