Kieran Gibbs was wanted by Roy Hodgson to replace the injured Ryan Bertrand for England’s clash with the Netherlands this Tuesday, but the Arsenal star was unable to do so as he had gone on holiday instead, as reported by the Mirror.
Gibbs wasn’t named in the original England squad, but after Southampton’s Bertrand was forced to pull out with an injury he was next in line to replace him. Hodgson wanted to call the 26-year-old in for the game, but he had already gone to the US for a holiday during the international break.
This could arguably have been Gibbs’ only chance to show he deserves a spot in the squad for the Euro’s this summer, and it now seems unlikely he’ll play any part at all. Danny Rose and Ryan Bertrand appear to be ahead of him in the pecking order, but a good showing against the Netherlands could have boosted his chances of being selected ahead of one of them.
It seems likely that with Rose playing the game against Germany that he would have been rested against the Netherlands, but that might be impossible now.
With Gibbs getting limited game time with Arsenal at the moment – something only likely to increase now that we’re out of all the cup competitions – Hodgson might not get any more chances to see him play. And if both Rose and Bertrand are fit, then you’d have to expect their regular game time to give them a real advantage.
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He may well end up really regretting his decision to take a long weekend break in the US, as it may well have cost him his England career.
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