Will the England squad ever be picked on merit?

Is England boss Roy Hodgson scared to leave players from high-profile clubs out of his squad?

As regular readers of my editorial will know, one of my pet hates as a fan of the English national side is the fact that England bosses tend to favour players from the top seven clubs in the Premier League.

That really does annoy me, even as a supporter of one of those top seven clubs.

Even when these players are not in great form they are picked ahead of in-form players from less high-profile clubs.

Form

In recent squads there has been a slight change in the selection process.

Roy Hodgson’s latest squad to face Slovenia in the Euro 2016 qualifier and Scotland in a friendly features West Brom’s young striker Saido Berahino and West Ham winger Stewart Downing, who on current form were very hard to ignore.

Berahino is the top English goalscorer in the Premier League with seven goals from eleven appearances in the English top-flight. He has also been playing well for the England under-21’s, so his selection was a real no brainer really.

Many have claimed had Berahino been playing for a higher-profile club he would have probably been in the England squad far earlier, which may be a valid point.

Downing seems to have hit a real purple patch in recent months. With West Ham now playing stylish football he has flourished this season. The former-Liverpool star has got four assists and two goals to his name. He has often played at the head of a diamond, where has proved very effective for the Hammers.

Aston Villa midfielder Fabien Delph was also recently given his international chance and impressed. Unfortunately the former-Leeds star is currently sidelined through injury.

Unlucky

There are certain players that I believe are unlucky not to be in Hodgson’s latest squad. One of those players is Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand. The Chelsea loanee has made a very good start to the campaign, as part of a Saints defence which has conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League so far this season.

The problem that Bertrand faces is the fact that England suddenly have a number of highly-rated left-backs in Leighton Baines, Luke Shaw and Kieran Gibbs. Hodgson selected all three left, which may be seen as overkill by some.

Baines has been in decent form of late for Everton, so deserves his place in the squad, but questions have to be asked about whether Manchester United starlet Shaw deserves to be ahead of Bertrand in the pecking order considering he has made just five appearances this season.

However, Shaw is seen as a player of bigger potential than Bertrand and is also six years younger. Yet on current form is probably does not deserve to be ahead of the Southampton star for a place in the squad.

Another player who could count himself unlucky is QPR striker Charlie Austin. The 25-year-old was prolific in the lower levels of English football and is currently experiencing his first campaign in the Premier League.

After a slow start Austin is now bang in form in front of goal. The former-Burnley striker now has six Premier League goals this season in ten appearances, with four of those goals coming in his last three top-flight appearances.

The fact that he has scored against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City suggests that he is no flat-track bully. On merit he deserves a place in the England squad ahead of Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert and is even in better form than Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck.

Lambert has spent most of the campaign sitting on the Reds bench and has yet to find the net in the Premier League. His match fitness must have been affected by not playing regular first team football.

Welbeck is another underachiever in the England squad. The former-Manchester United striker has scored just two top-flight appearances this season, although he has collected three assists as well.

With England facing Slovenia and Scotland, surely it would have been more use to Hodgson giving Austin the chance, instead of the underachieving pair who just happens to be at higher-profile clubs?

Fear

It seems that England bosses have a fear of upsetting the big name clubs and players, so the status quo remains in the England squad. That has contributed to the Three Lions failing to win any silverware at a major tournament in nearly 60 years.

Other national team bosses are not scared to leave big name players out of their squads and that is why they are successful. The likes of Spain and Germany seem to pick their squads on merit and not reputation and they have not done too badly in major tournaments in recent years, with World Cup 2014 the exception for La Roja of course.

Underachievers

England is the great underachievers of international football. England bosses need to start thinking outside the box and the high-profile teams. This tactic may just be the key to a more successful and balanced England squad in the future.

Will the England squad ever be picked  on merit?