Sam Allardyce will name his first England squad of his time as manager this evening. Expect some optimism and some outrage that player A & B are in but C & D are not, that's how every England squad is greeted, it's just tradition. One name who Allardyce wanted would have caused huge debate.
Before Allardyce was the only man in the running for the job there were the usual questions about whether or not the national boss needs to be English or not. Personally I think it's probably preferable but not actually a prerequisite for the job. But what about the players?
Obviously you'd have thought they'd need to be English but Allardyce admitted that he was keen on calling up Frenchman Steven N'Zonzi and was only stopped by finding out the former Stoke player had played 32 minutes for France under 21s against Malta in 2009. The new England boss said:
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"We did have a call, and it would have been of interest for me. We did explore it, but it was impossible, and it's dead now.
"Steven is very good, he never got the credit that he deserves because of his size."
The Sevilla midfielder first came to England when Allardyce signed him for Blackburn Rovers in 2009 and the Frenchman would have been eligible for England on residency laws if it wasn't for his 32 minute showing for his country of birth.
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The former Bolton Wanderers boss will make his debut as England manager against Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier a week today and it'll be very interesting to see which players make the cut for his first squad. If Steven N'Zonzi was up for selection don't rule anyone out.
(Via Goal)
Featured Image Credit:Topics:ย Football, Sam Allardyce, England