I've said before, I'm a big Josh fan and think he's one of the, if not the, most underrated England qualified player in the league, but for some reason he doesn't have that "star" character that attracts the mainstream press.
This isn't to underrate anyone, but in a sane world coaches wouldn't care what the mainstream press think, they'd be looking at ability, but the likes of May, Ashton, Nowell and dare I say it, Daly with his long range kicks, amongst many others captured the imagination of the press before they got selected and I always have always a feeling of pleasing the press in England team selections. They are all good enough in a crowded field and deserve their selections, but I wonder if they'd be where Josh is if they hadn't had that "star" quality.
I think there's some of that in Paulo's selection. Again, that's not a put down of his ability, I think its well deserved, but if he hadn't captured the press's imagination would he have got selected. Most club fans can point to players in their teams and wonder why they never got selected. Mostly they'll be good players who get things right week in, week out, but they just lack something that the press can latch on to.