There is little sense of anything much happening across the English greensward between Derby and Stoke. Save for a few cows grazing at the fringes of the property and clinical staff administering lateral flow tests, St George’s Park remains largely untouched by Euro 2020 mania.
Come to think of it so are the rest of us. The decision by Uefa to decentralise their quadrennial showpiece is not only wholly unsuitable in pandemic times, it robs the occasion of its centre.
With 12 cities deployed in this delayed pageant we are denied the gratification that comes with the grand opening by the hosts.
With Wembley host to the semis and final, and to England’s three group matches, the Three Lions are hosts in all but name yet the mother country has no muscles to flex in the organising of the party. So we bounce about the continent from Istanbul to Rome, Munich to Seville, Budapest to Glasgow waiting for the spark to ignite.
England vs Croatia
- Date: Sunday 13 June
- Kick-off: 2pm
- Venue: Wembley Stadium
- TV: BBC One from 1pm
- Live stream: BBC iPlayer app or online (with a valid TV licence)
- Highlights: 11.15pm, BBC One
Maybe Gareth Southgate can help us here, overcoming his conservative instincts by sending out a dream team against Croatia on Sunday free of inhibition, one in which Jack Grealish and Phil Foden are not the subject of an either/or. It would be helpful too if the pop-up politicos and neo anti-Marxists among the England throng refrain from abusing the players they support over the political choices they make. We are all in this together, right?
The nation is surely justified in its optimism. Southgate has assembled as talented a squad as any under 60 can remember. All of that defeatist baggage rooted in the dark days of 70s England when the lethal combination of long ball tactics and bovine hooliganism brought the game to its knees, has been swept away on a tide of youthful brio.
If the last “golden generation” of Beckham and Gerrard, Ferdinand and Terry, Lampard and Scholes were hampered by lingering vestiges of English inferiority, this group is unencumbered by the past. They even like each other, talk to each other in repose, share leisure time on the Xbox and dartboard, fill WhatsApp group messages with banter.
It is no longer the Press inflating our prospects but the players, who fancy themselves genuinely as winners. And why not? The majority play in the most lucrative domestic league in the world, at the most lavishly resourced clubs under the best coaches. The Premier League has provided England with 20 centres of excellence, hothousing some of the best young talent in the world.
Foden, Grealish, Bakayo Saka, Reece James, Declan Rice, Luke Shaw have taken it in turns to talk up England’s chances. No false modesty. No hopefully this, hopefully that. They not only want to win, they expect to. They dare to swagger, which for a veteran of England underachievement is a most reassuring development.
After all, the idea of their own significance has been a founding characteristic of the successes racked up by Germany, Italy, France and Spain since the boys of ’66 raised the English standard for the one and only time.
That the England players back themselves to succeed is not a slight on the quality of others. France rightly start favourites. Belgium are only a fit Eden Hazard from the full monty. Germany and Italy are rebuilding impressively even if they lack forward lines with a traditional knockout punch.
Southgate will likely build around his staples, Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Mount, Rice and Jordan Pickford. The absence of Harry Maguire for the opening fixtures is a headache for Southgate, but boils down to selecting a partner for John Stones. A back-four is a prerequisite if either Foden or Grealish is to start. Don’t be surprised were both to be unleashed as substitutes.
Croatia are not quite the team that edged England in the World Cup semi-final, but with Luca Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Nikola Vlasic and Marcelo Brozovic, have a mobile midfield well equipped to deny England plenty of ball.
England’s prospects might well hinge on a must-win second game against Scotland next Friday. If we are lacking a sense of occasion at the start of the tournament, Wembley will be at the centre of all our lives a week hence should Croatia pop the balloon on Sunday. Even Boris Johnson might be across that scale of event.
More from i on Euro 2020
- i’s Euro 2020 predictions – winners, dark horses, golden boot and more
- Daniel Storey’s guide to all 24 teams – from hot favourites to no hopers
- Home nations guides on England, Scotland and Wales
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
- Why England players are taking a knee at Euro 2020 – in their own words
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3zpBXAo
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