England squad: Eight players Roy Hodgson should have called up

We're not saying they should go to France... but they would have been worth a look

(Getty Images)

Roy Hodgson named his England squad on Thursday morning and, like usual, there were plenty of calls that the Three Lions manager had favoured players at big clubs over those impressing further down the table.

Hodgson may have brought two new faces into the squad, in Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater and Tottenham Hotspur left-back Danny Rose, but there are a number of players who probably should have been looked at by Hodgson more closely in the run up to the European Championships.

After all, what more is Hodgson and his staff possibly going to learn about players like Gary Cahill (30-years-old, 40 England caps), James Milner (30-years-old, 57 caps) and Theo Walcott (27-years-old, 42 caps) that he didn't know already? Here, we look at eight players who have been impressive in the Premier League this season and who warrented a call-up for the friendlies against Germany and the Netherlands.

Where better to test whether these players might have an international future than against two of Europe's true heavyweights?

English centre-backs (Squawka)

As the stats from the Squawka Comparison Matrix show, Steve Cook and Scott Dann are statistically on par with England regulars Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka on a per game basis in the Premier League, despite each playing around 1,000 minutes more. Dann averages more blocks than the rest of the trio, while Cook - despite being the shortest of the bunch at 6ft 1in - wins more of his headers and also makes the most clearances. Cahill, meanwhile, commits the most fouls per game, although Jagielka leads three statistical categories.

Statistics from WhoScored show that Mark Noble is having a much better season than Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson. Not only are the Hammers three positions and four points ahead of the Reds, but they have also beaten them twice in the Premier League and dumped them out of the FA Cup in the fourht round. Noble has more goals (four) and assists (three) than Henderson (three goals, two assists) but he is making more key passes (1.4 to 1.1 per game), completing a higher percentage of passes (86.1 to 78.9 per cent) and making more tackles (2.5 to 2.2) and interceptions (2.1 to 1.3) than Henderson; Noble has also played 1,300 more minutes of football in the Premier League.

Up front and Watford captain Troy Deeney has played more games (29), scored more goals (eight) and made more assists (six) than Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and Arsenal's Danny Welbeck. Between them the two players have played just 10 games, scored five goals and added zero assists. On a per game basis Deeney's stats also far outweight the starry pair, although he has obviously had much more game time and the trio are vastly different in terms of style.

(STATS PER GAME)	Troy Deeney	Danny Welbeck	Daniel Sturridge
Shots	2.5	2	2.3
Aerial duels won	6.2	0.8	N/A
Total passes	35	13	17
Key passes	1.6	0.3	0.5
Passing accuracy	60%	71.2%	74.8%
Times dispossesed	1.7	2.5	3
Bad touches	1.9	1.3	2.2
Clearances	1.2	0.3	0.2
Tackles	1.3	1.3	0.3

As the table below shows, Deeney is much more involved in the game over 90 minutes than either Welbeck shows. He averages more shots, key passes and average passes, while he is a monster in the air, winning 6.2 aerial battles per game - the highest number in the Premier League. He also tracks back better than the other two, averaging a tackle and a clearance per game.

Whether they deserve to make the final 23 for France is a completely different question. Many of these players haven't had the long-term success or experience necessary to take a risk on them in such a big tournament. But two, largely meaningless, friendlies in March? It seems as if Roy Hodgson may have missed a chance to get up close and personal with some of these players.