Roy Hodgson believes two of England’s current players are at the same level as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and John Terry. During his time as Three Lions manager from 2012 to 2016, Hodgson worked with some of the country’s greatest modern icons and oversaw the transition period between the ‘golden generation’ and the group of players who reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2018.
Speaking on the Wayne Rooney Show, he said: “Mark Guehi is there, Eberechi Eze is there too. If you come to the club and you get those, you’re pretty lucky. It’s a 50-50 chance, really.”
Hodgson worked with both players at Crystal Palace, where they emerged as two of the Premier League’s best raw talents.
Eze left Selhurst Park in the summer and now plays for Arsenal, while Gehi joined Manchester City in January.
“After five years at Crystal Palace, I accepted there was no money to spend,” Hodgson added. “We weren’t going to buy a lot of players. Even if we did get a player, he wasn’t going to stay and would be taken.”
Guehi and Eze look almost certain to be on the plane for this summer’s World Cup, with England hoping to battle for their first major title since 1966.
Tuchel has some big decisions to make between now and then when it comes to team selection. The former Crystal Palace duo are almost certain to make the trip, but other big names also face a battle for spots.
Asked whether Foden had made the most of his opportunities to impress against Uruguay and Japan, Tuchel said: “He tried everything.”
“I think he’s been great in camp, but yeah, he’s struggling to show it on the pitch. Obviously he hasn’t had a lot of minutes at City lately.”
“Then he came to camp with his biggest smile and was really good in training. We thought he would just surprise us and play with the same enthusiasm and excitement, but yeah, he’s struggling to make a full impact. There’s no guarantee he’ll come.”
