Phil Jagielka’s potential call-up highlights England’s weaknesses

Hold the fanfares for Jagielka’s potential arrival

If ever England supporters needed some conclusive proof that their squad at present is nowhere near world class and they are never going to make it out of the Euro 2012 group, then they had it on Monday.

Just that Gareth Barry’s fitness for this summer is such a concern tells its own tale.

The Manchester City midfielder, although a stalwart of their Premier League title win, is not international class, not even close.

But the fact that Phil Jagielka is being trumpeted as the man to call on in this mini-crisis is even more laughable.

The pair of them are effective footballers in what they do, but unfortunately what they do is so far removed from what the best players in Europe can do – it’s frankly embarrassing.

At least Rob Green turned up

Robert Green was his typical self for England over the weekend: shaky, uninspiring and out of his depth.

If he is our second-best goalkeeper that we have, then the standard of shot-stoppers in the country is quite frankly woeful.

To be fair to Green, he did appear to grow in confidence as the game wore on and he decided not to come flapping at crosses and stay on his line and do the simple things.

But every supporter watched on nervously when Green was called into action, and that fear stretched to the England back four as well.

Looking closely at the goalkeeping situation, it’s difficult to be annoyed at Green, especially with the absence of Paul Robinson and Ben Foster.

The pair are proven Premier League performers who have decided to retire from the international game after their failure to attain the England No1 spot.

Their attitude is ridiculous, they make noises about prolonging their club careers but sitting on the bench and occasionally warming up Joe Hart can’t be all that tiring, can it?

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Read more on: England, Euro 2012, gareth barry, Phil Jagielka, robert green, Roy Hodgson.