Time has offered Danny Drinkwater a sense of perspective but retreat, briefly, to late May and that unwelcome summons to Roy Hodgson’s office at The Grove and it was harder to see the bigger picture. The recently crowned Premier League winner had been brought crashing back down to earth with confirmation he was one of those unfortunates to be culled from England’s provisional squad for the European Championship. A player who had been on such a high ended up departing for his summer holidays rather deflated.
Fast forward almost three months and, restored to the national setup by Sam Allardyce for Sunday’s opening World Cup qualifier in Slovakia, he can pluck positives even from that numbing disappointment. “I kind of knew it was coming, when Andros [Townsend] and I were called to the manager’s room, and I did understand it,” he said. “It’s probably best I didn’t finish last season on just winning the title because I might have got sloppy this time round, settling for what I’d done. Actually ending the season on a bit of a low kicked me back into gear to get going again this season. Football is full of highs and lows and there were enough highs last season, so I can’t complain. In saying that, during that tournament in France, I was wishing I was there.”
Drinkwater returned to the England camp this week intent on making up for lost time and establishing himself at this level. While England had laboured in his absence from Marseille to Lens, Saint-Etienne to Nice, he had let his hair down in Ibiza and Portugal, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, basking in Leicester’s title success and surveying Hodgson’s side from afar. He enjoyed the Russia draw in the pub and the Wales victory in a clubhouse fresh from a Portuguese golf course, fielding commiserations from fellow supporters on each occasion. He watched the ignominious elimination to Iceland in the privacy of his own home.
As inexperienced as he is at this level, it was easy to feel England could have done with a player in form and of his ilk. “As tough as that game against Iceland was to watch, I would love to have been involved just to see if I could have made a difference,” he said. “But that whole omission was something I needed to get over. I’d love to lock down a first-choice role in this [England] team now. It’s not going to be easy, I know that, because they’ve got some good quality here, extremely good midfielders, so I will need to bide my time. But I can treat this like a fresh start, as we all can. It helps we have [Michail] Antonio as a new addition to the squad, and he’ll say the same, but there’s a good feeling around the place. We’re looking forward to what’s coming, rather than what has happened.”
Everything about the season ahead feels mouthwatering at present. Drinkwater had to pinch himself watching the Champions League draw last week, Leicester having been handed a tantalisingly winnable group with Copenhagen, Porto and Bruges. They are moving in lofty circles these days. There was even a pre-season friendly against Barcelona in Stockholm which brought the defensive midfielder in direct opposition with Lionel Messi. “That was tough,” he admitted. “He is the best player I’ve ever played against. Sometimes you come up against someone and read what they are going to do after the first time they’ve done it, but he just changed his game every time he got the ball. It just shows why he’s the best in the world.
“I’m buzzing for it all. I’m a football fan, so playing against players like that is perfect for me. I’d watched the Champions League draw in the past, but never with the team I play for involved. Just to see the groups … yeah, it’s exciting. When that music starts as we’re walking out on to the pitch, that’s when the players will start feeling it, properly realising we’re in it.”
They have needed the odd reminder en route that standards have to be maintained from last year’s startling successes. Claudio Ranieri made that point back in Los Angeles last month when the champions’ mask slipped in their attitude to training around a 4-0 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on their pre-season tour. The manager went public with his criticisms. “I did not see the same mentality together,” he said. “Everybody worked hard, but not as a team, and that is the difference.” It served as a timely gee-up, and one Drinkwater took on board.
“He would have needed to do that at some stage after such a successful season,” said the former Manchester United midfielder. “If the lads lacked a bit of concentration, just accepting what we’d achieved and not knuckling down for the season ahead … well, the earlier he did that the better. I don’t think I had taken the foot off the pedal. In LA it was hard. The weather was extremely hot and some sessions might have been a bit sloppy, but it’s one of those things. That’s why he is manager and did what he did.
“Look, I like him. He can be as angry as he wants, I will still like him. He is like a grandad figure for me. It would have been different when I was younger if Fergie had had a go at me. But I have matured a lot now so it is a bit different. When the manager gets angry you accept it and learn from it. I have. These are exciting times.” That goes for Drinkwater when it comes to both club and country. His opportunity awaits.
