FOWLER It will be another battle... Modric & Co will want to break our hearts again
intensity. I remember playing for England under Sven-goran Eriksson and sometimes you could barely work out who was even on the pitch. I swear we must have had either 10 or 12 men out there at times!
What I would say is that Southgate will be pleased that his very young team are getting the tough minutes against some of the top sides.
Spain may not be at their peak, but they are always a proper team. Same with Croatia. They got to the World Cup Final, they beat Spain only four days ago and you know they will compete.
We all saw that in the reaction from Sergio Ramos the other day. It won’t be too friendly! England have plenty riding on it.
But I can also tell you that will give nightmares to club managers.
Ivan Rakitic got injured playing for Croatia against Spain and Barcelona will be silently seething about that because it turned out to be a pretty nasty game – and he got kicked. This is where the problem comes in. The Nations League might have given more competition for international bosses, but it has also increased the risk of injury and it has hardly reduced the fixture workload.
Clubs want fewer international games, but, if anything, there will be more now .
Maybe Southgate recognised that a little by playing a scratch team for the friendly against the USA to appease the domestic clubs.
That was a smart idea for a coach who has made a lot of good decisions since he became England boss.
I think it is still a looming problem that will not go away, though, and it’s going to have to be addressed at some point. Soon.
The way the modern game is, the pace, the intensity, the demands, there must be fewer games – and the internationals are an area that has to be looked at.
Back to the game, though, and England will be in a battle. Players like Luka Modric and Dejan Lovren will not want to lose against us. But England will win, I reckon. Southgate has got something going with this squad, you can see that, and most of his important players are hitting their best form.
He knows it will be important for them if they do – getting to the semifinal is a big thing for a young team.
I know I said it’s not really a top competition, but, as a player, the thing is that competitive instinct kicks in when you get a sniff of any final.
And getting there to play against teams such as France or Holland would be another step in the development of this exciting team.