England had a great time recently after coming back from a 2-0 deficit against Germany to beat them 3-2 in Germany. That result was powered by a lot of new faces in the team, well relatively new faces as a different looking England side looks set to blow the competition away in the Euro.
Jack Butland is set to miss the tournament and that might make the competition for the goalkeeping spot a little less hard to predict but there are other positions that have a lot of competition and one such role is that of the right-back.
Nathaniel Clyne has been one of the most consistent defenders in England since making it big with Southampton, even after signing with Liverpool, he has been one of the better players for the Reds but there is a lot of stiff competition from Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier, the two Tottenham lads.
Walker, especially, has had an incredible season so far as he pushes Tottenham closer to the Premier League title and who knows, if he keeps playing like he has all season, the team from London could well be lifting the title in May but for all that is good, Roy Hodgson has to make a tough decision as to who gets that all-important slot for the Euros.
The new kid on the block or the seasoned veteran?
When Clyne made his Premier League debut with Southampton, well no one expected him to be this good. The 24-year-old turned out impressive performances for a couple of seasons and that led to his move to Liverpool.
The English defender certainly showed that moving to a bigger team does not diminish his ability but he hasn’t sparkled this season for the Reds either. The best right-back in the Premier League easily is Kyle Walker and the stats back it up as well.
The 25-year-old defender averages more interceptions than his teammates Trippier and even Clyne. He wins close to 68% of his aerial duels when compared to Clyne’s 29%. This is even greater than Trippier’s 53%.
He even has a better pass completion percentage than Clyne but the Liverpool defender does have a greater success rate when taking on players as he averages 51% when compared to just 34% for Walker.
One thing which might work in Clyne’s favour when deciding the final spot in the XI is the fact that he has been playing well since he broke into the Premier League. He provides more stability to the team as well and that could be really important for the team.
Walker might be a one hit wonder but he does make a strong case for playing in the team thanks to his form this season. It will be a tough decision for the England manager but he might have to go with his head rather than his heart and start with Clyne.
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