Jacob Murphy’s omission from England Under 21′s squad is unexplainable

The return of the international break sees the involvement of numerous Norwich City players - the likes of Timm Klose, Martin Olsson and Robbie Brady - as they continue their respective quests to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. For a Championship club, City have an impressive number of international representatives but the majority of supporters can’t help but feel that we are one short; the omission of Jacob Murphy from the England Under 21 set-up being a mystery to us all.

The promotion of Gareth Southgate to senior coach following the dismissal of Sam Allardyce saw the promotion of England Under 20’s manager, Aidy Boothroyd, to boss of the Under 21’s but any hopes that the former Norwich youth coach would still harbour a fondness for his former club and give Murphy the nod were clearly misplaced, however.

Boothroyd’s squad announcement for the Euro 2017 qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Bosnia featured the likes of Jack Grealish - who continues to make more headlines for his off-the-field antics rather than his footballing ability - yet there was no room for Murphy, joint 4th highest scorer in the Championship and highest scoring midfielder.

Going into the season I had my doubts about Jacob and his brother Josh - I even wrote an article in the week prior to the season opener at Blackburn suggesting that this season would be make or break for the pair. They had both returned to the club on the back of successful lower league loan campaigns at Coventry and MK Dons respectively and with Redmond’s summer departure to Southampton leaving at least one vacancy on the wing, it felt like, if ever, this was the season for the two to make their mark at the club. Nonetheless, I had my doubts - in their brief first-team cameos playing for City prior to this season they had appeared lightweight and lacking in confidence, whilst I was not convinced that Neil, usually averse to taking risks, would be willing to give them too many opportunities.

5 goals and numerous assists later for Jacob, and two senior goals as well as 5 Under 23’s goals for Josh; it is fair to say that the twins have taken their chance. Being the only one to have had a full season of Championship football behind him, it was largely expected that Josh would be the one to have more of an impact this season but, whilst he has impressed, it has been his brother that has taken most of the limelight - and understandably so.

Consistency is still an issue - hardly unusual for a young winger - but this has been more than compensated by his ability to produce the spectacular. It took just 12 minutes on the opening day to show us all what he is capable of, scoring a 25-yard screamer, and he has not looked back since. For all of his talent, Nathan Redmond’s lack of end product was a constant source of frustration and it has taken just 10 games for Murphy to surpass Redmond’s goal tally last time we were in the Championship. His direct positivity and willingness to commit defenders is a pleasure to behold and this, along with his frightening pace, will mean that, regardless of form, he will always be a threat.

So to think that, despite this form, he has been overlooked in favour of attackers such as Grealish, who has scored just two in comparison to Jacob’s five, and Duncan Watmore, who has made a goalless and bit-part start to his season at Sunderland, is ridiculous. There is an increasing feeling among supporters of the so called ‘less-fashionable’ clubs that players are being selected for England based on who they play for, rather than their form, and Boothroyd’s decision to overlook Murphy has done nothing to suggest that this isn’t the case. To judge that, form wise, he is not in the top 11 Under 21 players in the country is one thing - to judge that he is not even in the top 24 is unfathomable.

At least it allows us to keep him fit, fresh and ready to inflict more misery upon Championship full-backs - beginning against Rotherham next Saturday.