Midfield
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal)
The Arsenal speedster, capped 20 times by the England senior team, is another who would have been picked had the selection shackles been loosened. He only made 23 starts for the Gunners last season, so burnout would not have been an issue, and he would have been a better option than Raheem Sterling, who has been distracted by his contract stand-off with Liverpool.
Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)
The Arsenal star spent five months out with injury last season and surely would have jumped at the chance to get some precious football and major tournament experience under his belt. He showed in England’s win over Slovenia that he was not ready for his summer holidays.
Ross Barkley (Everton)
One of the biggest criticisms of this England side was that they did not have enough guile or creativity in midfield. Great Everton hope Barkley, yet to prove himself at full international level, would have benefited from taking on this responsibility.
Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
England would have had even less of a chance to go through to the semi-finals had it not been for Lingard’s late volley in the win over Sweden. It was arguably the only contribution that the Manchester United prospect made, but it was a crucial one.
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