Everton defender Phil Jagielka has claimed that he is not to hopeful about his international career after being demoted to the bench due to a string of poor performances especially at the World Cup 2014. The 32-year-old has been a first choice for England ever since the retirement of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. He has formed a partnership with Gary Cahill of Chelsea, but England’s defence was heavily criticised during a poor World Cup. It appears that Jagielka is paying the price for this negativity after being on the bench for the recent round of European qualifying matches.
The former Sheffield United player is aware that time is certainly not on his side right now. Roy Hodgson has been looking to favour youth players in order to build for the future. This certainly was the philosophy during the World Cup 2014 squad selection, as a number of experienced players like Michael Carrick were left out. England are not appear to be targeting just the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, but the tournament and beyond. In his absence, United defender Phil Jones has been getting regular run out in the England team. Jagielka says that he cannot much apart from training well and playing with his best ability.
“I am not particularly confident. It is up to the manager and all I can do is play well for Everton. I don’t feel the World Cup has left a mark. It is an obvious assumption to make because it has not been great. It does not feel nice, that is the easiest way of saying it, but the [England] manager has a job to do. If he is looking to build for the future, that can work against me, but if you start looking too deeply at things, it is not going to do me any favours,” said Jagielka.