Exclusive – Robson: ‘Jagielka is not good enough for England’
Former Arsenal captain Stewart Robson has told talkSPORT Phil Jagielka is not good enough to be an England regular.
The Everton ace started alongside Michael Dawson in the centre of defence in England’s 4-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday night, with first choice pairing John Terry and Rio Ferdinand ruled out through injury.
Jagielka’s performance drew praise from OPR manager Neil Warnock, who has now tipped the 28-year-old to become a mainstay of Fabio Capello’s side, and he will keep his place for the second European Championship qualifier against Switzerland on Tuesday.
But Robson is adamant Jagielka does not have what it takes to thrive at international level and is also unconvinced by Dawson, who was carried off during the second half of the Wembley win with a knee injury.
Robson told Hawksbee and Jacobs: “If people believe that the two centre-halves that played the other night, Dawson and Jagielka, are going to be international quality they’re going to be wrong.
“I’ve been reading lots of reports about Jagielka being a really good player but I watched him all night and he made some really poor decisions defensively, in terms of where he should be, trying to step up at the wrong time.
“Dawson, before he got injured, was coming up when he should have been going back in and he was going back in when he should have been coming up.
“They didn’t have a good understanding and they didn’t have a good understanding in the second half against Hungary so I still think England need their experienced centre-halves.
“I’ve given John Terry criticism but he’s still better than the two that are in there at the moment.";