During Leicester City’s run to the Premier League title last season, captain Wes Morgan won himself plenty of plaudits.
There were even suggestions from Harry Redknapp that Morgan should have been in Roy Hodgson’s thoughts for Euro 2016.
However, this ignored the slight issue that Morgan was a Jamaican international who had represented the country at the previous summer’s Copa America.
It’s an easy, if slightly embarrassing, mistake to make.
There's one big problem with Harry Redknapp's plan to get Wes Morgan to Euro 2016 https://t.co/aYupJwDZmB
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 4, 2016
But if you’ve made the mistake once, you’ll be extra careful about doing the same thing again. Or perhaps not.
Redknapp has said of Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha isn’t ready to play for England yet.
That’s the same Wilfried Zaha who is unavailable to Crystal Palace because he is part of the Ivory Coast squad for this month’s Africa Cup of Nations.
I have enjoyed the preparation here in Abu Dhabi now I am looking forward to Gabon with the team #225🇨🇮 #Can2017 pic.twitter.com/dHWociBSRS
— Wilfried Zaha (@wilfriedzaha) January 11, 2017
“People talk about him being an England player but he hasn’t shown that level yet,” Redknapp writes in his Evening Standard column.
In fairness to the former Tottenham and West Ham manager, Zaha does have two England caps to his name. But those came in friendly matches and he was allowed to switch his allegiances late last year.
“I don’t see Wilfried Zaha being the next big star now — he looked a better player a few years ago,” Harry continues.
“I remember sending Joe Jordan to watch him on a couple of occasions. He came back and said: ‘Yannick Bolasie is better than him!’ Bolasie ended up going to Everton for big money and Zaha has ended up being a big disappointment.
“People talk about him being an England player but he hasn’t shown that level yet. Benteke is a dream for a winger. You haven’t even got to beat the full-back if you can cross a ball.
“Zaha and Andros Townsend should be working on crossing balls with height and pace, not driving them low, so Benteke can arrive over the centre-half. He’ll score plenty of goals that way because of his power. But Zaha’s delivery hasn’t been good enough. He’s got to do a lot more if he’s going to be a top player.”
Yes, that’s the same Wilfried Zaha who was named Crystal Palace’s Player of the Year last season, and has four goals and six assists to his name in the current campaign.
Yannick Bolasie, who left Palace over the summer and who Redknapp claims was considered the better of the two wingers by Joe Jordan, has one goal and four assists in five fewer games than his former colleague.
