Hodgson falls into the same old trap; Ince shows arrogance beyond his years
The England squad has been announced for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and the international friendly against Italy. Disappointingly, manager Roy Hodgson has only made one change of note, bringing in Spurs striker Harry Kane in place of the goal-barren Rickie Lambert.
Three other regulars, Jack Butland, Calum Chambers and Saido Berahino, are seconded to the Under-21 squad for their friendlies against Czech Republic and Italy. One player who will not be in that squad, though, is Derby County midfielder Tom Ince. Under-21 manager Gareth Southgate said,
"He feels at this moment in time he has got some priorities at club level. There is some uncertainty about where he is going to be next season. I have had discussions with Tom and his dad over the last week or so and he has decided he does not want to be considered for the Under-21s.”
Put bluntly, Ince should never be allowed to represent his country again. It is an honor to be selected, and if he feels that taking a week off will improve his playing future, rather than testing himself against the brightest and best young European talent, then good riddance. The arrogance is astounding; I wonder where he gets it from...
Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson has continued to champion his idea that the young core of his squad needs as much experience together as possible, regardless of their club form, as they are the future of the English national team. This explains why Berahino, Ryan Bertrand, John Stones, Ashley Young and Charlie Austin - all in sparkling form for their clubs - have been overlooked in favor of the under-performing quintet of Danny Welbeck, Luke Shaw, Kyle Walker, Andros Townsend and Ross Barkley.
This mentality strikes an unnervingly similar chord to that of seemingly every England manager of the last 20 years: players are picked on reputation to the detriment of everything else.
How many times have we seen England managers try fruitlessly to bludgeon the same, oversized square pegs into the smallest of round holes? Like the insistence of playing Lampard and Gerrard in the same midfield when it was obvious the two weren’t complimentary. And the shamefully unforgettable era where each game a “top midfielder” would draw the short straw and get stuck out of position on the left side, rather than picking a player more suited to the position.
Surely the time has come to pick England squads on merit, especially at this stage of a season where there is ample evidence of a players’ form? With the exception of Barkley, the players have similar attributes, just some of them are playing at a far better standard.
What’s the worst that can happen - England fail to qualify from an already embarrassingly weak Euro group? That’s not going to happen, but if it were the case then England fans would not have to waste thousands of pounds travelling to watch their team exit a championship at the first stage. Again.
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