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Why lack of Premier League experience should not stop Zaha

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Wilfried Zaha’s call up to the senior England squad has been a big story for the mainstream media who have been throwing out transfer valuations on the young attacker all season. For many it seems the next logical step for a player that has come on leaps and bound this campaign to be the most talked about individual outside of the Premier League.

Others have come out and questioned Roy Hodgson’s decision to promote Zaha from the under-21 set-up. Some would argue there are others just as deserving of an opportunity or that this is just an attempt to stop Zaha from going to represent the nation of his birth, the Ivory Coast. Of course he still can do this, even if he plays against Sweden on Wednesday, but the theory put out there is that he will be attracted to the England position having experienced it.

However, there is one particular argument against his call up which is, not so much irrelevant, but should not be a factor especially when we are talking about a friendly. The idea that because he is not playing in the Premier League he should be denied an opportunity to represent England should not come into play here.

Firstly, we are talking about a friendly in the middle of November. Had this been a big international week of qualifications, perhaps his lack of top league experience would be a bit more valid. But considering the situation, with more senior players pulling out of the squad and the general bemusement and annoyance of most of the top clubs towards friendly games during the middle of the season, why not give a young up-and-coming player a chance?

Secondly, just because someone is playing in the Premier League it does not automatically make them better than everyone else. There are plenty of examples in all clubs, fans can certainly name them, of players who have no place in the team or do nothing to advance their squad.

A common discussion point about the England team is that the players do not care about representing their country as much as playing in the top league. If this is the case, it would be better for the national team to look elsewhere for talented players. This would not exactly harm the chances of an England success when those chances are fairly slim anyway with the “best” players.

This focus on the Premier League as the best in the world has caused narrow viewpoints that fail to recognise anything outside of those 20 teams or rejects them as not good enough. There did not seem to be as much fuss around players like Raheem Sterling, who is younger and has even less playing experience. This has led to people in the game knowing little about Zaha, and yet expressing their opinions like its fact.

One particular comment came from the infamous Twitter account of Joey Barton, who proclaimed Kevin Nolan should have been called ahead of Zaha because the latter had not scored in the top division like Nolan. Forgetting the fact that they are different types of players in different positions and Zaha was called up because of attacking withdrawals, not midfield ones, perhaps it is likely that Zaha was given the nod ahead of Nolan because he has got many more years in the game to develop?

This call up has one very positive consequence for both players and fans of clubs in the Championship and lower. It shows that you do not have to play in the Premier League to get in the national squad and exceptional efforts will be recognised wherever they are. Only time will tell whether this will convince the extra-special talents at clubs to stay rather than seek that big move early in their career, but it provides hope for the players and fans.

For those that have seen him play consistently, this call up has been on the cards for quite a while and some will even question why it has taken so long, but now it has happened it shows that you don’t have to be part of the clique in the Premier League to get the recognition. We are only going to know how good Zaha and players like him can be if we give them the opportunity.

Daniel Smith – @dmsmith1987

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