Tag Archives: The Three Lions

EURO 2021: Is Football coming home for the Three Lions?

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The chaos that is consuming the world has sadly denied us all a summer jam-packed with international football, as the European Championships was initially set to take place through the months of June and July 2020. The historic tournament has been moved to the summer of 2021.

With England’s valiant display at the 2018 World Cup still a nostalgic and warming afterthought, Gareth Southgate’s hand has been forced to look ahead of shaking up the squad and preparing for another hair-raising tournament.

After raising a few eyebrows at the 2018 World Cup, England have been cemented as the clear favourites by Sporting Index to win the tournament, which will pile that extra pressure on the team to perform. Let’s have a look on how the team is shaping up and the possibility of it coming home.

Team Overhaul

Since the last electrifying tournament in Russia has passed, the England team have morphed drastically. Fabian Delph, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck and Jesse Lingard are some of the names who occupied a spot for that fateful match in the semi-finals against Croatia, but have all faded into a world of obscurity now Southgate is overhauling the squad.

The decline of the past talent has made way for the likes of Jadon Sancho, Ben Chilwell and Declan Rice, just a small glimpse of England’s future talent and the expansion of the manager’s vision.

With Kane spearheading the front line, and the spine of the England team aligning, it gives England fans another beacon of hope as the team dines once more at the international table in the summer of 2021. 

England’s Young Talent

It’s no secret that England harvests a plethora of talent, the game was devised on English soil and has reason to incubate some of the biggest prospects in the game. Southgate has shown on countless occasions he’s open to giving youth a chance. Regardless of age, the England boss will carve out a role for a young player if he believes that it will add another string to the England bow.

Leicester City’s James Maddison and Chelsea’s Mason Mount have demonstrated through the Euro qualification that their prowess and footballing ethos have earned them a place on the plane to the Euros.

Trent Alexander Arnold has been an integral cog to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool outfit, and his performances have made the Three Lion’s boss take note and rotate the young Liverpool hero with Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier.

Another notable mention who is moving through the ranks is that of Declan Rice. The West Ham maestro has become a midfield lynchpin for the Hammers over the past few years and his hard work has paid dividends, as he finds himself featured more and more in the England first team.

Jadon Sancho, meanwhile, seems to be England’s future gleaming jewel. The rising star came flying out of the blocks at Borussia Dortmund, after he first joined in 2017 from Manchester City. Sancho made it clear, early on, that he was to become Dortmund’s talisman and lead the team to a Super Cup glory. Southgate has included Sancho in the England squad for the best part of 2019/20.

Can England Win Euro 2021?

England have one of the best squads in international football littered with talent across the field. Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Tammy Abraham are all brilliant strikers, with Kane clearly a step above the other two, so going into this tournament, England are armed with attacking options.

The team spirit is at an all-time high after a string of positive qualifying results and the dynamism of the squad seems to be going in the right direction. The current crop of England players seems to be getting on and enjoy working as a cohesive footballing unit.

Long gone is the England penalty curse, as the 2018 World Cup semi-finalists dispatched a resilient and battle-worn Columbia in the last sixteen from the spot kick, in a series of nerve-rattling penalties. This penalty victory will carry the England players to the Euros with a more positive mindset if it finishes level at 120 minutes.

Finally, the Euro 2021 final is on home soil, Wembley. Conveniently, the last time England lifted an international trophy was at Wembley in 1966. Home soil is a massive advantage for the Three Lions and the men will be relishing the opportunity to play there.

Where Is Euro 2021 Held?

The 16th European Championship will be staged in 12 host cities, each in different country. The countries include England, Germany, Italy, Azerbaijan, Russia, Romania, Holland, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, Scotland and Denmark.

How will England adapt to Life without Kane in the Nations League?

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Harry Kane has been assured by Gareth Southgate that he will be included in the squad for the concluding matches of the Nations League, despite the Spurs striker being almost certain to be well short of full fitness.

Despite his mooted inclusion in the squad, Southgate may feel unable to risk Kane in the semi-final against the Netherlands on June 6. This could open a door for Marcus Rashford or Raheem Sterling to stake their claim as the Three Lions’ lead man.

Kane will feel that the injury came at the worst possible time, with the small matter of Spurs’ Champions League final. However, the striker should take comfort that a Kane-less Spurs just about managed to cling on to a spot in the top four. Despite their utterly remarkable triumphs over Manchester City and Ajax in the Champions League, Spurs have unsurprisingly looked worse without Kane for the most part. Southgate will hope that the same isn’t true for England.

There’s also another unconventional aspect we’re missing here. Harry Kane’s absence has not only been keenly felt by Mauricio Pochettino, but by a plethora of fantasy sports managers across the world. While they can’t quite match the Champions League in terms of finances or prestige, there are often vast prizes and pride at stake for fantasy football bosses.

