Harry Maguire has claimed there’s no cliques in the England dressing room despite Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez’s bust-up on Monday.
The Manchester United defender praised the unity of the squad and told the press that players share tables during Thursday’s pre-match conference ahead of the European qualifier against Montenegro.
The Athletic reported that Manchester City’s Sterling tried to get Gomez in a headlock and asked “So, you think you’re the big man?” in response to the battle they had during Liverpool’s 3-1 win on Sunday.
Talk of cliques was rife during the days of Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool’s domestic rivalry, and has been confirmed to be true by Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard on BT Sport.
Harry Maguire was quick to brush off the idea that a similar issue was occurring between the Man City and Liverpool players, saying: “everybody mixes”.
He explained: “I think you’ve seen how good the unity of the squad is over the last couple of years.
“It’s been a good two years and the group has grown together and we’re keeping on growing and that’s important.
“There’s definitely no cliques. We all share tables and jokes and laughs together.” [Quotes from Sky Sports Football]
We’ll never truly know what’s going on behind closed doors, but by the footage of the squad training after the incident, it seems any hard feelings between Sterling and Gomez have blown over.
With the impact cliques have had on previous England squads, Gareth Southgate and his team will be sure to minimise the risk of that happening again, even if there is the odd disagreement.
It seems like Sterling’s actions were punished in the right way, although Southgate’s decision to publish the reason for the 24-year-old’s omission from the squad could be questioned.
It’s key the team stick together despite heated rivalry at club level, or we’ll see another generation of promising talent ruin their shot at international glory.
Manchester United fans, what did you make of the news Sterling had been dropped?
