Euro 2020 Qualifiers: 3 players who were lucky to be selected by England

The first international break of 2019 is now upon us, and, for the most part, attention this week will turn to the beginning of the qualifying campaign for Euro 2020. Gareth Southgate’s England side face the Czech Republic on Friday and Montenegro on Monday, knowing they already have at least a playoff spot in the bag thanks to their success in the UEFA Nations League in 2018.

Southgate announced his squad last Wednesday and with England now having a huge glut of talented players to pick from, choosing which players go with the senior squad is no longer an easy job.

England fans will always debate over which players should be chosen for the squad, and although most followers of the Three Lions will have faith in Southgate, it could be argued that at least a couple of the players chosen this time probably hadn’t earned their spot.

Here are 3 players who perhaps didn’t deserve to be called up to the England squad – this time at least.

#1 James Tarkowski

James Tarkowski has struggled for Burnley at times this season

Burnley’s James Tarkowski made his international debut during last March’s friendly fixture against Italy, and while he performed admirably despite conceding a penalty, it wasn’t quite enough for him to force his way into England’s World Cup squad.

Following the international retirement of Gary Cahill and the slip down the pecking order of Phil Jones, Tarkowski was back in the fold for the Nations League games in September and October, but slipped out again for November’s fixtures.

He’s now been recalled, but despite an upturn in form recently, it’s a little hard to justify his position when you consider a couple of the players who have been left out. Most notably, there was no maiden call-up for Wolves’ Conor Coady, while Lewis Dunk of Brighton was also left out despite appearing in England’s November fixture against the USA.

To be fair, this isn’t a slight against Tarkowski as stats-wise, the three men appear to be on a similar level in defensive terms – with Tarkowski having an advantage over Dunk and Coady when it comes to average tackles per game.

But Southgate values defenders who can play out from the back – hence the reliance on John Stones, Harry Maguire and Joe Gomez – and while Dunk has a pass success rate of 82.5% and Coady 84.4%, Tarkowski lags behind on 69.3%.

Throw in the fact that Tarkowski’s Burnley side have conceded more goals (59) than any other side in the league outside of the notoriously leaky Fulham, and it’s a little hard to justify choosing one of their defenders for the national side, especially when there’s not a dearth of talent. Tarkowski has yet to let Southgate down, however, so he does have that on his side.

#2 Fabian Delph

Fabian Delph was selected for England due to his strong past performances

Okay, so it’s notable that Fabian Delph of Manchester City actually withdrew from the England squad earlier today due to an injury, and he’s since been replaced by Southampton’s dead-ball expert James Ward-Prowse. But the point still stands as he was initially selected, and in all honesty it’s hard to explain his spot.

When questioned about Delph’s selection during the press conference following the squad announcement last week, Gareth Southgate justified it by stating that while the midfielder/defender hadn’t played a lot of football for Manchester City recently, he was one of England’s most outstanding players during their November Nations League victory over Croatia, and thus it would’ve been hard to leave him out.

That’s very fair – Delph was indeed fantastic during the Croatia game in the role of pivot in England’s three-man midfield, but since mid-January he’s struggled badly for playing time at the Etihad. The last time Delph played a full Premier League game for City was on December 15th, and after his Boxing Day sending off he’s appeared just 4 times – only playing the full game in City’s FA Cup tie with Burton Albion.

For me that just isn’t enough football to justify a spot in the England squad despite his past performance for the Three Lions. It’s obviously academic as Delph is now out with injury anyway, but perhaps a little too much faith in his World Cup veterans might be the lone criticism fans could have of Southgate right now.

#3 Ross Barkley

Ross Barkley still hasn't quite lived up to his early potential

After a few years in the international wilderness, Ross Barkley returned to the England fold in October, largely thanks to the way he forced himself into Chelsea’s first team plans under new boss Maurizio Sarri. But despite 23 Premier League appearances for the Blues this season – scoring 3 goals and making 4 assists – it still feels like Barkley hasn’t quite reached the potential he once showed at Everton as a youngster.

It’d be easy to justify Barkley’s selection as a creative midfielder – particularly with Jesse Lingard out with injury – if England had no other options, but it was surprising to see his name in the senior squad on Wednesday when Leicester’s James Maddison has been selected for the Under-21 side instead.

Arguably this season’s most outstanding English creative midfielder, Maddison has Barkley trumped in almost every area if you go by statistics; he’s got more goals, more assists, averages more shots on goal, more dribbles and more key passes per game, and he gets fouled more often too.

Barkley has a better pass success rate, but that’s the only area he appears to be superior in – and at 83.2%, it’s not like Maddison is poor in that area.

Southgate has likely selected Barkley ahead of the Leicester youngster for his higher experience levels when it comes to international football – he clearly recognises Maddison’s talents and perhaps doesn’t want to rush him – but going forward it may be hard to justify the Chelsea man’s selection over and above a player like ‘Madders’.