It has been the case for a while now that reputation has come before form. The current England squad is littered with players who have not appeared for their clubs consistently, or who are not in form. The likes of James Milner and Joleon Lescott, whilst good players, have earned their call-ups on the basis of reputation and not their club form. This is a severe problem for England, and some would argue that there is a real distinct lack of competitiveness for places.
Those fighting away trying to break into the England side are being prohibited by some players who are in the squad by reputation alone. Ricky Lambert is another good example of this, he’s the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League with 14 goals and has proven that he can score goals in every level of football, whether it be the Championship or the Premiership. However he is still not given the opportunity to perform on the international stage, which many would argue he deserves.
Many will argue that, in the case of Gary Hooper, we’ll have to see him in the Premier League before we can make such a judgement as to his suitability for England. However I would argue that Hooper’s performances in the Champions League, the peak of European football, 4 goals in 11 appearances, have shown that Hooper can perform at the highest level.
There’s no doubting the impact the striker has made at Celtic. His performances have guided the club to two SPL titles and a Scottish Cup victory, in his short time at Celtic Park. League status aside, a goal scorer is a goal scorer- when put in front of goal, more often than not Hooper will score, his record proves this. The England set up and fans alike have often bemoaned our inability to take our opportunities in important matches, yet we are seemingly oblivious to players like Hooper, who has proved on a weekly basis that he can score goals at will and more importantly can score goals at crucial moments- when his team requires it the most.
Whether England manager Roy Hodgson decides to do the right thing and call on the Celtic hitman, there needs to be a distinct change of attitude in the way in which players are selected for the national set up. Players should be awarded the chance to represent their country on the basis of form, not the name on the back of the shirt. Perhaps with the attitude like this, those Englishman at the peak of their careers, such as Ricky Lambert and Gary Hooper, would be given the opportunity they deserve and flourish at international level.
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Good article, Gary Hooper certainly deserves a chance. He can score at one of the highest levels of football, the champions league.
This is a good article, however I don’t feel a new striker really is that necessary. There is potential in the likes of Sturridge, Welbeck, perhaps even part-time Centre Forward Theo Walcott to break the mould and fill this role, and combined with Defoe, Carroll, Crouch and as you say Ricky Lambert i feel there is no lack of players capable of scoring goals. At England now, it is more about actually starting to put together a coherent, consistent set of 11-16 players who when fit can be basically assured of a starting place; for me this includes the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Oxlade Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Tom Cleverley (sorry for only mentioning players from two clubs but these are the only ones in this ‘youngish’ category of player I feel have the potential to gain the guaranteed places i speak of. Hooper may deserve a chance, but he’ll need to prove himself fast as I don’t think adding another striker to the list of about 7 who seem to rotate on a game-to-game basis is what England needs at all. I reiterate, quite the opposite is needed and I think a consistent group of young players need to play together regularly in order to really help mould the next generation of English football.