Wilshere a huge gamble, Rashford not ready - how Roy Hodgson got England squad horribly wrong

I'm afraid to say it but Roy Hodgson has got his Euro 2016 squad all wrong and I fear he is going to make another blooper when he narrows it down to 23 by the end of May.

Looking at the 26 he picked, it's not hard to identify the problems he has landed himself with.

I don’t think the goalkeepers are contentious at all. Tom Heaton comes into the tournament off the back of winning the Championship with Burnley and has a good upbringing with Manchester United so there are no fears about his inclusion. It’s not as if Ben Foster has had a brilliant season with West Brom after all. There’s little room for debate here. But...

One of the most notable features of the 26-man squad Roy named on Monday is that he found room for 11 midfielders but only seven defenders – and even then only three centre-halves in Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill and John Stones. Stones has had a very average season with Everton, Cahill’s Chelsea have shipped a lot of goals and Smalling’s Manchester United would have shipped a lot of goals if they didn’t have David De Gea.

I can’t remember the last time England went to a major tournament with three centre-backs – it’s bizarre. But that is Roy. He often makes selections that don’t make any sense and now he has left us short in defence, which was our weak spot anyway; there is hardly any cover for injuries. He has suggested that Eric Dier can slot in as a centre-back option but when I saw him in that position for Tottenham, before Mauricio Pochettino made him into a midfielder, he looked very average.

While leaving himself light in the centre, Hodgson has doubled up in the full-back positions when that isn’t really necessary. He should have picked Phil Jagielka, even if he is carrying a fitness problem. He has been around the squad for years and even if he struggled at the World Cup, he would provide important depth. I could even have seen Jagielka in there instead of Stones.

Picking Wilshere makes no sense at all. Having made only one start this season he will have to train intensively to get to the level of fitness England require - but then you worry about him breaking down. Can he really play so many games in such a short space of time? They call it a wild card, but picking Wilshere is more like a crazy card. How can he suddenly play at the Euros when he has barely had a game all season and has barely played any football since 2014?

Henderson is another big concern. He hasn’t produced that much for club or country in my opinion and only returned from another injury on the final day of the season for Liverpool. Taking both of them would represent a huge risk in a squad of 23 players. Having said that, I don’t think Michael Carrick was hard done by in missing out – someone like Danny Drinkwater is a much more dynamic player and really deserves his place.

Eyebrows were raised by the inclusion of Fabian Delph, despite featuring prominently in the early stages of qualifying, and although he hasn’t had an impressive season at all at Manchester City, I think he has a bigger claim than Wilshere purely on the basis of having played more matches. He should make the final cut ahead of the Arsenal man. Wilshere is a massive gamble – it’s like when England took David Beckham to the 2002 World Cup despite his metatarsal injury.

One decision Roy did get right was leaving out Walcott. Sentiment can’t come into the equation as it doesn’t win you any matches. Walcott doesn’t deserve a place because he hasn’t been playing enough football and when you look at it, what has he really achieved over 10 years at Arsenal? Townsend is a good replacement and he can be a good asset. He has impressed at Newcastle and we know that he can offer something a bit different: even if it is cutting inside from the wing and lashing one in from distance.

Why hasn’t Jermain Defoe earned a place? He is experienced, has scored 15 goals in the league this season for a team fighting against relegation and has a vastly impressive goals-to-shots ratio. I think if they are being honest, nine out of 10 people would want Defoe in the squad ahead of Rashford.

As well as he has done at United this season, we don’t want another situation like Walcott at 2006 when he was basically a mascot. We know Hodgson isn’t going to play him: he has got Kane and Vardy, two players who were fighting for the Golden Boot. Let Rashford play with his age group – he will get better experience playing for the Under-21s or Under-20s than he will doing nothing at Euro 2016. Let teenagers develop outside of the intense pressure of a major tournament.

We are always trying to plan ahead for the next tournament under Roy Hodgson. Rashford is a player for the 2018 World Cup in Russia but you have to also address the challenges that are right in front of you and Defoe would have been a better asset this summer.

I would look at Rashford, for the reasons outlined above, and then both Wilshere and Henderson because there are enough players who are playing well who will do better jobs than two half-fit midfielders.