Kelvin Wilson: Is he the new defensive answer for England?

Celtic‘s dream run to the Champions League this season is largely due to the fact that an Englishman at the heart of the Bhoys’ defence managed to shut out Lionel Messi and Barcelona until the last few minutes in a narrow 2-1 loss at the Camp Nou, but then put in one of the bravest performances in European history to help the Scottish champions to a 2-1 win over the Spanish giants and subsequently helping them to a spot in the knock-out round. His name is Kelvin Wilson and the former Nottingham Forest wall has caught the eyes of many a people, none more than England manager Roy Hodgson who is determined to include him in the Three Lions’ next set of internationals in March – World Cup qualifying away matches against San Marino and Montenegro. The 27-year-old Wilson, who joined Celtic in 2011 from Nottingham Forest, now has cemented his place in Celtic’s first choice defensive line up, thus giving him an edge over many of Hodgson’s so called first priority defenders like Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, who are finding it hard to break into Manchester United‘s first team.

With the Three Lions still looking to cement their position on a slippery-looking 2014 World Cup qualifying group, Roy Hodgson might have to call Kelvin Wilson to be at the heart of the English defence against a tough looking Montenegro side on March 26. Any slip up in Podgorica could turn out to be complicated, although not fatal as far as qualification to Brazil 2014 is concerned. Even in Celtic’s unfortunate 3-0 Champions League first leg loss to Juventus at Celtic Park, the 6ft 3 in Wilson impressed so much that Roy Hodgson, on a visit to Glasgow to watch him, informed the Celtic management team that he was seriously considering handing Wilson his first cap for England. The maturity that the boy has shown throughout Celtic’s dream run in the Champions League group stage and also in the ill-fated last-16 first leg underlines the fact that the Scottish champions have unearthed a real defensive gem when no Premier League teams could track him that well when he was plying his trade at Forest. Playing week in and week out at the SPL, Wilson has fulfilled the basic criteria needed to earn a national call-up and has somehow overshadowed more established names in the England central defensive set up in terms of remaining competitive and match fit.

Furthermore, two gigantic performances against Barcelona in the group stage and how well he handled the maestro Lionel Messi, underlined the fact that the Argentinian ace can be stopped in his tracks and Wilson’s heroics were certainly followed to the point when Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane marked Messi in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg clash. Juventus’ 3-0 win over Celtic looks flattering enough with two goals gifted by the home side as Kelvin Wilson’s defensive partner Efe Ambrose was at fault for two of the goals, but the Englishman’s personal performance was particularly eye catching even in adversity and showed enough maturity to handle Ambrose’s case post match when fingers were being pointed at the Nigerian. When the Celtic boss and few others questioned the Italian champions’ alleged hands-on tactics at Celtic Park, Wilson contradicted his boss by terming Juve’s defensive strategy as legal and efficient.

In the English defender’s words, “I think that’s what Italian defenders are renowned for, making sure they get hold of you. I’m a defender myself so I’m not going to say bad things about it. It’s good defending in my eyes. I’ll do the same at the other end but, as a striker, it’s a bit frustrating for Gary Hooper and the rest. That’s football. You’ve just got to get on with it at times. You can’t always moan about decisions.”

This shows that the player wants to emulate the best and learn from the best and what’s better, as a defender, than to learn from the people who are best in the business, the Italians. Mr. Hodgson, please keep this lad firmly on your books as England need a real defensive stalwart looking forward to the 2014 World Cup.