Tonight England take on France in one of the most emotional international friendlies held in recent years. Instead of a passionate battle between two rivals, we will instead unite, using the 90 minutes to show sport can bring the world together and terror will fail in its attempts to pull us apart. Although not entirely relevant to this article, I wanted to use this opening paragraph to give my support to France and the French after the recent terrorist attack. It is my dearest hope tonight’s game will be an excellent showcase and the first step towards all of Europe uniting to make EURO 2016 safe and truly special.
Having brought up EURO 2016, most Norwich fans (myself included) continue to celebrate for Wesley Hoolahan & Robbie Brady after the Republic of Ireland’s qualification through the play-offs. While their places in the tournament may be guaranteed, I continue to mull over our England contingent. Do Norwich’s players have any chance of making a late impact on the final squad going to France next summer?
After the withdrawals of Jamie Vardy and Michael Carrick from an already injury struck England squad, it became quickly obvious that this international break would not be the opportunity to prepare for EURO 2016 that Roy Hodgson had wanted. Instead we have seen a number of youth call ups transforming these friendlies into experiments to give fans a taste of how England could look in the future. What confuses me however, is that with such an obvious need for pace and width in midfield (to give competition to Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling), Roy Hodgson has called up Jesse Lingard instead of Norwich’s Nathan Redmond.
Before I continue, I want to make it very clear that this is not an article to discredit Lingard. I think he is a very talented footballer and his determination to impress has been a rare bright spark in a dull season for Manchester United so far. I have no doubt in my mind he has incredible potential and could become a star.
This is Lingard’s first call up with the senior national side. So far in the 2015-16 season he has made 6 appearances (4 in the Premier League and 2 in the Champions League). Of those 6 appearances he’s achieved 1 goal and 1 assist.
The same season looks to be more favourable with Redmond who at this stage has made 12 appearances, already double in all competitions compared to Lingard. During the 11 appearances which were in the Premier League, Redmond’s achieved 4 goals and 1 assist. It gets more confusing if you compare last season. Redmond was a key part of a successful promotion campaign from the Championship where as Lingard joined Derby on loan as late as February and failed to make a major impact.
My issue is, no matter how I try to examine the situation; I cannot begin to understand why Lingard has been given this opportunity ahead of Redmond. In a recent interview, Roy Hodgson came to the defence of both Jesse Lingard & Ryan Mason. He stated doing so was part of England policy. Personally, I thought England’s policy was for youngsters to gain experience with the U21’s to aid their transition and prepare them for senior level. If I’m correct, Hodgson still has no justification for this decision. Redmond has been a perfect model professional for young England players. He has consistently committed to the England U21’s which has seen him earn 25 U21 caps scoring 7 times where as Lingard only has only earned 11 scoring twice. Now surely seems the perfect time to reward that commitment and to see what Redmond can bring to the senior side.
I cannot seem to avoid the vast opinion that you cannot earn an England call up unless you represent one of England’s top clubs or you are playing such incredible football that you simply cannot be ignored. I’m led to the conclusion that an English Norwich player can only represent the senior national side on a consistent basis if he isn’t a Norwich player anymore.
To investigate this further, instead of 12 appearances, let’s say Redmond has made just 8 so far this season but as a player for Everton. Would he get a call up? I think so. I also truly think Redmond is of the quality to be a rotation player at a club like Everton. Seeing as Ross Barkley, Phil Jagielka, John Stones & Leighton Baines all receive call ups for England, I can’t see how Redmond would be looked over. Tottenham are another club with numerous England players such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker & Ryan Mason. If Redmond was playing the same bit part role, but this time at Spurs then again I think he would receive a call up.
It’s my opinion that Redmond has the potential to play at the highest level and I would love for him to help take Norwich City to the next level too. I would certainly prefer to buy an England shirt with Redmond on the back as a Norwich fan; it’s probably the only way I’m going to pay for one any time soon. If Redmond continues to develop at the rate he has over the last 18 months, it is going to be a pleasure to watch and it will only be so long that his efforts at Norwich can continue being ignored. However, if Nathan ever gets impatient and starts to develop the same opinion as this article, it’s going to be hard to keep him at Carrow Road in the long term. Let’s hope he never reads this!
