Barton slams Liverpool’s England players

It would be fair to describe Joey Barton as an outspoken character, so it’s no surprise to see the former Manchester City midfielder launching an attack on the England squad that Roy Hodgson has selected for Euro 2012. According to Barton, there are far too many Liverpool players in the squad, while he finds the inclusion of Jordan Henderson simply baffling.

There has been much debate regarding Roy Hodgson’s reliance on the Liverpool team, with six Reds players currently representing the Three Lions in Poland and Ukraine. According to Barton this is simply unacceptable, after the club experienced such a dour 2011/12 campaign. Writing on his Twitter page, Barton said, “Everyone’s thinking it, I’ll say it. Liverpool have horrific season and have six players in our Euro squad. What chance do we have. Pick on form. How Holt, Richards, Carrick, Ferdinand, Osman, Sturridge etc never got involved is a travesty.”

In relation to Henderson, Barton claimed that all English players can feel aggrieved not to be selected based on his inclusion, “If Henderson got in, any Englishman not currently in the squad has to feel aggrieved. Yes, I wish I was there but I’m not.”

Considering Barton’s recent disciplinary issues, few people are likely to take any notice of his comments anyway.

Steven Gerrard, Andy Carroll, Glen Johnson and Stewart Downing were all called up to Hodgson’s original 23-man squad. However, following injuries to Gary Cahill and Frank Lampard, Hodgson opted to call in Henderson and Martin Kelly to act as replacements.