At 35, Jody Craddock has seen enough players in his time, so we might want to listen to his words of wisdom and believe that at least one of the two players he last week spoke to The Express & Star about can make the step up to the England squad.
Craddock gave ringing endorsements for winger Matt Jarvis and skipper Karl Henry, both of whom he believes can make reach international football.
Craddock said of Henry ‘Karl is a fantastic player in front of me… He`s a good passer and comfortable on the ball and he tracks back. He gives you everything you want in a midfielder…..He`s a fantastic player and fingers crossed he can get into the England squad. He`s still only relatively young so why not?”
Craddock was also full of praise for Jarvis, discussing how close he came to making the recent England squad and his value to Wolves, “Matt was in the provisional squad – I saw it in the paper and texted him to tell him….
It proves how good he is and he`s certainly highly-rated among the players at Wolves and he can become an even better player. Look how far he has come – the club gave him a five-year contract last week which shows the respect they have for Matt and that`s why we want to hold on to him.”
For two reasons I do not think Henry will ever be given the chance. Firstly, despite his assertion that he would be bringing fresh blood through the ranks, a shabby tale in order to keep his job in my opinion, Capello has his favorites and few others will realistically be given the opportunity to shine through. Secondly, the reputation Henry is unfairly developing will not work in his favor and will almost certainly rule him our of contention- an odd comparison but similar to the fact that Brian Clough was never given the opportunity to manage England because of his nature and character.
In my opinion, Jarvis is the only one who has a realistic chance of being selected, and it would appear he came close two weeks ago. At 24, he is a player the management will feel they can nurture, and capitalize on for the next ten years if he proves his worth. In the mean time, his performances thus far have only gone to strengthen his case. If he continues to terrorize defenses as he has in the first five games, he can not be far away from the call up.
As always, hit the forum and share your thoughts.
New York City Wolf
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