It’s always nice to see a new name or two when an international squad gets announced. Fresh faces breaking up the monopoly of the same old names brings a new dimension to the national side and can re-energise a tired and stale looking squad. In-form additions and previously unconsidered options can often provide the difference at major tournaments or qualifying campaigns.
The latest name to break into the England set up is of course Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater. The Foxes midfielder has rightly been rewarded for his fine showing at club level, a call up to Hodgson’s Three Lions squad for the upcoming friendlies with Germany and Holland no more than his play has deserved.
He will hope to play himself into contention for the Euro squad with a good performance or two in the upcoming games and there is a good chance he can do just that, provided he can re-create the form he has shown at club level for the national side. But there is also a danger that he may become just another name on the list of ‘one-cap wonders’ that litter the annals of English football.
In fact England has an astounding 349 players, in it’s long history, that have achieved this unfortunate feat. This does go back to the very early days of football in the mid to late 19th-century so may be a little skewed, but compare it to Germany who have only had NINE players gain a single cap in the 108 year history of their national side, and you can see the stark difference.
Drinkwater must hope he can avoid joining recent members of the club – the likes of Ryan Shawcross, Joey Barton or Kevin Davies, to name but three – and perform well enough when he is given his opportunity over the international break. Looking at his displays in the heart of Leicester’s midfield this season gives hope that he can avoid becoming the 350th name on that list, but there are, unfortunately, a number of obstacles that could stand in his way.
For one, Roy Hodgson has an allegiance to his tried and trusted players, so breaking into the set-up on more than just a temporary basis could be easier said than done. Having recently stated that the door is not closed for Jack Wilshere to force his way into contention for the Euro squad and given that the Arsenal midfielder has not played a single minute of club football this season, it shows an incredible loyalty (or perhaps stupidity and/or shortsightedness) on his behalf to still have the injured 24 year-old in mind for the summer tournament.
Likewise, the inclusion of a ‘so out of form it’s embarrassing’ Theo Walcott in the latest squad shows a preference to players that have performed well in the past, as opposed to emerging or in-form players – why not give the red-hot Michail Antonio a shot in the up-coming friendlies for example? Or Mark Noble? Or Troy Deeney? Yet again, it smacks of the ‘big-club bias’ that is often levelled at England managers, many of the names gaining a single, or perhaps a couple, of caps from far less fashionable sides that the more established players who receive multiple call-ups.
Hodgson is not alone in his allegiance to trusted players or favoured clubs of course, but Danny Drinkwater must hope he doesn’t fall foul to the recency bias displayed by Three Lions bosses. With two friendlies at the end of this month, and another three immediately prior to the Euro’s themselves, there is a chance he could earn a handful of caps should he catch the eye in at least one of the upcoming games, so at least has a chance to avoid the dreaded single-cap, but could still fade away from international reckoning on the whole.
Eric Dier is likely to get the start in the deep-midfielder role, but Drinkwater should at least get a chance of a start against either Germany or Holland. Jordan Henderson and James Milner are Hodgson’s favourites and will likely feature heavily too, but you can only hope Drinkwatrer is given a fair shot at showing what he is capable of. With so many exciting attacking midfielders to contend with as well – Alli, Barkley, Lallana and so on – it could be hard to force his way into the squad beyond this set of games.
Thus, there is unfortunately every chance that the in-form Foxes midfielder will be just another name in the long list of England players to appear on the scene, only to disappear from international football as quickly as they arrived. With Leicester’s likely regression to the norm’ next season, it’s probably now or never for the 26 year-old Drinkwater, as he looks to stake a claim in the England set-up for the Euro’s and beyond, but I wouldn’t put any money on it.
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