A squad of England outsiders who need to up their game for place at next summer’s World Cup.
With qualification for next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil almost secured, England manager Roy Hodgson will spend much of the rest of the season visiting Premier League grounds up and down the country looking for potential surprise inclusions to make the final cut of his squad for the tournament. The former Fulham and West Brom boss has shown he isn’t scared to make some surprise call-ups, with youngster Ross Barkley earning a call for these qualifying matches just gone, as well as veteran Southampton striker Rickie Lambert being given a rather fairytale introduction to the international scene late on in his career.
There are plenty of players out there (too many even for this squad) who are just on the verge of being England quality. Some of them are promising youngsters just starting to find their feet at their clubs, and some are recent international outcasts who will be hoping to reach their best form again at the crucial moment. Here is a look at a starting eleven and subs bench made of these England ‘hopefuls’.
Defence
With most of England’s talent pool seemingly made up of midfielders, we’ve gone for just three at the back in this lineup, which features Manchester City pair Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott either side of Tottenham captain Michael Dawson.
Richards looked like an England star of the future when he first broke onto the international scene as a youngster back in 2006, although injuries and some inconsistent form with his club have seen him pick up only 13 caps in total, and feature only very sporadically over the last few years. Still, as a very capable right-back or centre-back, if Richards can get his place back at City, or maybe even make a January move elsewhere, he has the potential to make himself an important part of the team if he finds his best form again this season.
His team-mate Lescott is also rather unfortunate to be out of the England fold due to issues with his club. Despite looking one of City’s most solid defenders in their title-winning season of 2011/12, he was dropped by Roberto Mancini the following season and is seemingly not rated highly by new manager Manuel Pellegrini either. An experienced and versatile player, Lescott had really started to enjoy being an England regular over the last couple of years, and now seems unfairly out of the picture, with a difficult challenge to get back in to Roy Hodgson’s plans.
Dawson, with only four caps to his name, is bizarrely out of the picture with England, despite being a key player for Tottenham for so many years now. One of the best centre-backs in the league and the captain of a top-five side, it is hard to know what more the 29-year-old can do to get on that plane next summer.
In goal, promising youngster Jack Butland may feel he is in with a real chance of displacing the struggling Joe Hart, but his situation at Stoke at the moment means he is in danger of not getting the regular football he’ll so desperately need at this stage of his career. A loan move to the Championship has been mooted, but will Hodgson consider one so inexperienced?
Midfield
England are somewhat spoiled for choice in this area, with experienced veteran Gareth Barry playing the anchor role, and youngsters Jordan Henderson and Jonjo Shelvey on either side of him. Completing the midfield five is Adam Johnson on the right, and Scott Sinclair on the left.
Barry has just secured a loan move to Everton for the season, and this could be exactly what he needs to show his international credentials again, after a difficult time with Manchester City last season. After missing out on Euro 2012 when he would surely have been a starter, it would be cruel for the 32-year-old to have missed his last chance at a major tournament.
With just five caps to his name, Jordan Henderson is not an obvious choice for the England team in Brazil, but there have been some signs of an improvement in form at Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers, and it’s worth remembering the fine potential he showed when he broke through as a youngster at Sunderland. Although some work is done to make him a starter, the 23-year-old may well show himself at least worthy of a place on the bench for Hodgson’s side.
Shelvey will be hoping to avoid being one of many infamous ‘one-cap-wonders’ for the Three Lions, after making his debut in 2012. The former Liverpool man has been a key player for the Under-21 side for some time now, and looks occasionally like showing some great potential, despite struggling for consistency. Now at Swansea, he may be at the best club to continue his development, and crucially, gain more first-team football in this all-important World Cup year.
Johnson has only ever impressed when playing for England, though that was nearly three years ago now when he also seemed to have the world at his feet at Manchester City. After falling down the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium, the skillful winger now finds himself at Sunderland, arguably not the best team for him to showcase his true potential. A very naturally talented player, Johnson is capable of great moments that can turn a game out of nowhere, but the 26-year-old will need to start showing that more regularly pretty soon if he is to get a chance for England next summer.
On the left flank, yet another England player whose career has stalled at Manchester City. Now on loan at West Brom, the 24-year-old will need to reproduce his best form that he showed at Swansea to finally earn his first cap, which seems like it’s been a long time coming. Unfairly treated at City, there’s no reason Sinclair shouldn’t manage to establish himself as a genuine option for the national team on the flanks or even upfront.
Attack
Upfront we have Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor and West Ham’s Andy Carroll, in a classic big-man-small-man strike partnership.
Agbonlahor only has three England caps to his name, the last coming back in 2009 when he was arguably at his best form for Villa. Still, there are signs this season that he could be back on the up, as he looks to finally put some of his injury problems behind him. Although he is perhaps not prolific enough for a striker, his pace, strength and skill often make him a nightmare for Premier League defences, and he could give Hodgson something different upfront, perhaps as an impact sub. His manager Paul Lambert is impressed with him anyway, and sees no reason why he can’t make the final cut for the squad next summer if he carries on playing like this.
Carroll is certainly a player that divides opinion, but in fairness to him he hasn’t been helped by injuries in recent times and looks set for another lengthy layoff now. Expected back in January, the 24-year-old won’t have long to prove himself worthy of adding to his nine caps and two goals so far for his country, but the tall target man is certainly a useful weapon for Hodgson, as he showed with some strong displays at Euro 2012.
Bench
On the bench we have West Brom’s Ben Foster, Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross, Fulham’s Scott Parker, Tottenham’s Andros Townsend, Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling, Manchester United’s Wilfried Zaha and Fulham’s Darren Bent.
Despite first being called up to the England squad in 2007, Foster has only managed 6 caps for his country, though he has shown some real improvement in form for West Brom recently, and is surely worthy of a backup spot.
Shawcross is another one-cap-wonder after a call-up in 2012, and may simply continue to be unfancied due to his playing for the universally unfancied Stoke, because his fine performances so far in what is often one of the most solid defences in the country seem to continue to go unnoticed.
In midfield, will Parker get one final chance for England after being all the rage not so long ago and briefly becoming captain? Now at Fulham having left Tottenham, he should get more first-team football and his experience could prove useful within the increasingly youthful-looking England camp.
Townsend just earned his first call-up to the squad in these recent qualifiers, though he didn’t actually play. Still, his fine form on loan at Queens Park Rangers last season was enough to get him in the Tottenham team, and if he can continue to feature regularly for a side with title ambitions, he has to be considered.
Still only 18, Sterling was given a rather premature call-up to the England squad last year. The Liverpool winger obviously has plenty of potential, but it would take something really special from him this season to convince Hodgson he’s ready now.
Another exciting youngster providing plenty of competition in the wings is Zaha, who also earned his first call-up last year. He has no doubt shone in the Championship for previous club Crystal Palace, but enough of a challenge faces him in getting into the team at Old Trafford this season, so he has some work to do to force his way past the abundance of competition at international level as well. Still only 20 though, his time will come.
Bent has been in and out of the England team since 2006, making just 13 caps since then and scoring four goals. A terribly limited player, Bent’s goal-poaching could still be useful as an emergency measure, as he shows the uncanny knack of finding the back of the net regularly whilst looking to touch the ball as little as possible. Perhaps his chance has gone, but a loan move to Fulham this season should give him another chance to prove some people wrong, after a year in the wilderness at parent club Aston Villa.
Honourable mentions: Joe Cole, Stewart Downing, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Rodwell, Aaron Lennon, Leon Osman.