Tottenham Hotspur are the highest-placed Premier League club without any players in the England World Cup squad. Roy Hodgson announced the 23 players that he would be taking to this summer’s World Cup in Brazil earlier today, with Liverpool perhaps unsurprisingly leading the way in terms of representation with five members of their squad, with one also on standby.
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, who also captains England, is joined in the Three Lions squad by team-mates Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Glen Johnson, while young full-back Jon Flanagan is in reserve if someone drops out through injury.
Champions Manchester City only have two players in the squad – goalkeeper Joe Hart and midfielder James Milner – while their local rivals United can boast a representation of four, with Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. Arsenal and Chelsea have just two players each in the squad, with the Blues’ Ashley Cole being a notable exclusion from Hodgson as he looks to focus on youth.
Many of the country’s most promising young talents are coming from Everton and Southampton. Saints left-back Luke Shaw is brought in instead of Cole, and is joined by team-mates Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, while Jay Rodriguez could possibly have been joining them and making it an impressive four Southampton players if he hadn’t suffered a season-ending injury last month.
Tottenham will perhaps be disappointed not to see the likes of Michael Dawson, Aaron Lennon, Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend included in the squad, though injuries have not helped the latter two. Still, it is a significant step down from the 2010 World Cup, when Spurs had five players in the selection. West Bromwich Albion are the lowest-placed Premier League club with a player in the squad – Ben Foster – and Celtic’s Fraser Forster is the only player not currently based in the English top flight.
