WHY WE’RE MAD ABOUT HOT HARRY
IF ONLY we could have 40 Winks – then the England team would not be in constant danger of sending us all to sleep.
As it happens we have just one in the shape of Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks. But when it comes to the man himself, it is all about quality not quantity.
Winks could pass for a welterweight boxer given his size – he doesn’t look like he has the strength to knock the top off a rice pudding.
But this did not stop him from producing a heavyweight performance against the might of Real Madrid at Wembley.
From the start Winks was in Kroos control as he went toe-to-toe with some of the best midfielders in football.
Toni Kroos is the German general in the Real engine room, a World Cup and Champions League winner.
Skills
But he looked second best to the pocket rocket from Hemel Hempstead, who is now showcasing his considerable skills for club and country.
There have been more decorated and established stars than Winks who have done battle with Kroos and Luka Modric and lost.
But Winks appears to have that precious gift of being able to raise his game the bigger the occasion becomes.
And that will stand him in good stead, because he is destined to strut his stuff on the biggest stages for a long time to come.
Nights like these can prove to be defining ones for some – and Winks wasn’t about to give an inch to the might of Zinedine Zidane’s European champions.
It took him less than 30 minutes to stamp his mark on this crucial Champions League Group H showdown
Picking up the ball deep in the Real half, he took a quick glance forward before floating a sublime, diagonal ball to Kieran Tripper that meant the rampaging full-back did not have to break stride.
His instant cross picked out Dele Alli, who finished from close range.
Glenn Hoddle was watching from the stands and Winks’ pass was one the former Spurs maestro would have been proud of.
Before half-time Winks was booked for a crude foul on Casemiro but the greatest midfielders have all had that devilment in them.
In the space of a few weeks the 21-year-old has established himself in Mauricio Pochettino’s side and won his first England cap – and once again the Spurs boss deserves huge credit for moulding a raw talent into someone capable of achieving great things.
He has force-fed Winks a diet of video footage of Barcelona great Andres Iniesta and even dubbed him his ‘Little Iniesta’ and it’s not difficult to see why.
England boss Gareth Southgate was an interested spectator last night and will name Winks in his squad today for this month’s friendlies against Germany and Brazil. He must feel like pinching himself but it’s Southgate who should be, because he’s been handed a gift from the gods when he needed it most.