Andy Carroll is likely to miss out on England’s Euro 2016 squad despite calls for the West Ham United striker’s inclusion after his eye-catching hat-trick against Arsenal. Roy Hodgson praised Carroll’s attributes but the coach appeared to suggest the towering centre-forward would struggle to make the trip barring a spate of injuries.
“Who do you want to leave out? We have such a wealth of talent in attack, we have all these players you all seem to agree are as good as any,” said Hodgson as he prepares for England’s final trio of warm-up matches for the tournament in France.
Pointing out that he had room for 12 midfielders and forwards in a squad of 23, he said: “The moment I decide to go for Carroll, someone is going to be criticising me enormously for leaving out one of the other ones there.”
After an injury-hit season, Carroll has won plaudits since he returned to the West Ham starting lineup, but Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge are likely to be guaranteed places in the squad if fit and Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Raheem Sterling are jockeying for position.
“We know Andy, we know his qualities. In an ideal world, certainly, if you had a lot of places at your disposal you’d include a guy like him because he is exceptional in the air,” said Hodgson. “But whether or not I’d be able to include him with all these others I don’t know.”
Hodgson refused to rule Carroll out altogether, but said it was important to remember the performances of those who helped England to qualify with an unblemished record of 10 wins, albeit in a straightforward group. Before the traditional bout of speculation about who would make the squad before he names his final 23, Hodgson also betrayed irritation at the inevitable calls for inclusion of those who had recently run into form. “Maybe before we start wanting to throw out the guys who have done so well for the latest shout, the latest ice cream flavour, we should show a little bit of respect to what they have done as well.”
England will play Turkey in Manchester, Australia in Sunderland and Portugal at Wembley before they travel to France and Hodgson said his side for the first game would be partly dictated by which players were involved in the European finals and the FA Cup final. He will look to balance the need to ensure that all of his squad receive game time while working towards his preferred starting XI for the opening match with Russia in Marseille on 11 June.
“It is a balance. It will be a lot of thinking on our feet, a lot of discussions, and the more we can get groups of players playing together that we want to play in the opening game, the better it will be,” he said.
But he cautioned that the younger members of his squad who excited in the recent friendly against Germany should be given time to develop together. “All they lack in my opinion is experience and that is nothing we can do for them except give them a chance to play. We do that and the experience will come.”
Hodgson said he, alongside his assistants Ray Lewington and Gary Neville, would have to carefully assess the claims of a clutch of first-choice players who would be returning from injury: Jack Wilshere, Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rooney.
“A year ago they were five players who were getting into every squad,” he said. “Things have happened to them and we have to reassess. If we can be sure they are at the level of fitness and level of capability to produce the performances they produced a year ago and we are convinced they can do it – they will be serious contenders. If we are not convinced we have to give it some thought.”
Hodgson also added to the chorus of tributes for the achievements of Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City and said their tilt at the title had been good for English football. “What Leicester have taught us is that it is not necessarily a direct correlation between the money you spend and the success you have,” he said. “What they have done is more a salutary lesson for football and Premier League football than [for] the English national team.”
