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#3 Luke Shaw (Manchester United – England caps: 8)
If England fans were asked to recall their team’s squad for the 2014 World Cup, most of them would probably forget that Luke Shaw – then of Southampton – traveled to Brazil as the backup left-back.
Just 18 years old at the time, Shaw was then seen as the future for England in terms of the left-back spot. But in the years that have followed, injuries and a loss of form have restricted him to just eight caps.
Shaw has not played for England since September 2018’s loss to Spain, but surely it’s time to change that now.
The 2020-21 campaign has seen him perform at a remarkably high level for Manchester United. Shaw appears to have worked heavily on his strength and fitness, and it’s clearly paid off.
He’s appeared in 25 of United’s Premier League games and has scored one goal while also delivering five assists. At times, he's looked unstoppable when he goes forward.
But Shaw has also proven to be a strong defensive left-back, too. He averages highly when it comes to tackles, interceptions, and clearances per game. His recent performance against Manchester City was outstanding too.
With Ben Chilwell not on the best form right now, it seems like a no-brainer to call Shaw back into the England set-up – and to probably install him as the first-choice left-back, too.
#4 Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa – England caps: 0)
With the likes of Jadon Sancho, Danny Ings, Tammy Abraham, and Marcus Rashford likely to miss out on the upcoming games, Gareth Southgate will probably look at bringing in some new attacking talent into his squad.
And one player who could add plenty to the England squad is Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
Signed from Brentford in the summer of 2020, how well Watkins would do in the Premier League was always a question mark.
But Watkins has taken to life in the top flight like a duck to water. He’s already scored 10 Premier League goals and registered three assists. He would have had even more strikes were it not for questionable VAR offside calls.
His finishing, admittedly, is not always perfect, but he’s proven that he can score goals against top opponents such as Liverpool and Arsenal.
And more to the point, Watkins’ work-rate as a forward is almost unheard of. No other Premier League striker harasses opposing defenders quite like the Villa striker, who has also not missed a single minute of action this season.
Able to play as a wide forward as well as a central striker, Watkins would offer something different to the likes of Rashford and Raheem Sterling. And so Southgate should give him his chance this month.
#5 Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Manchester United – England caps: 0)
It’s a fact that England have plenty of talent to choose from right now when it comes to right-backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is well renowned as one of the world’s best in the position, Reece James has done well for Chelsea, and veterans Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier have still been included in recent squads too.
But while some fans have talked up the chances of Matty Cash (Aston Villa) and James Justin (Leicester), it seems baffling that Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka has not been called up yet.
A veteran of the 2019 U-21 European Championship, Wan-Bissaka was called up to the senior England squad that year too, but was forced out with an injury.
Now though, it should definitely be time to call him up again.
He’s enjoyed a great season for the Red Devils again in 2020-21, appearing in 27 Premier League games. He’s scored two goals and registered two assists – showing his attacking play is improving. But it’s defensively where he really shines.
Wan-Bissaka averages 2.9 successful tackles, 1.7 interceptions, and 1.7 clearances per game. Essentially, no other English right-back comes close to those stats.
And it’s not like he can’t pass the ball either, with an average pass success rate of 84.2% being stronger than that of Alexander-Arnold, for instance.
With Southgate still seemingly considering deploying Walker as part of a back three, surely Wan-Bissaka – with his far better tackling skills – would be a better choice for the role than the Manchester City veteran.
It seems ridiculous that a player of this kind of talent hasn’t been capped by England yet – but surely that will change this month.
