England boss Gareth Southgate warns Jack Grealish and Man City booze boys ‘there is a line’ ahead of Malta clash
GARETH SOUTHGATE has warned Jack Grealish and the Manchester City booze boys: The party stops here.
The Etihad’s Treble winners spent three days on the sauce celebrating their Champions League triumph.
But the England boss insisted he is not worried about their physical condition ahead of the forthcoming Euro qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
And he says his former team-mates would have been in a lot more trouble if their boozing had been splashed all across social media.
Southgate refused to reveal if he believed the City players had gone too far this week but said: “There is a line and we’re always monitoring where every player is at.
“I have spoken with the players and we’ve talked about where the focus needs to be.
“We’’ve acknowledged what they have experienced and that’s for me to manage but anything I might say to the players I would do privately.
“I don’t think it would serve any purpose discussing that publicly, really.
“We’re a bit in unknown territory because although we’ve had players in the Champions League final before, we haven’t had a team that has won the treble.
“Things will never be the same again for that group of players and everything changes in their lives.
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“There are so many things going on this summer that could potentially distract us if we allow it to, but I’ve not seen that this week with any of the players.”
The bulk of Southgate’s squad gathered at St.George’s Park on Sunday but Grealish and his City team- mates John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips did not have to report until late on Thursday evening.
As a result, none of them are in contention to start tonight’s game and Southgate said: “We don’t know what the emotional dip is going to be for them.
“They need to recover, sleep and eat well to get them ready and I’ve seen enough to know what could help us against Monday and then a few days further on against North Macedonia.”
Southgate also pointed out: “A few of our players are teetotal but what is different from my playing days is that everyone posts everything on social media now.
“I wouldn’t have liked a few of my nights out to be posted publicly. My generation would have been in a lot more problems.”