England manager Gareth Southgate made five changes in
announcing his first squad since this summer's successful World Cup
run.
Defenders Joe Gomez, James Tarkowski and Luke Shaw; midfielder Adam
Lallana and goalkeeper Alex McCarthy were among the 23-man group
named Wednesday for the UEFA Nations League match against Spain on
September 8 and a home friendly with Switzerland three days later.
They replace Jamie Vardy and Gary Cahill, who've said they plan to
retire from international football; Ashley Young and the injured Nick
Pope and Phil Jones from the group which helped England reach their
first World Cup semi-final in 28 years.
"Not too much could have changed from that because we reached the
semi-final and there's only been three league games," Southgate told
a news conference.
"At this stage of the season we felt (five changes) are enough.
There's still a lot we can to recap from the summer with the players
and build on.
"But we won't stand still, we've added some young players. We're
looking to consolidate but also looking towards the future."
Gomez missed the World Cup through injury while Lallana and Tarkowski
were part of the reserve squad for the tournament. Shaw returns for
the first time in over a year while Pope has yet to be capped in two
international call-ups.
England squad:
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke City), Alex McCarthy (Southampton),
Jordan Pickford (Everton).
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Joe Gomez (Liverpool),
Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Luke
Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City) James
Tarkowski (Burnley), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker
(Manchester City).
Midfielders:
Dele Alli, (Tottenham Hotspur), Fabian Delph (Manchester
City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool),
Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben
Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City).
Forwards:
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester
United), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).