There's always an element of subjectivity, balance and squad-building when it comes to the England national team.
It's not just a case of simply listing the 25 most talented English footballers at a certain point in time. Tactics, style of play, attitude, form, fitness and long-term potential are all key factors, which is why Three Lions fans can sometimes be left bemused by who is or isn't selected in the latest squad.
Thomas Tuchel's first England squad has thrown up such examples, with his inclusions of Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford raising a few eyebrows, while notions of favouritism and big-club bias have always been thrown at Three Lions managers.
Accordingly, we've taken a look at five England players who should've received more international caps - and five who were given too many.
Matt Le Tissier
Too Few - 8 Caps
Matt Le Tissier in England training
Matt Le Tissier is without doubt one of the most naturally gifted footballers England has ever produced. Legendary manager Pep Guardiola even named the former Southampton forward as one of his icons growing up.
But while Le Tissier looked incredibly good in 90-second roundups on Match of the Day by producing moments of spectacular individual brilliance, tactically he was somewhere between a luxury and a liability. Throw in the fact he never left Southampton and therefore never challenged himself against the world's best players in European competitions, and perhaps it's understandable why Bobby Robson, Graham Taylor, Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle were all reluctant to call upon Le Tiss during his peak years.
Nonetheless, eight caps is incredibly few for a player who enjoyed seven double-digits seasons in the first tier of English football - three of which hit the 20-mark - between 1989 and 1998.
Steve McManaman
Too Few - 37 Caps
Steve McManaman for England vs Spain
Steve McManaman had established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League after breaking through at Liverpool in the 1990s, and was initially heavily favoured within the England fold, to the extent that he made the Team of the Tournament for Euro 1996 and was listed for the Best Player award too.
But the Scouse wideman didn't see eye-to-eye with Terry Venables' replacement, Glenn Hoddle, who employed unconventional and bizarre training methods, including the use of much-maligned 'faith healer' Eileen Drewery. Both Macca and close friend Robbie Fowler appeared to become marginalised for being skeptical of Hoddle's approach.
Accordingly, McManaman's caps dried up during Hoddle's spell. He enjoyed a brief reprieve under Kevin Keegan but when Sven Goran-Eriksson took the reins, the now-Real Madrid star's England career came to an abrupt end. Despite a second Champions League title with Real Madrid at the end of the 2001/02 season, and making 13 appearances in the competition itself, Sven left a message on McManaman's answer phone telling him he wouldn't be part of England's 2002 World Cup squad.
You'll be hard-pressed to find a player for any country with multiple Champions League titles and yet so few caps, but McManaman's frosty relationships with England managers cost him dearly.
Andy Cole
Too Few - 15 Caps
Andy Cole in England training
Andy Cole is unfortunate to have enjoyed his best years during a period when Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Ian Wright, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Emile Heskey were all vying for places within the England team. What's more, when Cole did get chances, he failed to make the most of them, scoring only once on Three Lions duty in a routine 3-1 win over Albania.
Nonetheless, Cole's role within the England setup didn't correlate to his form at club level. He was Manchester United's chief goalscorer and for many years was the second-top scorer in Premier League history, before being overtaken first by Wayne Rooney and then Harry Kane.
Glenn Hoddle openly explained his decision not to include Cole in England's 1998 World Cup squad, despite netting 25 times for United that season, by claiming he required six or seven chances to score.
And unfortunately for Cole, that seemed to be a running criticism throughout his career - despite scoring at least nine goals in twelve different Premier League seasons, for five different clubs.
Michael Carrick
Too Few - 34 Caps
Michael Carrick on England duty
The perpetual under-valuing of Michael Carrick perfectly encapsulates the tactical and technical naivety that cost England's Golden Generation time and again at major international tournaments. Here was a player who could recycle possession, pull strings in midfield and launch attacks with exquisite long-range passing - in theory, the perfect anchor-man for Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, who would both have the freedom to operate as tandem No.8s.
Instead, England managers continually turned to Gareth Barry or Owen Hargreaves, two far less cultured but more combative midfielders, to try and solve the Gerrard-Lampard conundrum - that's if they weren't sticking one of the Liverpool or Chelsea stars respectively out on the left wing. There was even a period when David Beckham played deep midfield, referred to as the 'quarterback' position.
Meanwhile, Carrick was quietly partnering Paul Scholes - another incredibly intelligent and gifted midfielder often misused by England - at Manchester United, with the pair winning five Premier League titles together, and even the 2007/08 Champions League.
Carrick's England career spanned 15 years and yet there were only four years in which he made more than three appearances for the Three Lions.
Glenn Hoddle
Too Few - 53 Caps
Glenn Hoddle in England training
Ironically considering many of the players already mentioned in this article were overlooked by Glenn Hoddle, the former England boss never quite earned the importance he deserved as a Three Lions player.
53 caps isn't to be sniffed at considering England were pretty abysmal and even failed to qualify for major tournaments during the 1980s. But Hoddle was truly class act and one of the best creative midfielders in the world during that period. In spite of that, his importance within the England fold was never guaranteed. For comparison, Bryan Robson - a far more typical, energetic and all-round midfielder - made his England debut the year after Hoddle, and went on to receive 90 caps.
