beIN SPORTS

By Graham Ruthven (@grahamruthven)

Three Lions on the shirt and 23 men on the plane. That’s how many England will take to to France for this summer’s European Championships, but for the moment they have 26. Roy Hodgson made the announcement of his provisional squad last Monday and from that number three more will be cut. 

Until that cut is made England’s training camp will be like the Hunger Games, with players scrapping to prove they are worthy of a place in the final squad. There are some who are guaranteed a place - Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Joe Hart - but the rest could find themselves the victims or victors of Hodgson’s fluid and interchangeable system.

There were few surprises in his 26-man selection, although the inclusion of just three central defenders (Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling and John Stones) stuck out as a potential weakness. Hodgson argues that Eric Dier, primarily a central defender, can slip back into the backline if needs be, but nonetheless England appear lightweight in defence.

Elsewhere, however, there is reason to be positive. Hodgson has embraced England’s identity as an attacking outfit throughout qualifying, winning all 10 fixtures, and his squad selection suggests he will do the same for the tournament itself. In Kane and Jamie Vardy, England have two of the most potent centre-forwards in Europe, with Dele Alli, Ross Barkley Raheem Sterling among the continent’s brightest young talents as well.

But it is the selection of another young prospect that caught the eye most when Hodgson handed out his squad list. Marcus Rashford, despite making just 1 senior appearances over the course of his entire career, has been picked and will now fight for a place in the final squad. His inclusion says quite a lot about England’s balance as a team.

Hodgson delayed the public unveiling of his provisional squad until Monday. It’s entirely possible that he did so in order to allow as much time as possible to determine the severity of Welbeck’s injury, such is his importance to the England national team set-up. When it was bad news, with the striker ruled out for nine months, Hodgson was forced to reshuffle his pack.

Rashford was the beneficiary of that, with the United forward coming into the squad on the basis of his tactical flexibility over someone like Jermain Defoe - a more conventional number nine. "The competition is quite strong, he'll understand that,” Hodgson explained regarding Rashford’s selection. "There's no reason why he can't knock someone off their perch, but it will be harder than some people might expect."

The Manchester United teenager is England’s wildcard in much the same way Theo Walcott was for the 2006 World Cup, making the trip to Germany with Sven Goran Eriksson’s side at the age of just 16. However, his case is much stronger than Walcott’s ever was at that stage.

Rashford has proven himself with every opportunity he has been handed so far. He has netted seven times in just 16 appearances for United this season, including goals against Arsenal and Manchester City. He has shown himself to be the man for the big occasion and the occasion doesn’t come much bigger than the European Championships. He deserves another opportunity to prove himself.

This is England’s most exciting major tournament squad in a generation. Hodgson has gone for youthful exuberance over stagnated experience, perhaps naively, but he should be applauded for his boldness. Too often in the past England have played it safe at major tournaments, but nobody could accuse Hodgson of such a crime this time around.

Rashford is the embodiment of that new mantra. He is something of an unknown quantity, but just as with any risk there is the potential for a pay-out. There is also an uncertainty over how well England as a whole will do this summer, with Hodgson’s team unpredictable in their very nature. But that’s better than knowing they’ll fail.