Why everyone just needs to stop giving Roy Hodgson a hard time

Another England squad. Another bout of hand-wringing, navel-gazing and existential crises among England's football community.

The announcement of Roy Hodgson's squad for the upcoming friendly and subsequent Euro qualifier has seen many fans left with a sense of beleaguered resignation at the sheer lack of quality in the English game.

But Hodgson himself has come in for criticism - the selections of Jack Colback ('the Ginger Pirlo'), Fabian Delph, Danny Rose and Andros Townsend have all been met with particular derision.

The problem is, what choice does he have?

Following on from Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard's retirement this month, as well as being the final death knell for England's so-called Golden Generation, completed a huge loss of experience (well over 300 caps) from the squad in just the past year.

When Hodgson named a squad to face Scotland 12 months ago, it boasted 707 caps - this month's has just 398, or an average of 18.1 per player.

When the biggest debate switches from 'can Gerrard and Lampard play in midfield together?' to 'who is better: Danny Rose or Nathaniel Clyne?' it's not the coach that's the problem.

And yet more worrying is the lack of experience in the youth teams, suggesting things aren't likely to get better anytime soon.

Of the under-21 squad, there is a total of only 175 Premier League appearances - or just over eight per player. Even that statistic is heavily skewed by the experience of James Ward-Prowse (51 apps), Saido Berahino (34 apps) and Nathan Redmond (34 apps). 14 of the 21 players have made fewer than five Premier League appearances.

In short:

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