A Bit of England Talk

As some of you may know there’s a small matter of a competition for European teams that is starting next week. 

In case you didn't know, England are amongst the 32 teams that will be taking part in the tournament. Here’s to hoping that they will turn up, like they have done in previous competitions. I mean they have to turn up, otherwise they can’t take part in the competitions right? 

All jokes aside, England are expected to perform well this summer at the European Championships   in France. To be quite honest, everyone has good reason to believe that they can perform well and go far in the tournament. The way in which Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane have topped the goalscoring charts this season in the Premier League is already enough to give the fans hope that they can go far. Then there are young prospects such as Marcus Rashford who has made an instant impact since starting to play for Manchester United in February and long may it continue (as long he stops scoring against Arsenal, he’s cool). It’s not just the individual talents that have given me some hope that England will progress far in the competition. Based on the the games they have played, in particular against Portugal and Turkey, the way in which they transition from defence to attack is at times a joy to watch. With the right players, England’s attack will not be lacking cohesion. 

Like I said previously, with the RIGHT players and also the RIGHT line ups/formations etc England can sweep the teams that are in their groups. Some may argue that Roy Hodgson was wrong to leave out certain players. I heard West Ham fans were complaining about a really good midfielder who should have got in ahead of Jack Wilshere. Something like that anyways. Danny Drinkwater was also cut from the provisional squad in favour of Jordan Henderson, Eric Dier etc. Then there was Jermaine Defoe, who was Sunderland’s top scorer with 15 goals, played a pretty big part in saving Sunderland. That still wasn’t enough Roy to even put him in the provisional squad, never mind the final one. Big club bias? I’ll leave that up to you. 

I digressed quite a bit here, as I was saying Roy needs to be smart with his team selections, tactics and formations. Not to do anything crazy, such as letting Harry Kane take all the set pieces (it’s not Phil Jones but still). Or even playing Wayne Rooney on the wing, strange things like that, Roy. Also for the players that haven’t played in major tournaments or have little experience in one, do not retaliate any time a player tries winding you up. Yes Tottenham players, you. In fact any player for that matter. UEFA’s referees aren't that lenient as your pals in the Premier League. Just ask Wayne Rooney.  

Anyways the group is an interesting one. Wales, Russia and Slovakia. No straightforward games for England but nonetheless some incredibly entertaining ties, especially Wales. It’s their first big tournament for a while and I’m sure they will be wanting to make up for all those years they lost out. This will be the first major international tournament for their superstars Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. Slovakia were unfortunate to finish 2nd in their qualifiers to Spain, so I’m sure with their key players Martin Skrtel and Marek Hamsik, they’ll be out to prove they’re not just here to shake hands. Russia made a strange decision to leave out their all time goalscorer Alan Kerzhakov out of their final squad. They’re also without Yuri Zhrikov and Alan Dzagoev to injury, who took the Euros to storm in 2012( the latter was incessantly linked with Arsenal for some point too). 

Will Jamie Vardy be having another party? 

@football_dugout  @BethelMoyo