2 midfielders I wish were eligible for the England national side

In the current England squad it is clear to see that we are blessed with obvious quality midfielders. However, with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard drawing to the end of their careers, I thought I would marvel at the other promising talent that other countries are blessed with.

I seem to be favouring more towards looking at the defensive midfielders that I am envious of around the world, especially when, in my eyes, Gerrard has been played too deep for England.

He has a clear ability to shoot from distance and can thread a ball through the eye of a needle, reasons behind why I think he would suit more of a number ten role for England. On the other hand, I tend to lean towards disliking Gerrard for England when he’s played in a deeper role, as he does have tendencies to go walkies and stay out of position.

Arsene Wenger has also said Jack Wilshere’s future position will be behind the front man, so his current selection for both Arsenal and England as a proper bread and butter central midfielder seems to be only a stopgap until he is needed as a number ten.

This does leave a hole to be plugged for when Gerrard/Lampard retire. Tom Cleverley is no where near good enough to in the England squad, in my opinion, and although Michael Carrick is decent enough, he’s surely not mobile enough for the International stage.

After watching highlights of recent international games, I was looking at the wealth of midfielders that Germany are burdened with, with İlkay Gündoğan from Borussia Dortmund the standout player.

The Germany international is probably one of the highest rated midfielders in the world right now and has every facet of midfield play – he is robust with a low centre of gravity, meaning he is tough to shrug off the ball and can eat ground up like nobody’s business, and he also has a wonderful understanding of the game.

He can also screen the back four exceptionally well for someone of his age. He has even been deployed as a full-back, and has als been known to play behind the striker on occasions. It’s a shame he has no English heritage and his ties with Germany saw him eligible to represent them instead of being with his birth nation of Turkey.

On the other hand, watching Bayern Munich last season I grew incredibly fond of Javi Martinez. In my opinion, he may just be better than Sergio Busquets and should be the starting midfielder in the Spanish side for the upcoming World Cup.

Martinez is one of the most effective midfielders I have seen played in a double pivot midfield at Bayern. Alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger, one would act as the shield for the back four with the other’s job to be the shuttler between the three midfielders more advanced up the pitch.

The bullish Spaniard possesses the Yaya Toure-esque ability to play well at centre-back when needed, which,if he was English, would be very handy – especially when our centre-backs go through phases of having ‘mares on the international stage.

Sigh, looks like I’ll learn to deal with Cleverley then.