Roy Hodgson is really doing himself no favours.
As if it wasn’t bad enough leaving arguably the best English central midfielder out of the squad, he has now decided to compare West Ham’s captain to Grant Holt:
“We have only got 23 places, 20 outfield players, we can’t unfortunately cap every player who has had a good season for his club. Before the World Cup it was Grant Holt so there is always somebody.”
First of all, Grant Holt did have a good season; in 2011-12, nowhere near the 2014 World Cup Hodgson is seemingly referring to. The Norwich forward was very much a one-hit wonder that year but Noble has been playing in England’s top flight for a number of years at a consistent level.
The Hammers captain had to really up his game this year to get noticed by England and he has duly delivered, becoming a key figure in the middle for West Ham this season. It made sense to give Noble a chance in these friendlies, just to see how he would fare on the international stage. These games are not qualifiers; there is nothing at stake. This just shows how little the England manager rates Noble and ultimately, how clueless he is as a manager as well.
The likes of Danny Drinkwater and Eric Dier deserve a place in the England squad. However, applying that logic of who deserves a place means that Noble simply had to be in there. Jordan Henderson has had a bang average season. James Milner has offered little to England over the years and you’d be hard pushed to find an England fan angry with Mark Noble getting in the England squad ahead of James Milner.
This is what makes it even harder to believe. How Hodgson feels he can pick players that simply haven’t delivered is disappointing. Surely, as an England manager, you should be looking at the players giving everything just to get that chance to represent their country. He has picked a few players who have been there before and have failed before. There is no risk taking, no ambition and it will get the team nowhere this summer.
The Hodgson years have been dark times for the England squad. Yes, he hasn’t had the best crop of players to pick from but there is still no identity or any real project he is trying to build. The quicker he leaves the managerial hot seat the better as this team will get nowhere under his leadership.
Mark Noble’s exclusion is just a slither of the embarrassment Hodgson has served up so far. Expect little to change this summer.
