5 players who need to prove themselves before Euro 2016

Life in international football can be tough. You can spend 2 years qualifying for a tournament and all of a sudden you either drop out of form or an injury leaves you watching the tournament from home wondering what on earth happened? Players need to consistently perform for their clubs to make a bid for starting positions with their national teams. Most national squads often have more than 2-3 players competing for all positions so the battle to make it at the national level, especially in a competitive tournament is difficult.With the European Championships in France just a year away, there are many players who were once regulars in their national teams but have fallen out of favour, this might be the last chance for them to stake a claim for a chance to represent their country at Euro 2016.Let’s take a look at 5 players who need to prove themselves to their international managers this season to make their national team’s squads.

#5 Eliaquim Mangala

The French centre half was bought from Porto for a massive sum by Manchester City and has done nowhere near enough to justify even a fraction of it. With just 5 appearances for the national side he’s struggled to displace players such as Laurent Koscielny, Mahmadou Sakho, and Raphael Varane.

Taking into account the way Manchester City operate there’s a good chance they might not wait for Mangala to develop into the player they were after and sign an immediate replacement for him, leaving him with even less minutes than what he’s already getting, and a hard job of proving to his national manager he’s his man.

If that happens and Mangala could find his playtime even more limited next season in Manchester he could be in trouble and may not even find himself in the squad at all, let alone on the bench. If Mangala get’s the opportunity to secure the starting centre-half spot beside Vincent Kompany at all this season he can’t pass it up at this stage in his career. It’s sink or swim for Mangala and he most likely knows it.

#4 Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge had a phenomenal season when partnered up with Luis Suarez in the famous SAS partnership. But since Suarez left for Barcelona the English striker has struggled to stay fit and get a run of games together. With 5 goals in 16 games for England the 25-year-old has done okay for his international side, but not mouthwateringly great. No doubt if Sturridge keeps fit and hits the form we know he can he will most likely be called up.

However with the arrival of Harry Kane into the international limelight, the potential for players like Charlie Austin or Saido Berahino to get themselves into the squads, and not forgetting the players already in the set up such as Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, and Theo Walcott, It’s a hefty level of competition for places in the forward areas.

With the summer signing of Christian Benteke at Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge would face competition for the star striker role even if he does stay fit. Whatever happens it’s a very crucial season for Daniel Sturridge's career both domestically and internationally.

#3 Lukas Podolski

The former Arsenal and Koln man recently joined Galatasaray after a loan spell at Inter Milan. Podolski has found it difficult to nail down a place in squads over the last 3 or so years since his move to Arsenal. But that’s not stopped him getting into Germany Squads, 125 appearances and 48 goals for his country at 30 years of age is an impressive statistic.

But with only 4 appearances this year and 1 goal. National manager Joachim Low may decide to leave him off the list of players getting called up and go with younger players such as Kevin Volland or Julian Draxler as well as the usual definite calls up’s such as Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze. It’s a tough list of players to compete with and Podolski moving to Turkey may be just the move he required to get minutes and goals to keep him on the manager’s radar.

However it’s not exactly the most attractive league in the world and the quality of opposition isn’t the most testing for an international player that’s country intends to go all the way and win the tournament. If Podolski is to make the Germany squad his stage to shine would be in the Champions League, a competition he actually has a really good record in.

#2 Fernando Torres

El Nino may have been one of the best strikers on the planet during his Liverpool years but those days are long gone. A big money move to Chelsea saw the pressure get to him and he subsequently struggled to bag the goals he used to. A failed and confusing loan move to AC Milan now out of the way he has since re-joined old club Atletico Madrid and at 31 has seemed to kick start the final years of his career.

With 110 caps for Spain and 38 goals, Torres has a good record for his country. He even made it into the Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament and won the Golden Boot at Euro 2012. But with just 4 appearances in 2014 and none in 2015, questions will be raised if Fernando Torres can make it one last time into a Spanish tournament squad. But with players such as Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata to compete with it’s going to be a difficult one for Nando to pull off.

Maybe Torres will have to adapt his game as an impact player, coming off the bench to net those important winners. If he can prove himself to be a useful asset for Atletico Madrid this season there will no doubt be calls from the Spanish public for him to at least find a place in the squad.

#1 Mario Balotelli

The Liverpool striker undoubtedly makes the list and it’s amazing to think a 24-year-old who has won the Champions League, Serie A, Premier League, and been a runner-up in the Euros could struggle to make it into the national side’s squad for a tournament. But that’s just what might happen for Italian forward Mario Balotelli.

33 appearances and 13 goals since 2010 may not be enough to grant him a place in the squad for Euro 2016, especially after the emergence of Simone Zaza, Dominico Berardi, Graziano Pelle and many other names that are fighting it out for other places. His form at Liverpool has been terrible since signing from AC Milan last summer, and it’s something former Juventus coach and current Azzuri manager Antonio Conte will be wary of when picking his squad before the tournament.

Would Mario Balotelli be better off moving somewhere else to get a fresh start ahead of Euro 2016? With the arrival of Christian Benteke it’s tough to say if Mario Balotelli would succeed with less playing time than what he struggled to shine in last season.