London: An emotional Michail Antonio expressed his delight after being named as the only uncapped player in Sam Allardyce’s first England squad, although the West Ham player’s fairy-tale inclusion for the World Cup qualifier against Slovakia was overshadowed by the shock exclusion of in-form Ross Barkley.
Jack Wilshere has also been dropped by Allardyce but, in truth, the 24-year-old did not expect to play as he has featured little for Arsenal this season, making just two cameo appearances amounting to 37 minutes.
Nevertheless, it means that the new England manager has left out two of the country’s most technically-gifted young midfielders with his first selection, which will certainly provoke debate about the style of football he wants to play.
In contrast to predecessor Roy Hodgson, Allardyce has picked wide players, although Barkley has become a victim of his selection.
Wayne Rooney was, also, interestingly listed as a midfielder in the 23-man squad to face Slovakia away on Sunday, with recalls for Danny Drinkwater as well as Theo Walcott and central defender Phil Jagielka.
All three had been left out of the squad for Euro 2016. As expected, Luke Shaw, fit again after recovering from his horrific leg break last year, is included in place of Ryan Bertrand, while goalkeeper Jack Butland would have been selected if fit. Also out from the squad chosen by Hodgson for the finals in France is Marcus Rashford, who will play for the England Under-21s, and James Milner, who announced his retirement from international football. Allardyce (right) has kept his promise to select Joe Hart even though the goalkeeper has been marginalised by Manchester City and faces a fight to play against Slovakia ahead of Fraser Forster. Allardyce has redressed the balance of the squad somewhat by selecting eight defenders and just three strikers — as opposed to the five that Hodgson took to France — in perhaps an insight into the way the new manager will deploy his team. Leaving out Barkley, who did not play in France but has been impressive for Everton so far this season, is all the more of a surprise given that Allardyce was at Goodison Park on Saturday to watch the 22-year-old, who again played well in the 1-0 win over Stoke City. “Anybody, Jack Wilshere, [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain would like to get back in,” Allardyce said about Barkley’s omission. “We will continue to monitor the players wherever they are playing. We will keep an eye on everybody and who’s to say the squad will be the same next time. Hopefully everybody will be in good form and keep the pressure on me.” Antonio’s selection is also something of a surprise given the indications from the Football Association were that Allardyce was not minded to include any uncapped players. The 26-year-old winger scored again for West Ham United in the 3-1 defeat by Manchester City which Allardyce and his coaching staff watched on television at St George’s Park yesterday before they named the squad. “I think he’s in outstanding form,” Allardyce said of Antonio who only seven years ago was back on loan at non-League club Tooting & Mitcham United and only joined West Ham last summer when he was signed by Allardyce’s successor, Slaven Bilic. “This is another lad with a great journey — it’s a fantastic journey that he’s been on, from non-League to now an international call-up,” Allardyce said. “He scored nine goals in his first season and he’s a terrific athlete, a good crosser and a goalscorer. “I’m looking forward to him coming, and looking forward to meeting everybody. Hopefully we will have a good few days’ preparation and get to know each other on the basis of trying to go and win in Slovakia.” Antonio, who struggled to get into the West Ham team at the start of last season following his pounds 7million (Dh33.6 million) move from Nottingham Forest, said he was “overwhelmed” at the news. He only made his Premier League debut last September but did not establish himself in the side until the turn of the year. Amid suggestions that he was going to go out on loan, Antonio said he would prefer to fight for his place. “I got slightly emotional when I found out,” Antonio said. “It’s just one of those things that I’ve always dreamt of playing for England as a kid, so now for it to happen after I’ve worked my way from non-League to where I am now, I am just so happy. “I didn’t think that it would happen this quick, but I always said to myself that if I could get into the Premier League and keep playing the way I do, hopefully I could get into the England squad. I turned down an approach from Jamaica in March.” Allardyce decided against a call-up for another West Ham player, Mark Noble, preferring to bring back Drinkwater, who was unfortunate to miss out on the Euros and has been in good form for champions Leicester City. This week Allardyce will confirm who will captain his team with the expectation that he will, at least for now, continue with Rooney. The Slovakia tie represents, probably, the most difficult fixture in a qualification group for England which also includes Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta. Allardyce decided against the offer of a friendly at Wembley this week against Croatia as he wanted more time on the training pitches to work with his players before facing Slovakia — who drew 0-0 with England at Euro 2016 — in Trnava. It is such a pivotal match as it sets the tone for the new regime as England start out on the path to qualify for Russia in 2018.
