Why Rio Ferdinand is right to ask 'What reasons?????!!!'

The omission of Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards from Roy Hodgson's original England squad for Euro 2012 raised plenty of eyebrows. But the furore which has erupted since both were again overlooked in favour of Liverpool's reserve right-back Martin Kelly has seen many fans in complete disbelief and faith in Hodgson starting to waver before a single competitive game has been played. And rightfully so.

By citing 'football reasons' for the omission of Ferdinand, Hodgson was always playing a dangerous game. Anybody who has been following the Premier League closely this season could see that Ferdinand had enjoyed a magnificent campaign for Manchester United, particularly since the turn of the year. Having not missed a game through injury since January, fitness no longer seemed to be an issue. In fact Ferdinand had made more league appearances this season than in any season since 2007/08. His excellent timing, positional sense, disciplinary record and passing ability ensure that he remains one of the best, if not the very best, defenders that England have to offer. If there genuinely are football reasons keeping the 33-year-old out of the squad then it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what they are. As Ferdinand tweeted, 'What reasons?????!!!'.

The general consensus seems to be that Ferdinand has been omitted because it is impossible to include both him and Chelsea captain John Terry in the same squad, due to the latter's impending court case for alleged racial abuse against Ferdinand's younger brother Anton. Yet with Terry's form tailing off shockingly at the end of the season, with two poor performances against Liverpool striker Andy Carroll and that foolish red card at the Nou Camp ruling him out of the Champions League final where his club coped fantastically in defence without him, it seems bizarre that 'football reasons' have kept him in the squad at Ferdinand's expense. Don't mistake me, Terry is certainly one of the best defenders in the country, and in an ideal world both him and the Manchester United man would be named in the squad, but if one is to be ditched to accommodate the other then surely the Chelsea man should be the one to meet the axe. Not only was his end of season form poor, but earlier performances such as the 5-3 home defeat to Arsenal where he slipped to allow Theo Walcott to score stand out. In fact, this season he oversaw a Chelsea defence which let in more goals than they had in any season since 1996/97 with his lack of pace being exposed on several occasions. Furthermore, Terry has proven a disruptive influence to the England squad in the past, with his infamous press conference at South Africa 2010 where he seemed to rebel against Fabio Capello's management (despite already having been stripped of the captaincy for the first time) and the reaction to the initial incident with Anton Ferdinand, when he was given the cold shoulder by many of his England team-mates during the international break in November. One of those team-mates was believed to be the Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott who is now in pole position to partner Terry during the Euros. This is hardly ideal for team morale.

In contrast, Ferdinand has proven a popular character within the England dressing room and has never caused any controversy in the same manner as Terry. Ferdinand is further galled by the fact he had declared he was happy to be included in the squad with Terry and form a working relationship, despite the impending court case. If Terry is found to be guilty in the court case which is scheduled for July, just days after the end of the tournament, then the FA and Hodgson's decision to include him will come under even more scrutiny. Having been stripped of the captaincy for the second time earlier this year purely because of his involvement in the case itself, it does seem almost hypocritical for the player to be included at all. If Hodgson genuinely is including Terry for 'football reasons' then it really does beg the question of how much he understands about football itself. His lack of knowledge was horrendously exposed in his first England press conference when he cited Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's performance against Andrea Pirlo in the Champions League as a reason to include the youngster. Pirlo had left AC Milan the previous summer for Juventus so was therefore clearly not involved in the Arsenal vs Milan last 16 tie.

Richards' omission also comes across as unsavoury and irrational. There are rumours of a rift with the F.A but few people would consider Glen Johnson to be a better right-back than the Manchester City man, both in terms of defensive diligence or attacking prowess. City's number 2 is coming off the back of a fantastic season where he has won the Premier League title and made his debut for England as far back as 2006. His credentials for squad inclusion were clear, particularly with the withdrawals of both Chris Smalling and Kyle Walker through injury. The fact Hodgson didn't even have the decency to phone Richards himself to let him know of his omission stinks of bad manners and it is no surprise that Richards then said 'no thanks' to being placed on the standby list. It is clear that both Richards and Ferdinand should be included in the starting line-up for 'football reasons', let alone being called up to the squad.

With other dubious decisions including the call-ups for Kelly, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Johnson, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson and the omissions of Daniel Sturridge, Michael Carrick, Aaron Lennon, Adam Johnson and Peter Crouch it is hard to gauge exactly what Hodgson is thinking. Looking at the statistics for all of the above-mentioned players it is clear that the ones being left out are coming off the back of better seasons in terms of appearances, goals etc than those being included. What is for sure is that there is only one way for Hodgson to justify his decisions - and that is taking Euro 2012 by storm. He'll need every bit of luck that he can get.