Why Saido Berahino is unlucky to miss out on an England place ahead of friendlies

Ever since Saido Berahino was integrated into the first team, he has gone from strength to strength Following his successful loan spell at Peterborough, in which he scored and assisted twice in ten games for the struggling Championship outfit, but suffered knee cartilage damage, he was given a chance by Steve Clarke in a minor pre season friendly against !troimitos !thens" #obody would have e$pected anything to come of it, but Berahino%s man of the match, goalscoring display convinced Clarke that he was ready to play regular minutes in the first team" Since then, Berahino%s goalscoring record, &' total goals in &( matches for club and country, has not gone unnoticed" But life was not always so rosy for him" )ust ten years ago, shorty after the death of his father, he and his friend fled Burundi shortly after his mother, due to the heating conflict, ine*uality and disarray created by the Civil +read more on Wikipedia," -pon his arrival, he was taken to a care home and only after two weeks and e$tensive .#! tests, he managed to reunite with his mother" Berahino does not even clearly remember why they fled so rapidly, but remembers the part football played in helping him settle into his new country +via /he /elegraph,0 12n !frica, it3s not like kids here where they say0 45um, .ad, what are we doing63 7ou can3t say that in !frica" 7ou 8ust have to follow what your parents are doing" 7ou don3t ask *uestions" /hings 8ust happen" We left" 2t must have been to do with the civil war and my mum wanting a better life for her kids""" Football helped a lot in me settling in" 2 played for the school team, !ston /ower" Everyone was nice to me"9 Berahino has been devoted to football for almost his whole life, and being so open and adaptable to change has brought him a wealth of different footballing e$periences0 he started in the streets of his homeland kicking laced plastic bags with his friends, he has played in all of the top four tiers of English football, during which he has encountered difficulties such as his falling out with Brentford manager -we :osler over his desire +via ;ondon '< ,, and has played for England at every age group from -nder &=s to -nder '&s" 5oreover, he is a phenomenally gifted player" While a conversion rate of &>"'? shots to goals +via S*uawka, is not spectacular, it has been evidenced what a fantastic finisher he is from all angles" @e is two footed, one of the most mobile breed you could come across in and around the penalty area, very agile, determined and not physically overawed in this league" @e has the complete package for a big time goalscorer and his playing style is e$tremely similar to the likes of )ermain .efoe and .aniel Sturridge"

/he fact that he has &' goals despite spending (&"A? of his minutes out wide speaks highly of his goalscoring prowess" Statistically comparing Berahino to selected rivals +via Whoscored, ;eague B European Competitions Doals per game Shot accuracy ? .ribbles per game Wayne :ooney .aniel Sturridge E"F '& ' E"> '( '"( .anny Welbeck E"<( (E E"= )ay :odrigueC Saido Berahino

E"( &F E">

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When reading this data, it%s worth considering that >=? of Berahino%s games have been sub affected, far more than anyone else on this list" We simply couldn%t avoid avoid using these because you cannot form a substantial 8udgement on one full game, the amount Berahino has played" 'E? is the minimum shot accuracy re*uired to be considered efficient, but he is a risk taker and as 2 have mentioned, if he is in sight of goal he tends to shoot" /his epitomises his confidence right now" 2n order to get a higher shooting accuracy, he needs to play more as a striker, instead of out wide" /his is the same problem )ay :odrigueC is encountering, but he isn%t as good a poacher nor as complete an advanced forward that Berahino is" Wayne :ooney and .aniel Sturridge are obviously in a completely different class from Berahino, but it is not condescending to believe that he reach the level of .anny Welbeck by the end of the season if he is given an e$tended run of games as striker" While other attributes of his game such as his first touch, passing and crossing could improve, he already has the ability to make an impact on the 2nternational stage, especially in the form that he%s in right now" While 2%m not suggesting that he deserves a definitely place on the World Cup s*uad, England should always have the future in mind when selecting s*uads and giving him minutes now will hopefully improve his confidence further and increase the likelihood that he will be a seasoned international in the future" /his is what sets him apart from players like )ay :odrigueC" While the latter is marginally better is a very good player, who is marginally better right now, Berahino has the potential to be an important player in England%s future and :odrigueC doesn%t" 2f there are two players of similar ability competing for a look in to the 2nternational s*uad, the player with the better potential ability should earn the spot"