England manager Roy Hodgson believes Ross Barkley is not doing enough to get into England’s first team. Barkley, who is often compared with Paul Gascoigne due to his energy and agility, had a poor end to the season, but he still made the England squad and played towards the end in the 0-0 draw against Ireland. Hodgson also stated that at the moment, there are a number of players that he’ll pick ahead of Barkley.
“At the moment for those three midfield positions at the moment I will choose between [Jack] Wilshere, [Jordan] Henderson, [James] Milner and [Fabian] Delph for the next game.
“I don’t want to try to push Ross Barkley into another position other than one of those three positions, or one where I don’t think he is capable of playing or feel comfortable.”
Hodgson also rejected claims that he was being too cautious with his handling of the 21-year-old.
“I think we have been really good in our handling of Barkley.
“In fact, he hasn’t even got into the (Everton) team, so I think we have done pretty well by Ross. We do believe in him. We do think he is a fine player. At times, I have kept faith in him and kept playing him even when he is not playing in his club team.”
