England manager Sam Allardyce is keen to the leave the door open for foreign-born players to enter the national team set-up and has told British media he would have no problem picking a player who qualified only through residency.
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Allardyce took over from Roy Hodgson, who resigned after England’s embarrassing Euro 2016 last-16 exit at the hands of Iceland, and opted to stick with the majority of players used by his predecessor ahead of the World Cup Group F opener in Slovakia next Sunday.
“We have had to make a few hard decisions and none more so than Ross Barkley”, Allardyce said yesterday. “I feel the squad I’ve picked is the right one at this moment”.
As expected, Luke Shaw, fit again after recovering from his horrific leg break past year, is included in place of Ryan Bertrand, while goalkeeper Jack Butland would have been selected if fit. He only made his Premier League debut last September but did not establish himself in the side until the turn of the year. “We’ve looked at all avenues, what sort of pre-season they’ve had, what happened last season, this season, look at balance of the squad”.
Antonio joined the Hammers in 2015 having played for Reading, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton and Nottingham Forest since beginning his career at non-league Tooting & Mitcham.
The 26-year-old scored nine times in 32 appearanes for West Ham last season and has netted headers in his last two games, against Bournemouth and City.
“The journey”, said Allardyce, when asked to explain why he selected Antonio.
“His journey is something that deserves to be in this squad and me to have a look at as a potential player going forward”, Allardyce said.
Reports on Sunday alleged that Allardyce had attempted to call up French midfielder Steven N’Zonzi, now of Sevilla but who could qualify for British citizenship from his combined six years at Blackburn and Stoke – however, Federation Internationale de Football Association blocked the move due to N’Zonzi’s previous appearances for the France under-21 squad.
He added: “Should we say attacking midfielder or striker? Sometimes it’s hard to do that because he’s such a talented player but we need, as players and teammates, to try to guide him through it and let him focus on the football”. That is something I may consider changing, the format of the squad.
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As expected goalkeeper Joe Hart was retained despite losing his first-team place at City under new manager Pep Guardiola while, equally unsurprisingly, Allardyce opted against recalling John Terry, the retired former England captain, after indicating he could contact the Chelsea center-half.
