Roy Hodgson says he is unlikely to select in-form West Ham striker Andy Carroll in England’s Euro 2016 squad due to the wealth of options at his disposal.
After missing large parts of the season due to injury, Carroll, a member of Hodgson’s party for the 2012 tournament, has impressed for West Ham and scored a brilliant hat-trick in the 3-3 draw against Arsenal at Upton Park last weekend.
That led to calls for the towering striker to be handed a ticket to France due to his aerial prowess and the different option he can provide England’s front line.
However, Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy have been in supreme form for club and country this season, while captain Wayne Rooney, Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck and Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge are seemingly ahead of Carroll in the pecking order.
And Hodgson believes if he were to select Carroll he would receive criticism for omitting one of his other attackers.
“Who do you want to leave out? We have such a wealth of talent in attack, we have all these players you all seem to agree are as good as any,” Hodgson said.
“We know Andy, we know his qualities. In an ideal world, certainly, if you had a lot of places at your disposal you’d include a guy like him because he is exceptional in the air.
“But whether or not I’d be able to include him with all these others I don’t know.”
Carroll has not played for England since the 5-0 World Cup qualifying win over San Marino in October 2012, and Hodgson stated that more respect should be shown to those who impressed during the qualifying campaign for Euro 2016.
“Maybe before we start wanting to throw out the guys who have done so well for the latest shout, the latest ice cream flavour, we should show a little bit of respect to what they have done as well,” he added.
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