Grant Holt and Danny Graham have had eventful careers to say the least. Having spent the majority of their careers in the lower leagues playing for teams like Shrewsbury and Carlisle, they have built themselves up and are currently leading the line for Premier League surprise packages Norwich and Swansea respectively. So why are these two still not being considered for the England squad for this summer’s Euro 2012?
Holt, 30, has won the Golden Boot for Norwich City for the last two seasons as he has been an integral part of the back-to-back promotion winning team that most of the country expected to sink without trace in the Premier League this season. This prediction has been proved entirely wrong as Norwich have gained 36 points after 29 games and look certain to secure another year in the top division.
Holt has scored 10 Premier League goals this season making him Norwich’s top scorer yet again and yes, the majority of these goals have been headers but what never seems to be mentioned, is Holt’s quick footwork that is usually linked to players half his size and an eye for goal as demonstrated by his world class strike against the champions, Manchester United.
Danny Graham, 26, went one better last year finishing the 2010-11 Championship season top scorer with 24 goals as part of a struggling Watford team. He was rewarded with a £3.5 million move to Swansea City where he has joined Brendan Rodgers’ “Swansealona” style team whose delicate tika-taka style has led them to 8th in the Premier League table on 39 points.
This style of football would mean nothing without a quality finisher to convert the chances which can be argued as the reason Swansea had to rely on the play-offs to secure promotion last season. Danny Graham is that man, on 10 Premier League goals this season.
When comparing this to other more high profile English strikers, only Wayne Rooney has scored more goals this season (and we all know why he won’t be lining up for England on the 11th June). This means names such as Bent, Defoe, Welbeck, Sturridge, Crouch and £35 million man Andy Carroll are all lagging behind these two fairly unknown names.
So why aren’t they playing for England again? Simple answer is they do not play for a “big team” in Premier League terms that all other candidates for the squad already do. This is not uncommon of the FA as players such as Ashley Young and Gary Cahill have required a move to a big team like Manchester United or Chelsea before they became England regulars. Media sources also try to suggest that International Football is a step too far for these strikers but having been told that many times as they have risen through the ranks during their career and battled through it, why would that final step be a step be too far?
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