DALE TEMPEST Real flier could inspire Town!
WITH the World Cup coming to an end, attention will quickly switch to the summer transfer window for Premier League clubs like Huddersfield Town.
Looking ahead, it’s hard to believe the Community Shield is just around the corner on August 5 while friendlies are now being played, teams are getting their pre-season work done and new signings are arriving.
David Wagner has already done some key business for Town with four new faces following the signing of Erik Durm last night and the return of former loanee from Monaco, Terence Kongolo.
Goalkeeper Ben Hamer, winger Ramadan Sobhi and young midfielder Juninho Bacuna are being bedded into the squad and I feel the link to Adama Traore at Middlesbrough is an interesting one.
I would like to see him at Town and think he would be a good signing for them.
At 22, the Spaniard would definitely break the transfer record for Town, but pace in wide areas and players who can carry the ball, like him, for 20 or 30 yards are just so important to teams who spend a lot of time without the ball.
You need that kind of breather, and a player like Traore can give you that.
When Boro were in the Premier League, he showed he had pace to burn and just needed to learn that final bit of quality on a more consistent basis.
Everyone is looking to improve their squad and Town are no different. They can’t afford to stand still and Dean Hoyle and Wagner know that better than anyone else.
They know Town have to move forward from last year with extra quality, and there is no doubt Dean will give David every bit of support he can to bring in the players he wants – but it’s a very competitive marketplace.
Talking of quality brings me back to England and the World Cup.
In any walk of life, if you prepare for an event – it could be an exam, a speech or a presentation – and you do your best but don’t succeed, you come away semi-contented because you’ve done your best but know you need more.
Sadly for the young England squad, that isn’t how they are going to feel.
They were so much better in the tournament than what they produced over 120 minutes against Croatia.
It is not fair on a side to go into great detail and analyse failures at the final hurdle when trying to reach the final, but there is a huge sense of disappointment that an opportunity has been missed.
The one player who stood out in the game was Luka Modric for Croatia. He was absolutely world class. He never gave the ball away and, when pressed, he always managed to have time to choose the correct pass.
No England player got anywhere near reaching his level on the day.
Games are dictated by quality in both boxes. Harry Kane’s two misses and the individual errors by Kyle Walker and John Stones were our downfall.
Putting that to one side, the squad generally deserve credit and one person needs massive praise – Gareth Southgate.
Talk about putting some pride back into the England set-up!
He has been a class act from his first interview to his last and has shown some real humility, which is everything you want from an international manager.
I would have preferred him to have given Dele Alli a rest in the semi-final, but leaving selection on one side, the country has fallen back in love with the national team. Fantastic! While England have been doing so well, a fantastic sporting calendar has been passing many people by.
Wimbledon has been almost forgotten, even though the Ladies final is today and the men’s tomorrow, the Open Championship is coming up next Thursday and is truly a fantastic occasion for golf, the British Grand Prix came and went with barely a whimper and now we have a wonderful weekend of racing – the busiest of the year with Ascot, York, Newmarket and Chester among other meetings.
I tipped up Sands of Mali previously at Ascot, just to be touched off in second place.
But I am sticking with Sands of Mali for the July Cup at Newmarket this afternoon (2.15) and hoping he goes one place better for trainer Richard Fahey.