Southgate admits PL clubs's friendly is NOT good for Euro preparation
Gareth Southgate says Tottenham and Newcastle playing an end-of-season friendly in Australia is NOT good news for England’s Euro 2024 preparations.
The Premier League rivals meet in Melbourne on Wednesday May 22, three days after the final round of Premier League fixtures.
Mail Sport reported on Friday that both clubs intend to take all of their international stars on the 21,000-mile round trip, even if they have summer commitments with their countries.
It means Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon and Tottenham’s James Maddison will likely be part of the tour - and that is a concern for Southgate, who names a provisional squad for the finals on May 21.
‘It (end-of-season friendlies) is going to happen more and more,’ began the England boss. ‘Why? Financial fair play means clubs need to generate their own money, so we're in a bizarre world where there's more money in the game than ever before, and yet everyone is scrambling across federations and clubs to generate more.
‘The normal way of doing that is to play more games - so is that great news for us, in terms of preparation? No.
'But we're going to have players in the FA Cup final (May 25) probably, the Champions League final (June 1) hopefully and a chance of a few other European finals, so we are used to preparing this way.
'We had to go to Qatar with five days prep, so we adjust to whatever it is and hope there are no injuries from that game (in Australia).’
Spurs will return to the UK following the game against Newcastle, but Eddie Howe and his team will stay on for an exhibition match with the A-League All Stars on Friday May 24.
England gather the following week to begin their pre-Euros camp, with a friendly against Bosnia at St James’ Park on Monday June 3.
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