West Ham are heading to the World Cup

Now that England have actually gone and qualified for the next World Cup, let’s take a look at who from the Hammers line up we might see play for England next summer.

We’ve currently got 14 English players (English even by Jack Wilshere’s strict standards) pulling on claret and blue shirts in our first team, so there’s a lot of potential for a West Ham player to be the star of the show for England in the 2014 World Cup. West Ham have won the World Cup for England before, so could they do it again in 2014?

Andy Carroll is probably the most likely member of the squad to play for England in Brazil. He’s made 9 appearances for England, and has scored 2 goals. He was included in the England squad at the 2012 European Championships but, as we are all painfully aware, is still out injured. This has of course affected his ability to appear at both club and country level. Provided Carroll can put his frustrating foot injury behind him, I’d be surprised not to see him in the England team for next summer.

Stewart Downing is a more experienced possibility, as he has 34 England caps already to his name. He stopped featuring as often internationally with Roy Hodgson’s arrival as England manager. As he gets more regular first team football with West Ham, and provided he keeps fit, Downing could be a great asset to the England squad.

Joe Cole has Downing’s caps beaten with 56 of his own, but has not featured for England since 2010. Hodgson was the manager who brought Cole to Liverpool in 2010, but Cole’s lack of regular first team football has kept him out of the England squad. Hodgson has also criticised Cole in the past, saying “he has come here [Liverpool] after an unsuccessful period at Chelsea with high hopes of taking Liverpool by storm and unfortunately it’s not happened” as well as criticising Cole’s concerns about playing out of his “right position” (Guardian.com)

Ravel Morrison is the player I’d most love to see go to Brazil next year, even if it’s as a wildcard inclusion. He’s young, but turning heads everywhere he goes. He shows a masterful maturity even up against tough, experienced opposition, and he’s only going to get better. He’s played for England U-16, U-17, U-18, and currently U-21s. He scored two goals for the U-21s against Lithuania this week, and was voted Man of the Match. I hope he makes it to Brazil next year, but equally importantly, I hope he does so as a West Ham player.

James Tomkins has represented England at lower levels, but has not yet broken into the full team – arguably owing to a lack of form in recent years. He has however, represented Great Britain at the Olympics. The current England defensive line-up does not leave a lot of room for Tomkins to break in to, but we’ve seen good things from him this season, and with James Collins reportedly nursing an injury after being on duty for Wales, we’re sure to see Tomkins get more regular football and have a chance to impress.

It would be remiss of me not to mention some of our other more senior English players (Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan, and Matt Jarvis) as being potential contenders but I don’t think any of them will play a role in the England team. None of them have stood out enough at club level, and although Noble has the strongest U-21 record of all our English players, not all West Ham fans back him to play for our club, much less for our country.

What do you think – will there be any Hammers on the pitch for England next summer? If so, will they be the above names, or do you think Noble, Nolan, Jarvis, or our old buddy Carlton will find a way to feature?