Kieran Gibbs has been selected for England duty for the first time in 11 months and joins fellow Gunners Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck in the Roy Hodgson’s squad to face San Marino next week.
The Three Lions take on the European minnows next Thursday at Wembley as they look to build on their Euro 2016 qualification win against Switzerland last month.
Gibbs has only three caps to his name after making his England bow over four years ago against Hungary but was tipped this week by Arsene Wenger to emulate the achievements and consistency of predecessor Ashley Cole. Gibbs’ inclusion in the England squad comes at the expense of Luke Shaw who drops to the under-21s.
“Kieran would have been with us more had injury not prevented it,” said Hodgson of the decision. “We’re happy to bring him back.”
Calum Chambers and Carl Jenkinson have also been included in Gareth Southgate’s strong under-21 squad as they take on Croatia in the first leg of their Euro 2015 qualification play-off next Friday. Further down the pecking order Isaac Hayden and Chuba Akpom are in England under-20s squad for game against Germany.
Full England squad
GOALKEEPERS
Fraser Forster (Southampton), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hart (Manchester City)
DEFENDERS
Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), John Stones (Everton)
MIDFIELDERS
Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
FORWARDS
Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Welbeck (Arsenal)
Read more at http://www.thefa.com/news/england/2014/oct/england-squad-san-marino-estonia#3cB6rOpagvd1jbV7.99
And Townsend is in the squad because?
… Roy Hodgson is too elderly to bend down and pick up the training cones, so Andros is there to do that for him?
Too many cones… Shelvey will help too.
You could say the same about Rickie Lambert and Lallana… they have been woeful for Liverpool this season and don’t deserve the call up. I think James Ward-Prowse would’ve got the nod for his first call up had it not been for injury.
But surely Nathan Dyer deserved the call instead of Andros Townsend.
Well done to Gibbs, at full fitness is becoming one of our most consistent performers.
Lambert still in there…..
Great for their careers… great as a supporter of the national team to see so many Arsenal players in the squad.
But as an Arsenal fan, it makes me hide behind the sofa seeing them going in for tackles, or any sort physical challenge.
I would be more then happy for them to call in a sickie and miss the game so they get some rest so they’re all fresh and shiny ready for Arsenal’s game after the international break.
Hopefully they’ll come back in one piece.
When’s Nacho going to be back? I’d hate to lose Gibbs to the Interlull demons before Nacho gets back. At least Chambers has been left out, Bellerin isn’t quite as composed as Chambers and it’d be unfair to force him into the team so early.
Not gonna lie, it would have been criminal not to include Gibbs yet again, especially after possibly the best performance I’ve seen of him
Don’t you break our Kieran, Roy!
Roy’s got bigger things to worry about at the moment
https://www.facebook.com/roy.hodgson.is.shocked
As an Englishman, it’s nice to see so many Arsenal players (and all round good eggs, naturally) in the squad. It was almost impossible to cheer on cunts of the likes of Terry, Cashly, Gerrard and Rooney, and although the latter waste of space remains like a boil that just won’t fade, with so many Gunners in the squad I can perhaps start to feel excited for my national team again, rather than resenting being represented by a bunch of fuckwits hyped to absurd levels by our sensationalist media. And as a side note, how much is Woy being paid?… Read more »
“Cunt of the likes of Terry” hahahahaha
I was explaining to a colleague about the necessity of the word ‘cunt’. I work almost entirely with women, and they tend to be pretty touchy about it, so I never use it. However, I explained to this young lady that in football, every opposition player is a fuckwit, a shithead, a shower of shit, a fucking wanker-it’s standard, but there are some people, like Rooney, Terry, Cashley, for whom none of the usual terms of affection will do. They simply are cunts. It would be disingenuous if we didn’t call them that. I think she took my point, although… Read more »
Agree with your summation of the previous squad and its personnel. But to be fair to Woy he is quoted above as saying that the team would have seen more of Gibbs but for his injury woes.
FINALLY!
the rock has come back to…..
Made me giggle.
Where’s chambers at?
U21s
“….Hungary but was tipped this week by Arsene Wenger to emulate the achievements and consistency of predecessor Ashley Cole…….” After reading this I’m pretty sure we had a number of left backs between Cole and Gibbs, Andre Santos came to mind but took me a good while to recall Clichy. Either I’m growing old or Gibbs is doing a terrific job I can’t even remember him.
Predecessor just means something that has been followed by another. It does not necessarily mean immediately before.
You’re doing my job there.
He was talking about players from The Arsenal who have been selected for Engerland
I’ll be so stoked when England win the world cup with Wenger’s Boys.
Please Dennis let all the boys come back from the interlull in one piece!
Totally agree with exiled gooner – couldn’t enjoy watching England when it was full of manc and chav dross!!! I always blamed those over hyped numps when England lost – Rooney v Portugal 2006, Gerrard v Uruguay 2014, I could go on!!!
I swear if gibbo could only stay fit, people would realise that baines really isn’t all that.
Yup, Gibb’s only freekicks away from Baines..
He’s a better defender than Baines too, especially in one on ones and last ditch tackles. If he could just work on his crossing he’d be truly world class
Baines has looked so underwhelming for England. I genuinely can’t believe it’s taken this long for Gibbs to get back in the squad. Even with his injuries, there have been plenty of matches for which he could ave gotten called up and didn’t. Ridiculous. He’s incredibly talented and a better all-around player than Baines (who I like and am not trying to slag off…)
Wow this is obviously not unexpected due to current form…buzzing for him though I suggest that he’s not rushed we need him more for now and the lB spot should be he’s on a long term basis…
henderson…hahahahahaha
Is Clyne a decent player? all i know about him is he knows how to hit a fucking ball against us!
aye hes a solid young right back who can do left back.
cool thanks, sign him up!
Gibbs! Long overdue, it has to be said. His performances since late 2012/13 have merited inclusion in the England side, but I’m happy to see one of the most underrated stars in the PL recognised for his consistent excellence 😀
“Cunt of the likes of Terry” hahahahaha
Personally I think baines is over-rated, showed how ‘good’ he is at the world cup. I gibbo can stay fit I see him being first choice before too long
has an irish man, I’m proud to see so many arsenal players in the england setup. and there will be a lot more in the future.
As an Arsenal fan, I’m proud to read comments such as this that aren’t the usual English people slagging off Irish/American/Black people etc. and vice versa. (See YouTube comments for example) Arseblog comments are pretty much the only ones I can read without despairing at the state of the world (most of the time). With regard to Gibbs’ call up, I definitely worry about him getting injured, but playing international football will surely raise his confidence and his performance level for Arsenal. And having so many England players that are used to playing together at club level will really help… Read more »
oh and gibbs is the best england left back by a million miles…
Stones over Chambers ? Wtf is hodgson doing ?
And Gibbs should’ve gotten called up for the WC squad instead they brought a injured/unfit shaw…..
Woy is no fool, whenever he needs an England squad in future he’ll just pick the phone up and call Arsene.
The future of England is all Arsenal and better times are coming!
Can see it now: Gibbs to come back injured after playing in a meaningless friendly
England, don’t break our players please.
Three (ie half) of the England defence are part of the worst defence in Europe! Kieran should look good in comparison.