Wow! England have won the World Cup!! The under 17s Final was not only a huge triumph for England’s developing players it was a great watch. World Cup Final’s are usually pretty awful- the last good one at senior level was 1986. This match was a revelation, in front of 60,000 in Kolkata England started […]
Month: October 2017
Under 17 World Cup Final Preview
For the second time in 6 months I get to say England are preparing for a World Cup Final! OK the Under 17s is not the same as the main event but still it represents an unprecedented success for England at Under 17 level. It will be England’s fifth youth level final of the year […]
Top 10 English players abroad
With the European transfer window still open and rumours suggesting Ademola Lookman & Ruben Loftus-Cheek could be bound for the Bundesliga Pickford where Jadon Sancho is set for his first full season, here’s a countdown of the 10 most successful English players to head for continental Europe…and one absolute disaster. 10. Ray Wilkins (AC Milan […]
England recall candidates 11
England’s pool of Premier League players is currently a puddle- around 70 per week start for Premier League sides, so who amongst them has been discarded and what are the chances of those players darkening the doors of St George’s Park again? Destination Russia GK- Ben Foster (8 caps- last 2014) Foster continues to look […]
Shakespeare sacking no surprise
Imagine my annoyance on Tuesday afternoon when I was finishing off an article on the Premier League sack race and before publishing it Leicester City beat me to the punch, incidentally I had Craig Shakespeare in the silver medal position behind Ronald Koeman. Shakespeare did well as interim manager but things never looked like working […]
Russia 2018- global extravaganza or disaster waiting to happen?
I’d really love to be Gianni Infantino or at least I’d like his job. He gets to run a globally powerful organisation whose credibility is so low that literally anything you do is an improvement on your predecessor (as long as you don’t stick your fingers in the till). Even better- said organisation’s big event […]
Ranking England’s midfield options?
England’s new riddle in the middle. Regardless of formation England need to improve in central midfield, England need a holding player (Dier) and a more attack minded partner. The problem is the lack of outstanding options, back in 2006 England had Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick, Hargreaves & Jenas, any of whom would now be first […]
England fans should get behind Southgate…for now
Two sluggish 1 nil wins and England made it to the World Cup to a chorus of apathy and disapproval. In the media scrum that followed everyone had their say and sadly that meant a ‘speak your brains’ phone in on Five Live. Depressingly someone called in to say sack Southgate and replace him with […]
World Cup qualifying: Dutch Despair, American Angst and Messi Magic
For most qualification is now over, joy for some and agony for many, when the World Cup expands to its bloated 48 team format for 2026 I’ll miss the drama of qualifiers. The football is often ropey as teams try to fashion together performances from a few training sessions but the drama is incredible. It’s […]
Destination Russia
So it’s official- England will be at the 2018 World Cup finals. The next question is who will make the squad. Using the tabloids favourite cliche of airport terminology to illustrate who gets in the squad (or as they say who makes the plane) here’s a quick guide to who’s in, out and maybe Boarding […]