Southgate was asked if Henderson would be selected for future squads despite being booed by fans.
England manager Gareth Southgate has insisted he’ll continue to pick Jordan Henderson for England games. The former Liverpool captain was booed during the friendly clash with Australia.
The midfielder was captaining the English side in a friendly fixture at Wembley and fans booed on him. He was substituted in the second half and faced public criticism for his summer move to Al Ettifaq.
Henderson’s move to Saudi Arabia has been met with extreme disappointment from the LGBTQ+ community. Saudi Arabia have a different rule for the community.
While talking to the press ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifying clash with Italy, English boss Southgate was asked if Henderson would be selected for future squads despite being booed by fans.
He said: “Yes, 100%. I’ll always pick the players that I think are the best players to represent the team, that give us the best chance of winning, unless there’s something that I feel is not appropriate.
“In this instance, people may disagree with Jordan’s stance or decision, given the stance he’s taken in the past to support the LGBT community, but I don’t think that’s a reason to not select him.
“I don’t actually think that’s a reason to boo him. We would like the fans behind us, we’re a stronger team if the supporters are with us and wholeheartedly supporting the team. That’s the connection we’ve had over a long period of time now.”
Earlier, Southgate showed support to Harry Maguire who also faced criticism from fans. The defender scored an own goal at Hamden Park.
Asked whether or not he is keen to pick players in spite of fans’ thoughts on them, he replied: “We’ll assess Jordan like any other player. If I just select on a popularity contest our team would look very, very different.
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