Roma director criticises Tammy Abraham’s exclusion from England squad

Follow us on Google Discover

AS Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto has slammed Gareth Southgate’s decision to drop Tammy Abraham from the England squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, even with the rumoured Tottenham target struggling this season.

Speaking to TuttoMercatoWeb, the Serie A official blasted England for not selecting Abraham for England’s 26-man World Cup team, with Marcus Rashford and Callum Wilson being selected as Harry Kane’s backup for the centre-forward position as Brentford’s Ivan Toney was also snubbed for the squad.

A target for Tottenham as reported by CalcioMercato, the £100m-rated Roma star has endured a rough season for the Italian giants, with Abraham scoring just four goals in all competitions for Jose Mourinho’s side as Southgate stated that a lack of form was the reason why the former Chelsea star wasn’t selected.

Despite the reasoning behind Abraham’s exclusion, Pinto is still fuming that Roma’s star striker wasn’t selected to travel to Qatar, with the attacker now set to watch the Three Lions from the sidelines as England look to win only their second-ever World Cup.

Pinto said: “A call-up to the national team cannot be justified with what happens at the club. We are satisfied with Abraham, thinking that he can improve. If Abraham does not go to the World Cup because he scored less, then Smalling should be the starter.”

The Roma sporting director concluded with: “We do not say anything about the national teams, but I do not justify talking about what the boys do with Roma to justify a call-up which may or may not arrive.”

Southgate right to exclude Abraham from England’s World Cup squad

Whilst Southgate’s reasoning for dropping Abraham could raise questions over why other out-of-form players were selected for England, the Three Lions manager is in his right to drop Abraham for the World Cup, especially given how important it is to have forwards who are firing on all cylinders for a competition as unique as this one.

Indeed, we have never seen a winter World Cup before, and logic dictates that players who have been scoring regularly in the first half of the season at club-level will likely be the star of the show out in Qatar. Which means that Abraham’s exclusion is justified.