Which United players from the last 30 years could have gone on to play for England?

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EasyBlade

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So here's a pointless thought exercise that arrived to me during the dullest hours of my work from home today. Which United players from England did you think at the time, or you believe in retrospect, could have gone on to play for the national team had things worked out differently? So mostly those that started with us, or joined early on in their careers.

From the 21st century Michael Tonge leaps out, had he perhaps got that Liverpool move.
 

Billy Sharp? Strange really that we were the ones to give him is proper chance in the PL when he was in his 30s.

Although to be fair, his all-round game has come on a lot in the last few years, so maybe that's the reason.
 
Marcus Bent had the talent to be whatever he wanted
 
Michael Brown. No idea why he never made it, apart from the fact that the England midfield was pretty much sorted back then.

As a playmaker and a goalscorer, he was fucking excellent.

pommpey
Yeah I thought Lord Brown the minute I read the title of the thread Pomps.

My favourite ever Blades player. He had it all but unfortunately for him in an era of Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes etc.
 
I saw Lee Morris and Curtis Woodhouse dovetailing brilliantly as teenagers. Morris was a serious talent.

But when you compare the lifestyle of Harry Kane or Frank Lampard, to these two lads…. If you’ve not got the boring football geek thing going, you’re toast.
 

Wayne Quinn. He played for England B but never really established himself and pushed on when he left.

Billy would've had Rickie Lambert's career if Saints had given him more than 5 minutes in the Premiership
 
Was Connor salmon English by chance??
 
Anybody, as long as they don't play for us

Phillips being picked only goes to show that anybody can get a game for England, unless they play for us
 
Michael Brown. No idea why he never made it, apart from the fact that the England midfield was pretty much sorted back then.

As a playmaker and a goalscorer, he was fucking excellent.

pommpey

The only one who comes anywhere close imo, and the way the club handled his contract situation was pathetic on so many levels .

I know from a good source that he was happy at the Lane and would have stayed if they had met his request for an extra 4 grand a week or so . This was turned down on the grounds that if it was given to him , then many other players would have been looking for similar increases .

Well , there is an easy solution to that scenario which is to say to any such player - “When you’re anywhere close to being as good as Michael Brown , do come back and have a chat . In the meantime , please fuck off and justify your place in the team “.

Instead , the Board aided and abetted by Warnock chose to let a player widely reported at the time to be worth £4million to run down his contract and virtually give him away for 500 grand .

So for the sake of 4 grand a week , we not only lost our best midfield player since Tony Currie but also sacrificed £3.5 million into the bargain .

Well done to all concerned .
 
Although not Blades, I thought Matt Phillips, Nathan Dyer & Kyle Bartley during their loan spells looked special. They've had excellent club careers since and perhaps someone like Spurs taking a punt on them (the Lee Trundle effect) might've change their careers entirely.
 
Brayford... thought he would get a prem move after 1 season and go on to represent, Englands RB position was shocking at the time (Walker, Glen Johnson, Clyne)
 
Always thought Brooks would call for England (without injury could be up there with Foden, Sancho imo)

Slew looked destined for the top n all.

and i will call it now... Jebbison will get caps for england
 
JOC
Without his injury last season the sky could have been the limit for him. A call up for the current euros wouldn’t have been a surprise. Big money move to Everton or Liverpool perhaps too. Given the latters injuries in central defence they might have paid an extortionate amount too. Very sad.
 

Simon Tracey if he'd got the right move and stayed on the straight and narrow
100%
Didn’t he get called up once but then his shoulder problems started? To think Chris fuckin Woods was number one at the time too!!
Maybe getting the opportunity would have kept the lad out of the bookies in the first place.
 

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