JOE’S PEP UP
UPDATES on England’s furry mascot, Leo the Lion. Concede added time equaliser to Russia … it’s pathetic, it’s embarrassing. Score added time winner against Wales … it’s teambonding, it’s brilliant. Poor, old Leo mustn’t know whether he is coming or going. IT is a good job that Daniel Sturridge is not as surly as some would like to make out. Otherwise, he might have been tempted to raise two fingers to those who, somehow, did not think him worthy of a place at this Eu r o p e a n Championship. The idea Sturridge might not make the squad was preposterous when it was first mooted, but starkly highlighted as such on Thursday in Lens. Some seriously thought Hodgson – if he was to pick four strikers – might leave Sturridge behind. For a tournament not over-blessed with world-class strikers, that was never going to happen. Hodgson might not ANYONE heard anything from the Rugby Players’ Association this week? Thought they might be on the front foot, defending Joe Marler.
Remember the sheer outrage of the RPA’s chief executive Damian Hopley when Marler (right) faced disciplinary action for calling Samson Lee a “gypsy boy”?
Marler, he said, was “being hung out to dry in (an) … excruciating media witch hunt”.
That’s the same Marler who took to Twitter a few days ago to declare former Australian coach Bob Dwyer a “w****r”.
That’s the same Marler who, on his first game back from the “gypsy boy” suspension, kicked Grenoble hooker Arnaud Heguy in the head. have introduced him until halfway through England’s second match of the tournament, but Sturridge is one of the most accomplished finishers in Europe and that sort of talent can go a long way to deciding major tournaments.
Statistics from last season – and including this tournament and the warm-up matches – show Sturridge to have the best strike-rate of the four England strikers (Rooney is now of ficially classed as a midfielder).
Since the start of the 2015/16 season, Marcus Rashford has averaged a goal every 122.7 minutes, Harry Kane one every 117.1 minutes, Jamie Vardy one every 113.5 minutes and Sturridge one every 107.5 minutes.
Of course, Kane and Vardy have played far more matches than Rashford and Sturridge, but that is why the latter two may have more and more influence as the championship progress.
A lot of the negativity towards Sturridge seems to have been generated by his unfortunate selection of injury setbacks.
That is what they are, though. Unfortunate.
Just as it was unfortunate that Jurgen Klopp added fuel to the critical fire with his “serious pain” comments.
“With Danny … you have to learn what is serious pain and what is only pain.”
You are either injured or you are not. Sturridge has suffered more than his fair share of injuries. Just, by the way, as his footballing uncles did. It is a reason for him to be pitied, not pilloried.
He is fit now, finished his club campaign on a roll – five goals in his last seven matches – and is a big-game player. His technique and composure stood out against Wales in Thursday and has stood out many times before.
He scored one of England’s two goals at World Cup 2014 and produced that wonderful finish in CRISTIANO RONALDO got an awful lot of stick for his reaction to Portugal’s opening draw against Iceland.
“I thought they had won the Euros the way they celebrated at the end,” said Ronaldo (right).
“When they don’t try to play and just defend, defend, defend, this shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the the Europa League final last month. At the age of 26, he is a footballer in his prime and his ability and f inishing prowess stands comparison with any of the main strikers at Euro 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo apart.
That is why Arsene Wenger highlighted Sturridge as the potential star of the tournament.
Yet, during his injury-troubled 15/ 16 season, there were still debates about whether Liverpool and Klopp would think about selling him. They would be mad to. Just as Hodgson would have been mad to leave him at home.
Sturridge is one of the most harshly-judged, underrated English players.
At the start of this tournament, I genuinely believed England had enough attacking threat to have a serious chance of winning it.
Now Sturridge has been unleashed, that belief is even stronger. competition.” Sore non-winner? Definitely. Petulant and embarrassing? Sure.
But what part of that is untrue?
The downside of the expanded Euro 2016 is that there are too many y teams not interested in having the football. NO ONE in England’s recent football history has been as undroppable as Wayne Rooney, but Joe Hart has come pretty close.
And that remains the case, despite the calamitous concession of Gareth Bale’s freekick below).
Yet you can bet Pep Guardiola is watching Hart’s performances closely. Hart had a decent club season, pockmarked by some mistakes and, although the harshest judges might have studied his movements for Russia’s goal, he was blameless in Marseille.
But on top of the howler against the Welsh, his distribution remains unpredictable.
His place is safe with England, but he might need a faultless remainder of Euro 2016 to convince Pep.
JOSE MOURINHO uploaded a picture of himself on the phone back in Portugal. “Always working” read the caption. And on an annual salary north of £10m, one would hope so.
BACK in February, this column wondered if it was really necessary for West Ham to give Dimitri Payet (left) a new £125,000-a-week, five-and-a-half year deal barely six months into his first contract. Now, this column sees why.
RONALD KOEMAN certainly hit a few right notes on his introduction as Everton manager. None as spot-on as his assessment of Romelu Lukaku. “He is a goalscorer and you don’t want to lose them. But he also must improve.” Quite.
NOT much else has a look-in when a major football tournament gets going, but Frankie Dettori’s ride on Galileo Gold – and his winning reactionreact – in the St James’s PalacePa Stakes at Royal Ascot wasw a demonstration of: a) whyw his personality remains oneo of racing’s biggest draw, andan b) how he is still one of the finestfine big-race jockeys out there.there