West Bromwich Albion currently sit bottom of the Premier League on 20 points, and have won only three games the entire campaign so far.
West Bromwich Albion fans were no doubt surprised to learn that eight players from their squad were selected by their respective nations to represent their countries during the upcoming international break.
With the club currently planted bottom of the Premier League table, eight points from safety after an utterly abysmal season, do any of the 10 players actually warrant their call-up?
The following are Baggies players who were recently named as a part of their international teams:
Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley (Northern Ireland), Jake Livermore (England), Ali Gabr and Ahmed Hegazi (Egypt), Allan Nyom (Cameroon), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland) and Matt Phillips (Scotland).
Some Premier League players, regardless of form for their club, will gain international call-ups purely down to the size of their country and quality of their national team.
Should Jonny Evans, for example, somehow be playing in a struggling West Brom side in the Championship next term, he would likely still earn an international call-up to the Northern Ireland squad simply due to his experience and footballing pedigree, so his inclusion comes as no surprise.
Jake Livermore, however, having made it into a squad as competitive as England’s, may well come as a huge surprise. Perhaps Livermore’s selection is more of an indicator as to how thin Gareth Southgate’s options are in midfield.
The Baggies man is not a bad player but, with such a sizeable midfield contingent to select from, a player that belongs to by far the worst side in the league should not really be anywhere near the Three Lions team.
The same can be said for Matt Phillips, who has not made much of an impact at either club or international level this season. The 26-year-old was selected in Alex McLeish’s squad over his Baggies teammate Oliver Burke, perhaps due to his ability to be deployed as a central striker. But there is no doubt that Phillips has done little to warrant a call-up to any international side. Had he done so, perhaps West Brom would not be in the position they are.
Finally Krychowiak, who was selected for Poland, was probably included due to what he has done in the past, as opposed to having lit up the Premier League this term.
The former Sevilla man is still owned by PSG and is currently on loan at the Midlands club, yet he probably cannot wait to be sent home at the end of the season with relegation to the Championship looming.
With nearly 50 caps for his country, it is understandable why he made the cut for Adam Nawalka’s squad. However, should selection be down to current form alone, it would be surprising if West Brom had even half the number of international call-ups as they have had this week.
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