The England squad for the 2022 Qatar World Cup will be named on Thursday, and it feels as though all eyes are on one player’s status heading into this tournament.
Every four years you get a player who is in the ‘will they/won’t they?’ conversation, and this time around that player is Callum Wilson.
The Newcastle striker has been out of the England reckoning for quite some time now, but he’s hit form in recent weeks, firmly putting him in the England conversation.
However, in Jamie Carragher’s draft of his squad, Wilson didn’t make the cut, leading to Darren Bent querying his fellow pundit’s decision.
Bent sent a two word tweet to Carragher after he left Wilson out of his mock squad.
Bent is absolutely right to question Wilson’s omission here. The Newcastle striker has been brilliant this season, and he deserves to be a part of this team as either the second or third choice striker.
The numbers don’t lie. Wilson has scored six goals in 10 league games this season. This is a man in form and this is a player who can contribute to England’s chances of doing something at this tournament.
Bent, of course, wasn’t the only one to question Wilson’s absence from Carragher’s squad, another Twitter user also queried this decision, and Carragher explained that he’s fearful of the striker picking up an injury.
The injury concerns surrounding Wilson are valid. After all, his fitness record is more than a little bit sketchy, but if he’s not including Wilson due to his injuries, why is Kalvin Phillips in his squad?
Phillips missed a lot of football last season and he’s played just 20 minutes of Premier League action this season, so why is he in the squad while Wilson isn’t?
Carragher has been a bit inconsistent with his selection policy here, but in the end, Gareth Southgate’s opinion will be the only one that matters.
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