Benik Afobe, Craig Dawson included in England U21 squad; Marvin Sordell left out in the cold

In the midst of the Dealine Day Madness, the England U21 squad has been released, and we here at the Lion of Vienna Suite are not very happy with it. Manager Stuart Pearce has opted to call up Benik Afobe, the unpopular Arsenal loanee. Unfortunately, it appears that picking Marvin Sordell is terribly uncool, as he has been left out of the squad despite being in the best form of his career. This is... strange (I had to try that sentence 3 times before I came up with an appropriate word).

We've discussed our feelings on Afobe many times, but in case you're new around these parts: he does not have the speed or the skill advertised, and for the most part is a waste of space. Sordell on the other hand, having spent a large portion of his Bolton career on the bench or not in the squad at all, has recently come into his own under Dougie Freedman and looks a threat in every match he plays in. This decision is stranger still, given that Sordell got a lot of playing time for the U21s over the summer, and looked decent, meaning he has shown Pearce that he can produce.

This is incredibly harsh on Sordell and all we have to say is better luck next time, mate.

Full squad: Ben Amos (Manchester United), Declan Rudd (Norwich), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough); Elliott Bennett (Norwich), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Craig Dawson (on loan to Bolton Wanderers from West Brom), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Tom Lees (Leeds), Jack Robinson (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Adam Smith (Tottenham), Andre Wisdom (Liverpool); Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Will Hughes (Derby), Herni Lansbury (Nottingham Forest), Jason Lowe (Blackburn), Josh McEachran (Chelsea), Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool); Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Benik Afobe (Arsenal), Tom Ince (Blackpool), Connor Wickham (Sunderland), Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United).