Danny Drinkwater doesn't have the right attitude to play for England, says Shearer
Monday, November 13, 2017
Alan Shearer believes Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater has the wrong attitude to play for England.
Drinkwater, 27, rejected a recent call-up for the friendlies against Germany and Brazil because he believes he is lacking fitness having made just three substitute appearances since his £35m summer transfer from Leicester.
Former England captain Shearer, who scored 30 goals in 63 England games, refuses to criticise players who claim they are injured, however, he doesn’t get those who decline a call-up because of a lack of playing time.
“Danny Drinkwater, what were you thinking? he wrote in The Sun. "If you have not played enough football, take the opportunity to play some.”
“Going forward he is not the sort of person I would want in my squad. Given that attitude he shouldn’t be picked again.
“It is England v Germany at Wembley for crying out loud.”
Drinkwater has played three times for England, with his last cap coming against Australia in May 2016.
Speaking about the midfielder possibly playing against Germany, manager Southgate explained he wanted to find out where he was in terms of match fitness.
"If Danny didn't feel he was ready for that I can understand it given the amount of minutes he's had and he didn't play at the end of the season with Leicester either," he said, adding that taking risks with players is not something he wants to do.
