Sam Allardyce’s first England squad has been revealed, and as you will know by now, there are one or two surprises in the 23-man team to face Slovakia.

Marcus Rashford misses out, preferred in the U21 team, which is understandable, but another familiar face in Ross Barkley misses out too.

The usual suspects are still involved – the likes of Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling – even if the inclusion of the former as a midfielder is strange given Jose Mourinho’s stance on the matter, clearly indicating he does not see the captain as a midfield player.

The inclusion of Michail Antonio and Theo Walcott ahead of Ross Barkley is stranger still.

Whilst the talented Everton attacker has not yet fulfilled his huge potential for club or country, he is arguably in the best form of his career, having started the season so well for the Toffees.

In contrast, Antonio has struggled at times for West Ham, playing in a more defensive role than he prefers, and Walcott has stagnated for the last couple of years, failing to nail down a starting position for Arsenal on a regular basis.

But rather than focus on the weaknesses of the players selected instead of Barkley, consider the fact that he has a lot to offer in his own right. He certainly would be an improvement to the team with his quality and eye for a pass.

Barkley, like Walcott and Antonio, is direct and powerful with the ball, but has a more reliable end product. More goals could of course be added to his game, but then you could say that about virtually every player in the squad bar two or three.

The youngster is the creative player that England sometimes lack; Allardyce’s decision to overlook him is not permanent (he should still go on to play many times for his country), but peculiar nonetheless. It should not affect the result against Slovakia, but in the long-term Barkley needs as much game time as possible to build on a promising start to the campaign.

The only reason that Barkley could have been left out was that England felt that other players can do the same job just as well or better. Perhaps the likes of Adam Lallana, Dele Alli and Wayne Rooney can, but there was room for one more.

To leave out one of the brightest prospects that England has is not something that Allardyce should be doing too often: if John Stones had been left out, the uproar that would have ensued would have been far greater. Yet leaving Barkley out is not that dissimilar.

It sends out a negative message that Barkley’s sometimes inconsistent youthfulness is seemingly not trusted by the England manager. Other young players might look at the situation and wonder whether the door has closed on them too, at least for the time being.

Under Ronald Koeman, the Everton number eight has looked more confident and assured of himself. The Barkley that emerged a couple of seasons back looks to have returned.

Being left out will no doubt knock that confidence slightly – you would be worried if he didn’t care – and that sets a dangerous precedent. Leaving a talented flair player at home is not something that England supporters desire especially after failing to break down the likes of Iceland in the recent past.

Above all, Ross Barkley can feel very hard done by to fail to get into the squad; he deserves to be part of it. Keep improving as he has done so far this season, however, and he should be a certainty for the next squad, and squads for seasons to come.

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