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Ryan Shawcross is a rough-and-tumble defender. He's part of that exclusive club of old-school, fearless defenders who never shy away from a challenge and throw around their hefty frames like a sack of flour into opposing players. It's a trait that Arsenal fans still loath him for after he broke Aaron Ramsey's leg with a late tackle, an injury that kept him out of action for almost a year (Editor's note: As an Arsenal fan, Ryan Shawcross' England career can go die in a hole).
Yet, Shawcross has been the bedrock of an ambitious Stoke City team that harbor dreams of Europe. He is the fearless captain, barking orders and charging into battle without second thought. He is the physical embodiment of the intimidating Britannia Stadium atmosphere. He is the poster boy of the old "can you play on a cold, wet, windy Tuesday night in Stoke?" question. He doesn't relent, he doesn't forewarn, and he doesn't always play nice, yet few can deny that he is one of the best English center backs playing today.
Why is the consistently best English CD ignored by England when he can actually defend properly?
Ryan Shawcross!#MNFN— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) January 25, 2016
He has only played 14 matches this season due to injuries, yet Stoke have kept seven clean sheets out of those games in which Shawcross has played. That's compared to only three in the 18 games without him this year. Upon his return from injury, Stoke went on a run of 542 minutes without conceding, and his performance against Diego Costa was outstanding. Never have we seen Diego Costa so utterly dominated. It was akin to watching Thor duke it out with a Care Bear.
Photo: @LaacibNet | Twitter
So, how has Ryan Shawcross only been capped once for England? Well, his debut might go someway in explaining that. Remember this?
Yep, that's right. Poor Ryan Shawcross made his debut in that game against Sweden, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was playing like f***ing Superman. To make things even worse, he came on as a substitute with only 16 minutes left and England leading 2-1. They ended up losing 4-2 because, you know, Zlatan.
Photo: @LELANG_ID | Twitter
Shawcross has never been called up since, which seems kind of unfair considering the caliber of forward he was up against. He recently spoke to The Telegraph about the experience.
"I was given 10 minutes to show what I could do and probably didn't provide a good enough performance. I was against one of the best strikers in the world who was on a hot streak at the time and these things happen." said Shawcross. "I've been playing well for the last three or four years and I don't seem to be getting in so I can't see it changing in the future unless the manager changes."
"It's just the way football is, some managers like players that others don't," Shawcross continued. "At the moment it's either that he doesn't think I'm up to it or the lads he's picking are better than me. That's fine."
It would be fine if that was true, but the stats tell a different story. Roy Hodgson called up five central defenders for the upcoming European friendlies: Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, John Stones and Eric Dier (although Dier is listed, and potentially will be used, as a midfielder). Out of those five, the only defender that actually justifies an inclusion over Shawcross is Smalling. Chris Smalling has been one of the stand-out performers for Manchester United and has fully earned his call-up. However, the other defenders really haven't.
Gary Cahill has only played four more games than Shawcross this season, but not because of injury. At times, Cahill's woeful defending seemed representative of Chelsea's entire season: lost and confused. His poor form led to him getting benched in favor of Kurt Zouma, but injuries to both Zouma and John Terry necessitated Cahill's inclusion. Even though Chelsea's fortunes have improved, it wouldn't be a tale from school to say that Cahill is in the England team by habit as opposed to merit. Shawcross has won more tackles, more aerial duels and has a similar number of interceptions and clearances as Cahill with four fewer games.
As far as Phil Jagielka and John Stones are concerned, it's no secret that Everton have been shaky at the back this season. They have dropped 14 points this season from winning positions, while Stoke have only dropped four. Phil Jagielka has actually been pretty decent this year when fit, so we'll leave him alone. John Stones however, has been extremely disappointing, especially given the fuss that was made over him in the summer. Stones and Jagielka are responsible for four defensive errors that led to a goal between them, compared to Shawcross' zero.
You can look at all the stats right here, courtesy of Squawka's Comparison Matrix.
Now, we're not saying that these players are bad defenders, or that they don't deserve to be part of the England team. We are merely trying to say that Ryan Shawcross more than deserves his shot. His reputation may not be the greatest, but that's not always a bad thing. England need some grit. Every team does. They need a Javier Mascherano, a Giorgio Chiellini or a Vincent Kompany type of player. These are players that don't give attackers a spare breath. They give everything, they're vocal and they are a crucial part of the spine of their respective teams. Ryan Shawcross could be that player for England. He just needs a chance.
Follow me on Twitter @J_Hansen_89
