There’s obviously something to be said for the old routine. That’s the only logical reason for the omission of Ashley Young in this fortnight’s coming international fixtures. Never mind the fact the lad has been on fire for Aston Villa since the opening match of the season. He missed out on playing Croatia, even though either side of the match he virtually forced Vedran Corluka into a nervous breakdown for Manchester City and Spurs respectively. Never mind that he’s tailor made to take on the less than auspicious defences of Kazakhstan and Belarus. Never minds all round.

It’s probable to assume that Fabio Capello made a snap judgement call based on Ashley Young’s performance against Chelsea on Sunday before announcing the squad. Young was built up in that game by the media to be some sort of catch-all hurricane that would shame Chelsea’s defence. To believe Capello got caught up in that hype would be a misjudgement, yet it’s probably the biggest surprise of the weekend. In all the hyperbole about Michael Owen not managing to catch Capello’s eye in a woeful Newcastle side, the Ashley Young omission has been lost, for shame.

It’s not as if Capello isn’t a stranger to the executive seats at Villa Park. He must have a parking space on standby, he’s there that much. But as the squads roll round and the Villa Englishmen miss out, it looks as if Capello keeps coming back to check he’s right to leave Young out, rather than find reasons to include him.

Let’s focus on Ashley Young rather than Villa’s other England prospects. Gabby Agbonlahor is probably going to be the next player to make the step up, but even the most ardent Villa fan would have to admit he’s not full international class yet. He still suffers from straight-line sickness, and isn’t as potent as he perhaps should be, despite him recently topping the scoring charts. And though England aren’t blessed with many scoring machines, you’d still choose Rooney, Heskey and Owen because of their international experience and teamwork.

Curtis Davies, Craig Gardener, James Milner, Steve Sidwell, Nigel Reo-Coker, Nicky Shorey and Luke Young all suffer from the same affliction – permanently in the shadow of more illustrious and experienced counterparts. Though their form suggests at least three of them could expect to get called up to a friendly squad or two this season, they wouldn’t want to end up like Scott Carson and have to spend twelve months searching their souls after an horrific mistake in a qualifier.

But Ashley Young? Come on, there’s not a team in the league that would turn him down. On his day, I don’t believe I’m exaggerating when I say he’s the best winger in the league. In the games against Manchester City, Spurs and Sunderland, Ashley Young ran all three defences ragged and absolutely destroyed the confidence of their respective left-backs (sorry, Vedran). An England place had to be his for the losing, but lose it he has.

It’s difficult to put your finger on why Young has not been included, exactly, but I’ve narrowed it down to one conclusion – Fabio Capello has seen a facet to the young man’s game that he doesn’t rate. Whether it’s his predilection for going to ground a mite easily (something which never harmed the England careers of Steven Gerrard, or Michael Owen) or the fact that he always seems to drag two defenders with him in desperation, leading to too many lost balls, these seem small beer compared to the threat he has given Villa.

Young is now, in my opinion, what England managers seem to fear most in the job, which is a ‘luxury’ player. Matt Le Tissier, Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles, Brian Little…just a few potential England legends that were passed over in favour of steady Eddies. There must be a clause in the contract which prohibits them from picking players who have that little bit extra about them. Were Ashley Young a Brazilian, he’d be inked in. He’d be worth over twenty million.

Stewart Downing, the player who took the first-team left wing berth, is a fine player, but he’s no legend. After the mediocre win over Andorra and his lack of class in the summer friendlies, it was commonly assumed that he’d be phased out as a legacy of the McClaren regime. But here he is, playing another competitive international.

Some stats – Ashley Young has scored in 23% of his Villa starts. Stewart Downing has scored in 11% in three times as many games. This doesn’t necessarily mean Downing can’t score, but you can infer that he’s less likely to. But Downing is a talisman to Boro, just like Gerrard is for Liverpool or Davies for Bolton. Take them out of the equation, and they are different teams. Villa, at the moment, could take out Ashley Young and retain the same attacking intent. Okay, they may not be as potent, but maybe Capello sees Young as a part of Villa’s success rather than the main reason. The players mentioned above are indispensable. But Barry fills that role for Villa, which is why Young has suffered in comparison.

I don’t want to do Downing down, mostly because for everybody that agrees with me there’ll be ten people waiting to quote more stats, but I just think that against Kazakhstan and Belarus, England could benefit from a keen attacker who knows how to rip into top-class defences, rather than the devil you know. If Capello has made his choice based on the weekend's action, then he's a fool. Saturday was a chance to make Ashley Young an international superstar, but it looks like he’ll remain the Premier League’s worst-kept secret for a long time to come.

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