Hope behind the howlers

IT’S hard to know what made Gareth Southgate wince harder on Sunday as he gathers his thoughts for the Euros. Jordan Pickford’s howler at Goodison that gifted Manchester United an equaliser, or John Stones’s howler at Wembley that let Aston Villa back into the Carabao Cup final. Both were part of a pattern that suggests these two key England men are either developing concentration lapses at key moments or just aren’t up to it at the highest level. But there was a bigger picture in both of those games that should have lifted Southgate’s spirits. At Goodison Dominic Calvert-lewin now looks consistently like a real goal threat, Mason Holgate is blossoming into a genuine star under Carlo Ancelotti, and Aaron Wan-bissaka is starting to look like the £45million player United hoped he’d be. Meanwhile at Wembley, Phil Foden was man of the match and Jack Grealish may not have had the greatest of games but was again Villa’s biggest threat and yet again showed touches of his obvious class. The doubts persist over whether Harry Kane or Marcus Rashford will be fully fit for the Euros and others may be lost to injury before then. But Southgate must be secretly chuffed that he’s watching games most weekends which offer evidence there are plenty of others coming through.

IT’S that time of the season when the talk becomes more and more about who will be relegated, and you hear ex-players and pundits on TV and radio studios say about teams they have never played for or have no obvious affinity with: “If I’m going to be honest I’m really worried for them.” No. If you’re going to be honest, you’re really not.

PEP GUARDIOLA’S haul of domestic trophies at Manchester City these past three seasons has been nothing short of magnificent.

So magnificent it needs no overhyping, as Guardiola did when he bragged: “I’ve won all six finals since I’ve been part of this group.

It’s remarkable to win eight of the last nine titles.”

He’s counting the Community Shield as two of those finals and two of those titles. Sorry Pep, but the Community Shield doesn’t count as a final or a title, just a meaningless friendly before the season starts.

The Champions League does though. Which is another reason why City need to break their duck and leave the counting of minor trinkets to lesser teams.