Microwave meal in fridge for England but Wales could be frozen out by then
mention that? We were supposed to mention that.
Here in London, on Sunday afternoon, it’s England v Lithuania (ITV, 5pm), and the TV Guide is pretty goddamn pumped up for Gareth Southgate’s brave new world, in which a post-Rooney England now play three at the back, stick Jamie Vardy up front and still lose to Germany.
If that’s not change a-coming, the TV Guide doesn’t know what is.
To be fair to Southgate, his combination of humility, pragmatism, plainspeaking realism about England’s strengths and long-term strategies and totally on-point clippered beard, have endeared him to the TV Guide and we want him to succeed.
Group F is a nice soft place for new faces like Michael Keane and Marcus Rashford to earn their international stripes and, if all goes well, they should have the whole thing sewn up by September.
Know, then, that the TV Guide will be watching agog with our microwave Sunday dinnerfor-one congealing on our lap as brave new England bravely labour past a totally non-brave Lithuanian side who got pumped 4-0 by Slovakia in qualifying last time out.
It’s going to be easy! It’s going to be amazing! England are going to win the World Cup! Or is the TV Guide not on message here?
F i n a l l y, S u n d ay night also offers us Scotland v Slovenia (Sky Sports 5, 7.45pm), which is in its own way a locked-down mustwatch if international football in general and Group F in particular is your ting, that is. It’s certainly the TV Guide’s ting. As we have already established.