Apologies for the lack of blogs – I’ve been on jury duty for two weeks. Hang the bastard, regardless of the evidence, was my watchword as jury foreman. Anyway, normal service will soon be resumed. In the interim, let me give the few of you who care about football my take on the England team at present, and its chances in France next month. I was of course delighted we beat the hideous, cheating, Turks – and in the end with something to spare. But what we learned was this:
- Playing Jamie Vardy on the wing is stupid. Put him in the centre with Harry Kane. So that means some variation of 4-4-2. Yes, de trop. But it works for us.
- Don’t allow Kane to take the free kicks because a) he’s not terribly good at them and b) we need him to be in the centre when the free kick arrives.
- Sterling over Wilshire, by a mile. Neither have had good seasons, but Sterling was far more effective against Turkey. Townsend preferable to both, if that’s what it comes down to. Yes, Sterling is a fractious little div. But still.
- The defence, as we know, is close to awful. There is almost nothing to be done. Smalling, Stones, Clyne and Rose is probably the best we have. But you wouldn’t put your house on them keeping even the hapless Welsh out, would you?
- Joe Hart is a very good shot-stopper but otherwise a liability. His judgement makes John McDonnell look perceptive. There is nothing to be done about this.
All that being said, this is a more promising England team than any I can remember since about 2002. Maybe earlier. But I suppose we will lose one nil to the Russkies and then draw with Wales. As per usual.
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