Former England coach Gary Neville has revealed why Mark Noble was snubbed from England’s Euro 2016 squad earlier this year.
The West Ham captain, along with Danny Drinkwater who brilliantly anchored Leicester’s title-winning midfield and was called up to the national side in March, making his debut against the Netherlands but was equally overlooked from the 23-man squad for the summer tournament.
Both players were in fine form towards the end of last season but Neville has revealed that he, Roy Hodgson and the England coaching staff opted for the likes of Ross Barkley and Jack Wilshere because they had invested time into them and they had superior talent.
Neville told talkSPORT: “We didn’t pick Mark Noble, even though he might have been in better form than Ross Barkley, because we invested in Ross Barkley. He was our man, he was the person who was the most talented player.
“We didn’t pick Danny Drinkwater over Jack Wilshere because we had faith in the ability of Jack Wilshere.
The former Valencia manager also stated that you need to invest time in promising players, like Barkley and Wilshere, for the long-term rewards instead of going with the in-form players like Noble and Drinkwater, and gave the John Stones selection over Everton teammate Phil Jagielka as the perfect example.
“That’s not to say no-one can break in, but when you go down the route of investing in John Stones, you can’t then pick Phil Jagielka over John Stones for the tournament.
“You have to invest in John Stones, even though Phil Jagielka might be in better form.”
Despite making 20 appearances for the England U21s, captaining them at the 2009 U21 European Championships, 29-year-old Noble is still yet to be called up to the full international squad.
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