Nedum Onuoha cruelly overlooked

Nedum Onuoha on loan at Sunderland” width=”300″ height=”187″ />With the latest squad announced by England manager for the friendly against France seemingly in a constant state of flux after a spate of withdrawals, I was somewhat disappointed not to see one name in the 23 man squad – Nedum Onuoha.

Now, this article has not been written because of his stunning run and finish for Sunderland’s first in their fantastic win at Chelsea on Sunday evening, but because with so few options about, I find it strange that the player on loan at the Stadium of Light from Man City has been ignored after displaying some exceptional form this term and not been given a chance to stake his claim for a future role in the side.

Those of you that are familiar with this site may remember that I championed Onuoha’s inclusion for the Mexico friendly before this summer’s World Cup, for no reason other than the national side were desperately short of viable alternatives to Glen Johnson for the right back slot going into the tournament, and because Nigeria were sniffing around the Man City trainee in the hope of naming him in their World Cup squad themselves. Thankfully, Onuoha wasn’t drafted in by Nigeria and as yet, he still awaiting his first full England cap after impressing during his time with the under-21s in the past.

With decent Premiership standard right backs hardly growing on trees at the moment, it seemed unwise to let Onuoha jump ship when we may require his services further down the line.

Glen Johnson incurred the ire of manager Roy Hodgson this weekend after the Liverpool boss questioned whether England’s first-choice right back’s club form was befitting of an international footballer. Johnson, for all his attacking attributes is a weak link in any defence and surprisingly poor against pace considering his own speed.

As a right back, his game is suited more to continental football, where a full back is encouraged to be the attacking outlet for his team, but in the Premiership, he can horribly exposed at times and he remains a debatable figure for both club and country due to the obvious flaws in his natural game.

As will happen with Ashley Cole when he decides to finally retire from international football and hang up his boots, as has happened with Gary Neville and his international career, as the old adage goes, you only realise what you’ve got till it’s gone. There looks to be a ready-made replacement for Cole waiting in the wings in Kieran Gibbs, but wasn’t this supposed to be the case with Micah Richards and Gary Neville? In football, things are rarely as clear cut as this.

Onuoha is explosive, strong, positonally sound and excellent in the air. At 24 years of age, he’s also playing week-in week-out in an excellent Premiership defence. Few, if any of his rivals for the right back spot can say the same.

The humiliating 5-1 defeat to rivals Newcastle aside, Sunderland have conceded just 8 goals in their other 12 matches and they currently have 6 clean sheets to their name, behind only Chelsea and Man City.

Micah Richards, injury aside, which isn’t too unrealistic a possibility with the way things are going at the moment, looks certain to start the game against France on the 17^th, after being the only recognised right back named in the squad, and it would appear that his midweek moan at being consistently ignored for international selection by Capello was nothing more than amusingly mistimed in it’s release. While I welcome the nature of the thought process behind many of Capello’s selections for this latest squad, with the emphasis firmly placed with one eye on the future, I just feel a call-up would have been just reward for Onuoha’s fine form.

Micah Richards is to put it quite simply, an awesome physical presence, but his game has not developed in the way many of us would have hoped by now. He is still a raw talent three years on from his breakthrough season. He is a natural athlete, but to my mind at least, not a natural defender and while he does possess the speed of movement, the speed of thought is sometimes his undoing.

There is a real dearth of right backs capable of making the step up to international level at the moment, this much is crystal clear, and while I’m not saying Onuoha is a world beater, he is the in-form English right back playing in the top flight this season and his exclusion is noticeable. His goal against Chelsea, while unexpected in it‘s execution, will hopefully just draw a little of the spotlight onto the unassuming Onuoha and perhaps Capello will sit up and take notice for future squads.

Written By James McManus

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