After England's 4-0 win over Ukraine in the Euro 2020 quarter-final in Rome, Gareth Southgate was quick to talk about the entire 26-man squad - and not just those on the pitch.
“Actually I’m more thinking about the players I had to leave out of the 23 and the ones I didn’t get on the pitch,” the England manager reflected after the game. “They’ve been such a massive part of what we’re doing and it’s so difficult to keep a squad of this size involved, happy, feeling valued.”
“Those guys have been phenomenal with the way they’ve sacrificed themselves for the group and understood the importance of the group.”
Despite having three more players than he'd usually have been allowed to take to the tournament, Southgate has rotated his team often, bringing in the likes of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson later into the competition, as they manage injuries that they carried from the end of last season.
In fact, only five players of Southgate's 26-strong group have not featured at all. The players in question are Aaron Ramsdale, Sam Johnstone, Ben Chilwell, Ben White and Conor Coady.
With Jordan Pickford selected as the England No.1 for the tournament, Ramsdale and Johnstone have unsurprisingly not been given minutes at the tournament. Ramsdale was a late call-up to replace Dean Henderson, who had to pull out of Euro 2020 halfway through after picking up an injury.
Ben Chilwell headed into the tournament as what many thought would be the second-choice left-back behind Luke Shaw. As it's worked out, Kieran Trippier has been preferred at left-back for his experience.
Chilwell may well have played at the tournament already, had he not have had to isolate with Mason Mount for the final group game.
Ben White was a potential option for Southgate in the early days of the tournament, following the injury that Harry Maguire carried into the Euros. The Brighton centre-back was unlikely to start - given that he was a late replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold - but hasn't been used at all, with Tyrone Mings preferred as Maguire's deputy.
Conor Coady is in a similar boat, having not played a minute. The Wolverhampton Wanderers captain was perhaps taken to the tournament as an option to play centrally in a back three but hasn't featured thus far. England have only played the 3-4-3 formation once - against Germany - in which John Stones was picked as the central defender between Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire.
Subscribe to FourFourTwo today and get a FREE England Euro 96 shirt!
READ NEXT
TACTICS England's possible line-ups against Denmark: FFT writers pick who they'd start
FOR YOUR HOME Euro 2020 wall chart: Download free with full schedule, fixtures and dates
REFS Euro 2020 referees revealed: who are they, how were they selected and will VAR be in use?
