22 goals in 44 appearances for your country and five goals
in seven games for your club would often mean an international call up, however
Stoke City’s striker Peter Crouch looks likely to miss out again ahead of
England’s World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland next week.
The 31 year old has been in fine form so far this season;
however his refusal to be on standby for Roy Hodgson during this summer’s
European Championships means the current England boss rubbishes the striker
every time it comes to picking his squad. Crouch last played for England two
years ago in a 2-1 friendly defeat against France at Wembley.
That game saw Crouch score the last of his 22 goals for his country;
however after netting twice against Swansea last week, it is becoming harder
for Hodgson to continue to ignore the 6’7 striker. England’s disappointing 1-1
draw against Ukraine last month at Wembley highlighted the lack of goal scoring
strikers within the squad. With no Wayne Rooney or Andy Carroll in that
fixture, the exclusion of Crouch seemed even odder.
Crouch offers England a target man as well as goals. Not
many strikers across Europe currently have a better strike rate than Crouch and
Hodgson’s continuous exclusion of him could eventually cost the manager.
Ahead of Hodgson naming the squad tomorrow (Thursday),
Crouch said “Playing for my country is the best thing I have ever done, but at
the moment I just have to keep my head down and play well.
Of course there are those fans that think that Crouch doesn’t
deserve his place in the side after turning his back on his country this
summer. One England fan on a fans forum wrote “It should be a privilege to do
so, so for me if you don’t want a chance at playing don’t bother, plenty of
other players who would love to be on standby I'm sure.”
With Rooney and Carroll fit again it is unlikely that Crouch
will feature in this or any future England squads. Crouch however is unique, he
holds the ball up well, can use both feet and ultimately scores vital goals at
vital times.
I feel Crouch could still offer a lot to England and should
he continue to score goals for Stoke as he has done then Hodgson cannot simply
ignore him, especially after taking on the job claiming he would only choose
the squad on merit and not reputation. Behind Jermaine Defoe, Crouch is probably
the most deserving English striker of a call up tomorrow when Hodgson names his
23 man squad.
What do you think? Should Roy Hodgson forgive Crouch and
select him again or is the boss right to ignore the 31 year old and continue to
look towards the younger players?
@Ryanday100
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