Premier League star: I didn t even let me play in the European Cup back then, but it would definitely be different now

September 4th: England is preparing for the World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Serbia. The English strikers selected for this issue of Tuchel's lineup include: Bowen, Eze, Gordon, Kane, Maduaike, Rashford, and Watkins.

Former England international and Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips talked about the England team's forward line in an interview recently. Kevin Phillips scored 30 Premier League goals in the 99-00 season, winning the Premier League Golden Boot Award and the European Golden Boot Award that year. He became the first English player to win the European Golden Boot Award.

However, this cannot give Kevin Phillips any minute of playing time in the 2000 European Cup. Although he was selected for the roster, his teammates were Hiller, Irving, Husky and Robbie Fowler. When he finally retired, Kevin Phillips played for England only 8 times.

He said: "People often ask me why I have so few opportunities to play in the national team. I would say that it would be a privilege to compete with top strikers such as Irving, Fowler, Husky and Shearer to have eight appearances. If I were to this day, I might have 50 to 60 appearances in the national team.

"What disappointed me the most was of course the season before the 2000 European Cup, when I was the best scorer in Europe and the Premier League, but I failed to get any playing time in the game. I don't regret it often in my career, but it really makes me feel very sorry. I'm really honored to play 8 times with those top players, but I also feel like I deserve more opportunities.

"When I was selected for the national team and trained with those strikers who I think are the best in England's history, I had to believe in my ability and not try to imitate anyone. It's great to watch them play football and compete with them. Of course, competition exists, and there are many jokes. But the strikers are selfish, and even in training everyone wants to be the best scorer. If you miss the opportunity, you will be teased and you will hit back after the goal. This is normal joke."

Now, the No. 9 is becoming popular in the Premier League, but except for Chelsea's Drapp, the No. 9 of other strong teams are basically foreign players: Liverpool's Isaac, Arsenal's Yorke, Manchester United's Sheshko, Newcastle's Walter Mad and Visa. Phillips said: "Due to the sufficient funds, the first half of the Premier League teams often choose to buy top players from abroad, which makes it increasingly difficult for England's local strikers to become famous. I hope to see young England strikers emerge, but now the England U21 team does not even have a recognized center. Where should I find them? I hope that the youth training systems of each club will develop excellent strikers and then transfer them to England.

"I am a little surprised that the teams nowadays do not use 4-4-2 double striker formations. They prefer to use single forwards, plus two inward wingers and so on, which starts from youth training. Are the young forwards still willing to play in the pure No. 9 position? When teams use only one striker, they will also become more and more difficult. Looking at the roster of England, there are only two pure centers, Watkins and Kane, which is incredible.

"I would like to see more forwards being selected for England, and this is a very worrying issue. Watkins is a good player, but if Kane gets injured, it is a huge challenge to get Watkins to play No. 9 in the World Cup. So, hope Kane doesn't get hurt and stay in the best shape.

"Drapp used to be at Derbyshire youth camp with my son, so I often watch him practice. You can see his potential and expertise, but he needs to prove himself at Chelsea, we have seen too many examples of players not performing well after joining big clubs, and I hope he can make progress. I also trust him very much, and I entered the 2000 European Cup squad in my first Premier League season in Sunderland. I hope Drapp can recover as soon as possible and use his goals to attract Tuchel's attention. ”