Exciting squad.. but it’s the hope that kills us
LET’S face it, in the cold light of day, of which they experience 22 hours’ worth in their bizarre choice of Russian base camp, there is barely a hope of England winning the World Cup.
For all their spirit, optimism and camaraderie, they should not be good enough.
Let’s look at how the team seems to be shaping up in Gareth Southgate’s mind. Pickford – Walker, Stones, Maguire – Trippier, Henderson, Alli, Young – Lingard, Kane, Sterling.
A goalkeeper, with a relatively recent relegation to his name, who has done little but fish the ball out of his net in the last two seasons.
A back three that has one player out of position, another who is fourth in a pecking order of four for his day job, a third who was at the last major tournament as a pint-loving punter.
A midfield that has as its linchpin a player who Sir Alex Ferguson says cannot run properly, and a strike-force spearheaded by a captain with a poor, if brief, record in tournament football. Apart from that, you really have to fancy us.
You never know, Raheem Sterling (below) might chip in with a goal. After all, he must be due to add to the last one he got.. against Estonia almost three years ago.
Throw in a manager who got Middlesbrough relegated and you have an outfit that should be
66-1 against eventual triumph, never mind 16-1. Brazil could field a thirdchoice squad that looks as strong as ours.
When several of England’s party say they cannot quite believe they are here, you actually know where they are coming from. That is the reality.
Harry Maguire, as heart-warming as his tale may be and as admirable a footballer as he may be, is not getting anywhere near, say, a Spain squad.
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-arnold is here for work experience, the Champions League final showed that. We should accept nothing less than success as the ultimate goal, I’ve said that all along. In the vanguard of developed footballing nations, and with the self-proclaimed best league in the word at our epicentre, we should be competitive in the here and now. This idea of building for the future is poppycock.
There is only one thing certain about anything with a bright future.. that future seldom comes.
But, ahead of Monday’s opener against Tunisia, why on earth should we be optimistic? Why on earth should we think this lot will be any different from the rabble who, in the second half against Iceland at Euro 2016, looked like football was a foreign language to them?
After all, nine of the players involved in the Iceland debacle could well feature on Monday.
Realistically, despite familiar encouragement in qualifiers and friendlies, we should not think this will be different.
Yet there is hope.
It might only be hope but it is hope. Having been on the plot in Repino these last few days and visited them several times at St George’s Park, I sense a squad who want to prove me and plenty of others wrong.
I sense a squad who believe their talent has been camouflaged by the reliance on foreign ability in the Premier League.
I sense a squad fed up with being pigeon-holed as water-carriers for Continental exotica.
I sense a squad proud of, and unified by, their diversity in one of the world’s least diverse environments.
I sense a squad tired of fielding questions about their predecessors’ under-achievement.
I sense a squad with many points to prove.
I sense a squad ready to do the country proud.