Roy Hodgson plays it safe with England squad selection

England boss Roy Hodgson has named his squad for the Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia next week.

There were not many surprises with the only new names in the squad being Southampton full-back Nathaniel Clyne and Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.

Form

Nathaniel Clyne has been in top form this season as the Saints have enjoyed a superb start to the season.

However, the former-Palace star has been very consistent for the past few seasons at full-back, covering both right and left-back.

Shelvey has improved steadily for Swansea in the last 12 months and has helped the Welsh side to enjoy a decent start to their Premier League campaign. The 22-year-old ironically made his only senior international appearance for the Three Lions against San Marino.

Under-21’s

A number of players have been selected for the England under-21’s who were considered possibilities for the senior team. The likes of Saido Berahino, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers will all be playing for the junior team, rather than the seniors.

West Brom striker Berahino is the top scoring English striker in the Premier League this season, having found the net four times this season for the Baggies in the top-flight. The youngster appears to have a bright future in the game.

Chambers has made a solid start to his Arsenal career, after breaking into the Southampton first team last season. He would have provided the England squad with versatility and cover for a defence which has not exactly been watertight in recent games.

Shaw has just returned from injury and has made just one Premier League appearance for the Manchester United since his big summer move from Southampton. Shaw of course went to this summer’s World Cup with the senior side, but his lack of game time this season has saw him return to the under-21 team.

Benefit

Although young players may benefit from playing senior international football, they are very unlikely to gain much from games against the lesser teams like San Marino and Estonia. They would maybe gain more experience from playing in a competitive game against Croatia in the under-21 qualifying play-off.

A number of the full England squad are still eligible to play for the under-21 team. The likes of John Stones, Jack Wilshere and Raheem Sterling could all still be selected for the junior Lions.

If England’s under-21 team did chose the strongest possible team then maybe they would be actually achieve better results at tournaments. However due to a dearth in quality in the senior team and young players being overhyped by the media they tend to get fast tracked.

Unfortunate

There are a few players who may feel slightly unfortunate not to be included in the latest Three Lions squad. One of those players has to be Swansea winger Nathan Dyer, who has enjoyed an outstanding start to the campaign for the Welsh side.

He has looked a constant threat down on the wing for Swansea and surely deserves his chance to impress for the national team.

The selection of Andros Townsend ahead of Dyer really is questionable, especially considering Townsend is not exactly first choice at Tottenham and when he has played he has not been that impressive.

Usually I would suspect it is because Townsend plays for Tottenham and Dyer plays for Swansea. However considering Dyer’s Swansea teammate Shelvey was called-up that cannot be the case. What does the winger have to do to earn a call-up to the Three Lions squad?

Another player who is unlucky not to be included is Stoke City centre-back Ryan Shawcross, especially with Everton centre-back Phil Jagielka being in poor form. Shawcross may be a no-nonsense centre-back, but sometimes that what a defence needs.

If Shawcross played for a bigger club then it is likely that he would have had a call-up to the England squad by now. The former-Manchester United defender has been one of the most consistent centre-backs in the Premier League over the past few seasons.

Comfortable

Considering the modest opposition that stands in front of England in the next few games, surely it was the time to give the likes of Shawcross and Dyer a chance? Obviously Roy Hodgson did not think so. It is a shame for the players, as it appears their faces do not fit.

On paper England should claim comfortable victories in the next two games, whoever features for the Three Lions. It seems Hodgson has missed an opportunity to give some deserving players their shot on the international stage.

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