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Tactical talking point: England four new call ups



Fabian Delph, Jack Colback and Danny Rose walk off the England team bus before training. Photograph: Ian Walton/Getty Images

With Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard both announcing their international retirements over the summer, the early – and most unwelcome – international break was always going to bring new opportunities for England’s next generation. The four uncapped players – Fabian Delph, Jack Colback, Danny Rose and Calum Chambers – have started the season well, but before the season few observers would have expected them to have impressed sufficiently by the end of August to make it into Roy Hodgson’s squad.

For Aston Villa fans, international recognition has been a long time coming for Delph. The midfielder hasn’t been given his chance with England, perhaps because he plays for one of the Premier League’s less glamorous clubs. He and Jack Wilshere are alike in the way they carry the ball forward directly, with Delph averaging 1.7 successful dribbles per game last season (Wilshere made 1.9).

Delph also suffers from a lack of end product. It took him until last season – his fifth at Villa Park – to score his first league goals, though they were impressive strikes. His two assists last season were also his first for the club in the league. With Wilshere’s development stagnating, it is refreshing to see Delph, who makes more tackles (2.9 per game last season) and interceptions (1.7) than Wilshere (1.3 and 0.4, respectively), given his chance. Delph isn’t quite at Wilshere’s level on the ball – and he is two years older – but if he is given a chance to play with better players he could emulate the Arsenal man. He breaks up play brilliantly – better than any of the England midfielders who played at the World Cup – and he could be a success at international level.

Jack Colback started life at Newcastle fairly well in their opening weekend defeat to Manchester City. That performance had Alan Pardew waxing lyrical about the former Sunderland player, and the attention he was given probably alerted Roy Hodgson. Since then, though, Colback was severely below par in a limp, goalless draw at Aston Villa, and then he was one of their worst players in the 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace.

Tongue-in-cheek murmurs of his “Ginger Pirlo” nickname are clearly ridiculous, even if Hodgson expressed his pleasure at the comparison. Whereas Pirlo’s effectiveness is clear to see, Colback’s greatest strengths are fairly difficult to highlight. Technically he is adept but little more, though he does work hard and has a great attitude, so it is easy to see why English managers such as Hodgson and Alan Pardew like him. Quite what he will bring to England is unclear, and it is not at all obvious that he will improve the squad.

Calum Chambers and Danny Rose also enjoyed bright starts to the season before fading in recent appearances. Chambers was lauded for stepping up so valiantly to play at centre-back in the absence of Per Mertesacker, despite having played at right-back for Southampton. He did well in difficult surroundings at Besiktas, but struggled at Goodison Park, where he dived into tackles too rashly, perhaps explaining his high tallies for tackles per game (2.3) and the number of times he is dribbled past per appearance (1.3) this season. He is a great prospect but opponents have already exploited his lack of experience this season. He is probably only ready to play out wide for the time being.

Rose did well in Spurs’ opening victories against West Ham and QPR, picking up an assist in the second game, but he was found out in a catastrophic defeat to Liverpool. No player should be judged on one poor performance but Rose has struggled against the better sides before. Though he wins the ball back well – averaging two interceptions per game since the start of last season – he struggles in possession. He has completed 80.2% of his passes this season and is rarely the player to start attacks with an incisive ball forward. Given that Spurs also signed Ben Davies over summer, it was a surprise to see him start every league game so far, let alone seeing him called up to the England squad.

For the players new to England, these are exciting times. After the disappointment of the World Cup in Brazil, England needed renovation and reinvigoration, with new players taking over the mantle before their qualification campaign for Euro 2016. These four debutants, however, are unlikely to inspire the team to much greater success than an underperforming England team have managed in the last few decades.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings.

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