The Three Lions were still obsessed with direct tactics and using a 4-4-2 formation, which Hoddle was never a natural fit for. Michel Platini once famously quipped: "If he had been French, he would have won well over 100 caps and the team would have been built around him." Unfortunately for Hoddle, undoubtedly one of British football's most naturally gifted players, he was born in the wrong country for his playing style.
Matthew Upson
Too Many - 21 Caps
Matthew Upson in England training
21 caps isn't a particularly noteworthy amount but it's quite amazing Matthew Upson even received that many during an era in which England had Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Jamie Carragher to choose from.
Although injuries were a factor, it's still baffling that the West Ham defender became Fabio Capello's preferred centre-back partner to John Terry during the 2006 World Cup, resulting in an absolutely disastrous 4-1 defeat to Germany.
Upson scored England's only goal in a game mostly remembered for Frank Lampard's non-goal that paved the way for Goal-Line technology, but he was an absolute calamity at the back. Upson and Terry were turned time and again by Germany's pacy attack, and Upson appeared well out of his depth.
Although the former Arsenal youngster was a decent player, he was never at the same level as many of his England contemporaries, while even players like Michael Dawson (four caps) can feel slightly aggrieved that Upson was consistently preferred by Capello.
Gareth Barry
Too Many - 53 Caps
Gareth Barry and Gareth Southgate
There's something to be said for boasting the most Premier League appearances of any player ever, and Gareth Barry's England career benefited from longevity as well, initially representing the Three Lions six times in 2000 and then making his final appearance in 2012.
But his importance to the national side seemed greatly exaggerated between 2008 and 2012, when he missed just six England games and even captained the side in a 1-1 draw with Ghana.
Barry was a solid and combative midfielder, but he was also slow and unambitious in possession, and only seemed to add to the collective feeling that England lacked a creative deep midfielder who could allow them to dominate other teams with the ball, like Spain's Sergio Busquets or Italy's Andrea Pirlo.
Michael Carrick was England's closest alternative, but while the Manchester United midfielder remained a marginalised figure among the national team, Barry was a mainstay of the starting XI. He never helped to solve the Gerrard-Lampard conundrum and contributed to England's rather clumsy and uncultured playing style.
Eric Dier
Too Many - 49 Caps
Eric Dier in England training
Eric Dier served a purpose for England and particularly Gareth Southgate, who championed the then-Tottenham utility man as a key part of his squad at the 2018 World Cup. During the tournament, Dier etched his name in Three Lions history by scoring the winning penalty against Colombia to end England's infamous shoot-out curse.
But Dier's involvement with the Three Lions actually came much, much earlier. Roy Hodgson had utilised him in the build-up to and during Euro 2016, creating an ill-fated and incredibly imbalanced midfield three of Dier, Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli which started in the horror defeat to Iceland.
Clearly fast-tracked into the first-team for the simple fact he was representing Tottenham at a young age, Dier already boasts 49 caps and his career isn't even officially over yet at 31, although he hasn't featured for the Three Lions since 2022.
Dier has never been England's best defensive midfielder or centre-half, and yet he's continually been given chances in those positions. He's even captained England five times.
Emile Heskey
Too Many - 62 Caps
Emile Heskey for England vs Brazil
Emile Heskey served a purpose for the Three Lions and for a period of time proved to be the perfect foil for Michael Owen, arguably the best striker in the world. He scored in England's famous 5-1 thrashing of Germany and his importance varied from instrumental to simply offering the Three Lions a useful plan B.
But England's fascination with Heskey went on for far too long. The target man had scored just five goals in the two Premier League seasons prior to his inclusion in England's 2010 World Cup squad and hadn't scored 10 goals in a season since 2005.
Heskey is one of those players who seemed to receive more caps purely because he was already an 'experienced' player, despite his form over a sustained period never really justifying his place in the side.
Definitely an underrated player and far more important than his return of just seven goals initially suggested. But Heskey should've been a stop-gap for England - not a long-term solution.
Tom Cleverley
Too Many - 13 Caps
Tom Cleverley on England duty
13 caps really isn't a great deal but it remains disproportionate to the level of quality Tom Cleverley demonstrated for the vast majority of his career, and even during his involvement with the Three Lions.
It says a lot that all of Cleverley's appearances came in the space of just two years; he was fast-tracked into the England team having broken into Manchester United's starting XI and somehow emerged as England's resident creative midfielder during qualification for the 2014 World Cup.
Cleverley never scored for the Three Lions and provided three assists in his 13 appearances, coming against San Marino and Scotland. Not the worst return, but it was a case of backing a young player far too soon; Cleverley struggled at United after Sir Alex Ferguson - and perhaps more importantly, midfield partner Paul Scholes - retired, and subsequently left for Aston Villa.
The midfielder failed to pull up trees at Villa Park and soon made way for Everton, followed by a return to former loan club Watford. Cleverley spent the remainder of his career at Vicarage Road but was never quite a guaranteed starter. Hindsight makes his brief stint as a key England player look especially bizarre.