Has anyone looked more out of their depth for England than Michael Ricketts did during his ill-fated England debut? The bulky Bolton Wanderers striker had scored 15 goals for his club by February of 2001/02 season. The impressive form in his first Premier League season led to the England call up many were clamouring for. Unfortunately, under nationwide scrutiny, the striker fluffed his lines. Ricketts was mostly anonymous on his debut against the Netherlands. He spent most of his time standing stock still, frozen like a rabbit in the headlights. When he did attempt to touch the ball it bounced off him as if he were a brick wall. The other two members of England's attacking trident that day were Emile Heskey and Darius Vassell. Heady days indeed. You would think it couldn't get much worse for the striker than totally fluffing his lines on the biggest stage, but Ricketts carried his international form into the league, and failed to score again for Bolton after his England debut. It was a sign of things to come, who took his patented brand of non-scoring forward play on to the likes of Middlesborough, Leeds, Stoke City and Burnley, before tumbling down through the divisions via Southend and Preston to Oldham, Walsall and finally Tranmere Rovers. He scored more goals in three seasons at Bolton than he did throughout the rest of his career combined. It's no surprise that England did not come calling again. After all, it takes a special kind of ineptitude to make Heskey and Vassell look good. Which England players do you think belong on this list? Share your favourites below in the comments thread below.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
