It’s not rocket science
BY ANY measure English football currently has some of the best young prospects in world football coming through the ranks, so why is our under-21 team so bad? Actually I’ll rephrase that: why are we allowing a second potentially superb group of young players from clubs managed by progressive modern day managers (and Jose Mourinho) to have the smarts coached out of them by Aidy Boothroyd? On Wednesday it was confirmed that, for the second time on the bounce, the under-21s had failed to make it out of their group in European Championship qualifying. This at a time when all the other age-related teams have been enjoying considerable success in their tournaments. The buck’s supposed to stop somewhere and I would suggest it stops with the man who left Northampton rock bottom of the football league before being parachuted into the England set-up.
Speaking of which
Even when Christian Eriksen was in his pomp I went on record stating that Harry Kane was Spurs’ best “pure” passer. Moving forward a couple of years nobody would now dispute that but at international level Kane’s passing proficiency presents Gareth Southgate with a conundrum: what do you do when your best passer is also your best striker? Kane’s domestic record of 17 goals and 13 assists this term shows us that Jose Mourinho has more by luck than judgement figured it out but can Southgate? Heung-Min Son and Lucas are the keys that unlock the Spurs conundrum but with England Southgate has to figure out a way to get the likes of Sterling, Rashford, and Sancho consistently running beyond Kane when he drops deep, or failing that find a pure playmaker so that Kane doesn’t feel he has to drop back to initiate moves and then utilise him as a good old fashioned centre forward.
I was all set to deliver a diatribe on why football’s international minnows shouldn’t be allowed to play with footie’s big guns and should play in a plate tournament prior to qualification proper, then the Irish go and lose at home to
Luxembourg — but the point still stands. In the first two rounds of World Cup qualifying Andorra had just three shots in total, Liechtenstein one and San Marino none. To illustrate further just how hapless the minnows are, even Scotland managed to stick four past the mighty Faroe Islands. I get that the little nations deserve their moments in the sun but this isn’t the FA Cup where on the day and in the right circumstances a giant killing is always a possibility, but with the exception of the aforementioned Luxembourg, who are improving incrementally, the small nations just aren’t cutting it at the top level.
Games to watch
Premier League today 2:30; Chelsea vs West Brom. 5pm; Leeds vs Sheffield United. 7:30; Leicester vs Citeh. 10pm; Arsenal vs Liverpool. Tomorrow 2pm; Southampton vs Burnley. 4:05 Newcastle vs Spurs. 6:30; Villa vs Fulham. 9:30; United vs Brighton. Monday 8pm; Everton vs Palace. 10:15; Wolves vs West Ham. Friday 10pm; Fulham vs Wolves. Champions League quarter finals first leg Tuesday 10pm; Citeh vs Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid vs Liverpool. Wednesday 10pm; Bayern Munich vs Paris St Germain, Porto vs Chelsea. Europa League quarter final first leg Thursday 10pm; Arsenal vs Slavia Prague, Granada vs United. Selected Championship today 2:30; Huddersfield vs Brentford. Monday 2:30; Middlesbrough vs Watford. 5pm; Reading vs Derby. 7:30; Sheffield Wednesday vs Cardiff. Tuesday 9pm; Brentford vs Birmingham. 9:45; Norwich vs Huddersfield. Friday 9:45; Watford
vs Reading. Selected Scottish Cup today 9:30; Celtic vs Falkirk. Tomorrow 8:30; Rangers vs Cove Rangers. Monday 9:35; Queen of the South vs Hibs.
US Masters
Augusta National GC Thursday through Sunday: barely four months after the delayed 2020 Masters the tourney is back in its usual spring time slot for 2021, which means that last year’s winner Dustin Johnson may well find himself the shortest lived “Master” in history. As per usual at Augusta National distance won’t be the defining factor so who do I fancy to do well next weekend? The Masters places a premium on second shot accuracy and deft putters so for each way bets I like the looks of Colin Morikawa, Paul Casey, Tyrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka, and the resurgent Sergio Garcia. My outsiders, but still worth a flutter, would be Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, and Billy Horschel. As for the big boys, look to Dustin Johnson, Bryson Dechambeau, Justin Thomas, and Jon Rahm but not Rory McIlroy who sadly has left it too late in linking up with top coach Pete Cowen. I’d love to be wrong but I just can’t see him putting together four strong rounds. My own 10TL is going each way on Lee Westwood,
though I fear his decision to put his son on the bag for the Masters may be a mistake.
And finally
Last week’s question: regarding Jim Montgomery’s famous 1973 FA Cup final save I wanted to know which player had the initial shot repulsed before Peter Lorimer’s follow-up was pushed on to the bar. The answer is Trevor Cherry, who probably thought he’d scored with his diving header and must definitely have thought that Lorimer would capitalise on Montgomery’s parry out before the Sunderland keeper pulled off his momentous reaction save.
This week: Who am I? In 1952 I won my first FA Cup. In 1967 I won a major European trophy and made my international debut in a rather famous match at the age of 36. Bonus question: most football saddos, particularly those who are into pub quizzes, know that exSpurs and Scotland star Steve Archibald was the first player to appear on Top of the Pops twice on the same night, but who was the second player to perform the same feat?
Six packs are so overrated; was I the only one frustrated to learn that in a recent survey women declared that they preferred “Dad Bods” to ripped torsos? All that gym work for nothing!