In the year of 1966, England won their only World Cup – with substantial influence from their three Hammers. Bobby Moore captained the side to a 4-2 victory over West Germany with the goals coming from Geoff Hurst (3) and Martin Peters – both were West Ham players. In recent years, we have had increasingly less national team representation. In this article, I will assess six West Ham players’ chances of getting an international call-up from Roy Hodgson.
First, I will consider our most recent England representative: Stewart Downing. The 30 year old was a regular for the national team a few years ago but a dip in form during his time at Liverpool saw him dropped after the 2012 European Championships. In 2014, he was called up for games against Slovenia and Scotland and started against the latter. This was a just reward for how he flourished in his new central attacking midfield role. If Downing can recapture this form, then he might be able to nail down a place in the England squad with Euro 2016 in mind.
Another player that has been recently involved in the national team is Andy Carroll. The big centre forward has two goals in his nine international caps and was just showing promising signs of a return to his best with some dominating performances this season. Unfortunately, Carroll is extremely injury prone and is out for the remainder of the season with a knee problem, severely hampering both his development at West Ham and his England prospects.
If he can stay fit for a lengthy period of time, though, he adds another dimension to the likes of Danny Sturridge, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Charlie Austin, Saido Berahino and Danny Ings. Carroll could be deployed as an alternative option if England are struggling to break another team down with passing football. But his chances are wholly dependent on him steering clear of more injuries.
England are struggling to replace Lampard and Gerrard in central midfield and with Wilshere and Carrick out injured, they have resorted to calling up Fabian Delph and Jack Colback. Perhaps I am biased but, in my opinion, Mark Noble has done more than enough to earn a call-up ahead of Delph and Colback. He works tirelessly in midfield and is not rated highly enough by those who do not watch West Ham regularly. Having been overlooked on numerous occasions, Noble may be tempted to opt for a Republic of Ireland call-up instead of waiting around for an England chance.
Another problem position for England at the moment is right back. Kyle Walker, Glen Johnson and Nathaniel Clyne have all shown defensive frailties and none have secured a long-term run in the national team in recent games. Taking this season’s performances into account, I see no reason why Carl Jenkinson should not be given another chance at international football.
He made his only previous appearance as a second-half substitute against Sweden and is still eligible to play for Finland if he is ignored by the national team. Hodgson might be adverse to the idea of calling someone up who is on loan so he might get a shot next season if we can acquire his services permanently and he can replicate the displays he has shown already for us.
James Tomkins is also worth talking about. Gary Cahill is the only centre back who has a confirmed starting place for England and Hodgson should seriously consider trying out James Tomkins alongside him. Tomkins has arguably been better than both Winston Reid and James Collins this season and has matured considerably as a player. He may not be the best centre back in the country but if players such as Chris Smalling are being selected then why should Tomkins miss out?
Lastly, and in my opinion the most worthy of an England call-up, is Aaron Cresswell. Cresswell joined us in the summer from Ipswich and has consistently played to a high standard. His impressive attacking play compliments his defensive capabilities but I imagine that he will continue to be off Hodgson’s radar. The England manager will prefer Luke Shaw, simply because of the hype that accompanies such a hefty price tag and the prestige of playing for a team like Manchester United.
Cresswell and Ryan Bertrand (Southampton) have been exceptional at left back in the Premier League this season but they will both probably fall below Shaw, Leighton Baines and Kieran Gibbs in the order of Hodgson’s preferences – which is a shame because players should be picked on their own merit and not on the reputation of their club team.
