Roy Hodgson named his England squad for the upcoming 2016 European Championship qualifier against Lithuania and friendly with Italy.
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Seven players unlucky not to be in Roy Hodgson’s England squad: Arsenal, QPR, Everton & Southampton stars included
England Squad
Roy’s preferred style of play has constantly been brought into question during his tenure as coach of the Three Lions with some criticisms that the England team should be playing more attractive, attacking and flexible football rather than the rigid, compact and at times ponderous football.
But does this desire for a solid and drilled formation affect the kind of players Hodgson selects, even those in sensational form?
Below we look at the the top five English Premier League players with the most successful dribbles, and is it any coincidence that only two feature in the Roy’s squad?
Danny Ings (Burnely) – 44 dribbles
Big things are expected of the young Claret and it’s expected he will continue to refuse new terms at Turf Moor and favour a free transfer to a big Premier League side in the summer.
After such a startling first season in the top flight it’s ,however, disappointing this hasn’t been borne out with an England call-up so far.
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) – 47 dribbles
His career looked dead and buried at United but has been back to his best on return to Selhurst Park.
It’s understandable why he missed out on this round of internationals as he still looks to rebuild his tarnished reputation but expect big things of him in the future as he slowly improves his form.
Ross Barkley (Everton) – 51 dribbles
Barkley has been selected and perhaps considering his impressive stats in this instance it has been the right decision.
But it’s frankly been a disappointment of a season for the young, Everton midfielder who has had to contend with seriously indifferent form and continual injuries.
Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) – 83 dribbles
Hardly a surprise Sterling is one of the best in the league and for England with dribbling but whether Hodgson deploys him correctly to exploits this fact is a different question altogether.
Essentially you want Hodgson to copy, play-by-play Brendan Rodgers’ model for how to best utilise the young forward, but that would be too easy wouldn’t it…
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Arsenal) – 83 dribbles
The Arsenal man would surely have been a part of Hodgson’s plans had he not picked up a hamstring injury against Manchester United last week.
However, whether he, like Sterling would be used correctly by Hodgson is questionable.