Kane’s relentless prolificacy in front of goal (apart from in August, of course) made him the cornerstone of many fantasy football teams. We'll just have to wait and see how that will pan out. Kane’s absence at the business end this season forced managers to rethink their reliance on the Spurs striker. Unfortunately for Southgate, few of the potential replacements in fantasy football sides were English. Most turned to Sergio Aguero or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but Southgate has no such luxury. While there are few all-around strikers of Kane’s calibre, Southgate does have some different forwards options at his disposal.

Given Jamie Vardy’s retirement from internationals, the natural replacement appears to be Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford. His England record of six goals in 31 appearances isn’t impressive at face value, but Rashford’s youth and wider position should be factored in. Four goals in 16 appearances for England in 2018 shows that his scoring record is improving as he matures. Three of those goals took England into the lead, revealing that Rashford has Kane’s knack of scoring crucial goals.

However, Rashford’s season has stagnated with Manchester United’s, and he hardly heads to Portugal in a rich vein of form. Someone whose form hasn’t dropped all season is Raheem Sterling, who Southgate could turn to as a more unconventional lead striker. Vardy ended the season as the leading English scorer in the Premier League, but it was Kane and Sterling who were just one behind on 17.

Sterling has shown beyond doubt that he is one of the world’s finest attackers, one that has the intelligence to operate anywhere in the final third. Given that the Netherlands are likely to line up with Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt in central defence, a forward of Sterling’s style could pose the most problems. The Dutch duo are among the world’s best, but they have both shown a mild vulnerability to nimble forwards in recent Champions League matches.

Van Dijk struggled with Luis Suarez’s movement, while de Ligt was unable to contain Lucas Moura. Sterling could play a similar role to Moura in Kane’s absence. While you want your best players in their best positions, Sterling has the ability and the confidence to provide a viable Plan B for when Kane is unfit or misfiring. If it works in the Nations League, it may give Southgate food for thought when competitive internationals swing back round.

‘Farewell’ for Rooney is pathetic

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Screenshot 2018-11-06 at 09.31.43

There was a time when earning an England cap really meant something.

It was the absolute pinnacle of every player’s career, and a responsibility that each took seriously.

The difficulty of consistently finding oneself in the senior set-up was obvious by the lack of players that had managed to amass anywhere close to 100 caps, let alone exceed that number.

In the recent past, the handing out of caps has become more and more contentious, but none more so that the most recent; a 120th appearance for Wayne Rooney, two years after his last game for his country. Continue reading →

Joe Hart no longer the best English Goalkeeper?

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Since 2012, Joe Hart has been England’s first choice goalkeeper. Three successive England managers – Fabio Capello, Roy Hodgson and Gareth Southgate – have all showed great faith in the Manchester City goalkeeper over the course of the last seven years.

While he has largely repaid their faith, he is also prone to making errors, such as allowing Gareth Bale to score from a long range free-kick in England’s 2-1 win over Wales in the group stage of Euro 2016. Therefore, there is room for other goalkeepers to challenge Hart for a place in manager Southgate’s side.

Joe Hart

A few contenders exist.  Some have done so for a bit longer, whilst others are starting to establishing themselves as potential England candidates. Already with some playing experience for The Three Lions and perhaps part of a group of possible replacements for Hart are Jack Butland and Fraser Forster.

One name catching the eye of pundits and fans alike is Burnley’s backup goalkeeper Nick Pope who is taking advantage of the injury to Tom Heaton to stake a claim as a starter in the English Premier League. Pope remains a rather fresh face in EPL, with no prior experience at the top level, yet his recent performances for Burnley show he is worth keeping eyes on.

Another goalkeeper worth mentioning whilst he is gradually developing a good reputation is Jordan Pickford. Despite Sunderland being defensively susceptible last season, the 23-year-old Pickford excelled to earn himself a move to Everton.

At Everton he trains with the assured Dutchman Maarten Stekelenburg, who provides healthy competition for Pickford and can play a role in his progression. Pickford has represented England at every level from U-16’s to U-21’s.

At present, Hart remains England’s no.1, but his hold on the position is not as strong as it once was.  He has the opportunity to earn a spot to play at his second World Cup finals by doing well for West Ham.  Additional incentive exist for him to do so, from the way Pep Guardiola set him aside at Manchester City to his struggles with Torino in Serie A.

Perhaps an even greater motivation for Hart is the presence of goalkeepers such as Butland and Forster, along with the emergence of Pickford and Pope. Nevertheless, the greatest incentive of all, for any footballer, would be to participate in a World Cup tournament so Hart needs to step up for the Hammers in order to secure his place in England’s squad for Russia 2018!