Everton boss David Moyes wants his defender to shine for England U21s
Everton boss David Moyes wants his defender to shine for England U21s
David Moyes has urged Jarrad Branthwaite to make a point to Thomas Tuchel - and force his way back into the England squad.
Everton defender Branthwaite was not included as Tuchel on Friday named his first England squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia. The 22-year-old, who won his sole senior cap to date last June, is instead part of Lee Carsley’s Under-21 selection for friendlies with France and Portugal.
Moyes told a press conference ahead of Saturday’s home clash with West Ham: “I don’t pick the England squad, so I can only say if you’re looking at the last six or seven weeks Jarrad Branthwaite would be up there playing as well as any English centre-half in the country.
“But the big thing he needs to do? Go and play for England Under-21s and be the best player again, and then he gets selected again.
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“That’s the instructions I’ve been giving him – go and show what you can do for the 21s and Lee Carsley will pass good information back to the manager and hopefully it will get you back in.
“He doesn’t need picking up because he’s a young centre-half at the moment.
"You’ve got to learn your trade, keep improving, and I told him go and play really well for the Under-21s and show Thomas he should have taken you into the squad.”
No place in Thomas Tuchel's squad for Jarrad Branthwaite
No place in Thomas Tuchel's squad for Jarrad Branthwaite
Moyes was also asked about Branthwaite’s fellow Toffees centre-back James Tarkowski, last involved with England in 2019, and said: “England have an incredibly good group of players to choose from. The level of players they have in this country actually makes me sick because I’m Scottish!
“I think Tarky’s played really well. Obviously Jordan (Pickford) got selected. Maybe the levels we’ve been playing at would not be something where England managers come looking for the players at the bottom end of the league too much.
“So that gives us incentive, that we’ve all got to get ourselves up and start challenging for Europe and hopefully getting more players noticed.”
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