Sam Allardyce has named his first squad as England manager for the upcoming 2018 World Cup qualifier against Slovakia and there aren’t too many surprises. Luke Shaw and Theo Walcott have made their return to the national team, whilst West Ham’s Michail Antonio has earned his first international call-up.
Manchester United star Luke Shaw was always expected to return to the England squad, after his long injury. His club teammates Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney have also been called up, but Allardyce hasn’t confirmed if the Manchester United skipper is going to remain as the England captain too. Marcus Rashford is a notable exclusion from the squad, and that’s probably due to lack of playing time at Manchester United.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has also retained his place in the team, despite some criticism for his recent performances. Jurgen Klopp preferred to leave Daniel Sturridge out against Tottenham, but Allardyce has named him in his squad. Nathaniel Clyne and Adam Lallana are also on the squad list following their recent impressive performances.
Allardyce has named 5 players from Tottenham in his squad. Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Dele Alli, Danny Rose, and Eric Dier have all received expected call-ups.
Everton’s Ross Barkley is a notable name missing on the list, despite a good start to the season. Allardyce has also overlooked Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Joe Hart might not be in Pep Guardiola’s future plans, but he is very much a part of Allardyce’s squad. Manchester City young stars John Stones and Raheem Sterling have also been called up, and are expected to be heavily involved in the England setup in the next few months.
Danny Drinkwater was left out of the Euros squad by Roy Hodgson, but could earn his fourth cap for the Three Lions after Allardyce named him in the squad. Jamie Vardy has also been named alongside Kane and Sturridge.
There aren’t too many changes to the squad that Roy Hodgson took to France, but England supporters would certainly be hoping for changes in their performances. Allardyce would want to start building from scratch and his first squad has a good mixture of young and experienced players.
Allardyce’s biggest challenge is to make them play as a team, and build a chemistry between them. Something that has been lacking in the England squad for a while.
England have been quite disappointing in major tournaments in the last few years, and Allardyce should work towards building a team that’s capable of delivering performances on a bigger stage.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley).
Defenders Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham).
Midfielders Dele Alli (Tottenham), Michail Antonio (West Ham), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Theo Walcott (Arsenal).
Strikers Harry Kane (Tottenham), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester).
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