Does Andy Carroll deserve an England call-up?

Newcastle striker Andy Carroll has started the season in really good form scoring four goals.

The giant striker was also last season’s top goalscorer helping the Magpies to the top of the Championship and winning promotion back to the Premier League.

Left Out

Carroll has been left out of Stuart Pearce’s under-21 squad for their upcoming European Championship play-off. That almost certainly means he will be in the full England squad for the clash with Montenegro on 12^th October.

England are currently lacking striking options and Carroll could benefit from the lack of options available to Fabio Capello. He has already impressed for Pearce’s under-21’s and could be in line for a full debut

Highly-Rated

Carroll is still just 21 but big things are expected of the young Geordie. He has been compared to Newcastle great Alan Shearer but he has a lot to live up to being compared to one of Newcastle’s biggest heroes.

Homegrown

However there are two similarities with the Geordie great. Carroll is a local lad just like Shearer and he also wears Shearer’s old number nine shirt. According to reports his whole family are Newcastle fans and are very proud of the striker.

Scotland

Carroll also qualifies to play for Scotland through his grandparents. And Scotland boss Craig Levein hasn’t lost hope of persuading him to play for the Tartan Army. Levein told Sky Sports: “We are continually looking for players to play for Scotland. (With regards to Andy Carroll), nothing is dead in the water.

“Until Andy Carroll plays a competitive match for England he is still eligible and it’s something we haven’t given up on. But I would rather concentrate on the players who are in this squad.”

I can’t see the youngster choosing Scotland ahead of the country of his birth, especially with a call-up to the full England squad reportedly so close. To be fair to Carroll I believe it would be a strange move to choose to play for Scotland.

If he had no other option but to play for Scotland then he should play for the Scots but he has a bright future ahead of him and an England career will probably be part of that future. This could prove academic if he plays for England on 12^th October.

Different

Andy Carroll is a different option for Fabio Capello. He is an old fashioned targetman. He is nearly as tall as Peter Crouch but in my opinion he is more skilful and a better header of the ball.

Since Emile Heskey retired from international football England now lack a proper hold up striker and Carroll could be the man that Capello is looking for. Capello is still at the stage where he is trying out new players after the disastrous World Cup.

I think Andy Carroll deserves a chance to impress up front. With the likes of Jermain Defoe and Bobby Zamora out injured this could be the perfect chance to show what he can do on the international stage.

Does Andy Carroll deserve to be called up by England?