• England

Hodgson warns United flops they could miss World Cup

Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick could miss out on a World Cup place © Getty Images

Enlarge

Manchester United's England players have been warned by Roy Hodgson that their poor form could cost them a place in his World Cup squad.

United limped to a seventh home Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday as Sunderland became the latest team to inflict more misery on the Old Trafford club.

Much of their demise came during David Moyes' disastrous 10-month tenure before the club finally lost patience and sacked the manager in April.

Hodgson is set to name the 23 players he wants to take to Brazil on May 12 but stated that, despite United's previous dominance in supplying England internationals, no player has a "god-given" right to make it into his squad.

"Manchester United are one of the few teams that have had a lot of English players, but football players have to accept unfortunately their England careers are tied up with their club careers," Hodgson told The Independent.

"If it's not going well in their clubs, and it's not going well for them in their clubs, and other players are doing extremely well in their clubs, it does put your position as a national team player under some sort of threat.

"I'm pretty certain that the Manchester United players will understand that - that there's no god-given right that, because they've played in a few games up to now, they'll play all the games in the future. It's up to me to pick who the best players for the job are at any given moment.

"Now that doesn't mean to say you'll choose a player for the national team every time he scores. But it does mean you are judging, over a relatively short period, who's the best man for the job. Who's the one doing best at this moment? Who's in the best form?

"Often at the level we're talking about there's not light years between players; it's not like in a club team where someone is the best player and [his rival] is an ordinary player. I'm choosing players who are on a fairly even level."

While Wayne Rooney is expected to make England's squad, midfield duo Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick could miss out with the good form of Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson thought to be attracting Hodgson's eye.

United striker Danny Welbeck is also a doubt following Daniel Sturridge's impressive season with Liverpool, while Sturridge's team-mate Raheem Sterling may also oust Welbeck after his resurgence in form.

Hodgson recently admitted he would not lose sleep over Adnan Januzaj's England snub, after the United midfielder opted to represent Belgium instead.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd