Roy Gets It Right
Now as a general rule, I don't really follow or like the England football team. I haven't watched any of their matches properly since the World Cup, mostly because I find most international football to be a tedious, pointless, uninteresting and inevitable set of fixtures that at best is a thumb-twiddling break from the real good stuff and at worst, a sea of injuries to our players that has me cursing its very existence. Of course the major tournaments are often interesting and hence I will always sit down for a Euros or a World Cup, but in general, watching England especially is more of a boring and at times painful experience than it is fun. I'm sick of the team selections, I think Roy is a terrible choice who has long outstayed his welcome and in general I have about as much interest in the share prices of BP as I do in the England team unless there's a major tournament literally next week.
But then I saw last night's team selection and something strange happened. I sat down for the game last night and I was, dare I say it, looking forward to it. Yes, Roy had his hands tied by injuries to Sterling, Wilshere, Rooney, Delph and even to a lesser extent Bertrand and Hart, but the team that he sent out, dare I say it, looked good? It was full to the brim with Spurs and Liverpool players, three of the latter and four of the former and, crucially, they were good players. Roy had actually put out eleven players who, mostly, were in really good form for their clubs and were genuinely good players.
And the three Liverpool players did a really solid job. I thought Henderson put in his best performance for a while in the middle of the park, though that's not saying much, and capped a decent performance with a much improved set piece delivery that resulted in two assists. Clyne at right back had a big wobble when he played Gomez onside for Germany's wrongfully disallowed goal, but more than made up for it with a sterling cross for Jamie Vardy's equaliser, and Adam Lallana looked very, very lively playing off the right and some of his link up play with Kane and Alli was exceptional.
But it was the four Spurs boys who stole the show. Danny Rose at left back was completely solid, and looked very dangerous coming forward. And whilst his final ball into the box seemed to be the only blip on his game, I personally didn't see a lot wrong with the quality of the ball that was going into the box, he almost always put it into a good area. Eric Dier had a couple of iffy moments defensively, and arguably should have done better for Kroos' goal but other than that he was a revelation in that role, and scoring the winning goal is another feather in his cap. And Harry Kane was fantastic all night, his link up play was so good and he scored a wonderful goal to get England back in the game, a delightful Cruyff turn in the box and then slamming the ball home.
But the star of the performance was Dele Alli. Alli has been sensational for Spurs this season and there were question marks (from who I'm not quite sure) whether he could replicate his form at international level. And he did, and then some. He ran the show in midfield, rarely misplacing a pass, teaming up well with Lallana and obviously with Kane and his and Lallana's high press was really top notch, putting the German defence under so much pressure. All his performance was missing was a goal, which really should have come when he missed an absolute sitter with about five minutes to go, but he was so good on the night that it really doesn't matter at all.
This is an England side that looks well-balanced, and Jamie Vardy off the bench on the hour mark turned out to be a game changer, as his magnificent flick inside the six yard box crashed past Neuer to level the game at 2-2 but there were still some typical Royisms in this team. Danny Welbeck put a shift in at left wing and really improved as the game went on, but he looked out of position and as such struggled to track Emre Can. In future, I'd like to see a player who plays there regularly, either Sterling or Milner, starting on the left, or to see Roy adopt a diamond formation and go with Vardy or Sturridge alongside Kane up top, with the same midfield as today.
And the center of defence remains an issue. Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill have had markedly different seasons and I certainly wouldn't begrudge either of them starting, since our options there are very limited, but both had shaky games. Smalling made one or two errors that he was lucky ended up not amounting to anything, and Cahill made a big one that did, as he lost Gomez before the German powered home a header for Germany's second.
And goalkeeper remains a potentially problematic area, though this time through injuries rather than any choices of Roy, as Joe Hart wasn't fit to start and Butland rolled his ankle in the build up to the first Germany goal, which he would have saved otherwise. Fraser Forster looked unconvincing and I'm still not sold on him as an international keeper. but we'll see 90 minutes more of him in midweek I expect so more time to judge him will arrive then.
In terms of the Euros, if Roy doesn't allow the returning likes of the Ox, Wilshere, Rooney etc to waltz back into this team ahead of say Dier or Alli who were incredible, then we should be fine. I think the full backs can be rotated but both were terrific last night, and I think that the formation can fluctuate between a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3, which really shouldn't involve playing Welbeck out on the left, although if he keeps his form for Arsenal going I see no reason he shouldn't make the squad as a 4th striking option, depending on when Rooney gets back to fitness.
Either way, England will fancy themselves to make a good fist of the Euros if Roy doesn't mess up this terrific young team he has set up here. With the likes of Barkley, Drinkwater, Walker and Vardy all offering options, there's no reason to revert to players who haven't played a lot of football or played that well recently. I don't think they'll win it of course, the Germans at their best and probably the French as well are far superior sides, but there's every indication that England can be positive going forward. At least, based on last night. And who knows, I may actually start to care about international football again.
England Scrape Into Semis
And in the cricket, another English side were triumphant as Eoin Morgan's men qualified for the semi-finals of the World T20 with a hard fought win against a Sri Lanka side who were led by Angelo Mathews, and got painfully close to knocking England out. Put into bat first, England set a respectable 171-4, with Jos Buttler the key to England's innings, scoring 66 off just 37. But with Sri Lanka needing 40 off the last four overs, as Mathews went nuts, plundering the spinners as Moeen and Rashid bowled four overs between them for a combined 63 runs, Mathews scoring 73 off 54. But Mathews' terrific innings was in vain, as a terrific final two overs, first from Jordan conceding only seven off the penultimate over, and then Stokes conceding just four off the final over as Mathews needed fours and sixes, left England victorious by ten runs.
And once again, there was a lot to praise in this England performance. Starting with the bowlers, and their pace men all bowled really well. Willey and Jordan struck early on to reduce Sri Lanka to 15-4 off the first three overs, Willey finishing with 2-26 off his overs and Jordan, who ripped through the tail towards the end of the innings, picked up 4-28. And the other two fast bowlers also kept it tight, Plunkett taking 1-23 and Ben Stokes, crucially, when it mattered, conceding just 19 runs at less than five an over.
And with the bat, England were very good again, as they have been for most of the tournament. 190 against the Windies, 230 against South Africa, and then 170 here represents a really strong batting display and their bowlers are finally starting to get some confidence as well. Jason Roy at the top of the order scored a quickfire 42 to get the innings off to a good start, with a solid second wicket partnership with Joe Root after Hales fell without scoring. But really, from there, and when Root fell just after the ten over mark, the back ten were all about Buttler, who smashed eight fours and two sixes in his phenomenal 66. Sri Lanka though kept it tight, Mathews only going for 0-25 off his four, Herath taking 1-27 and Vandersay the pick of the bowlers with 2-26, restricting England to a score that was good, but not match-winning by itself, and they didn't let anyone support Buttler.
Ultimately, it was England who held their nerve at the death, and they just about deserve to go through, based on their performances. What I like about this England side is that they have a raft of quality batsmen at their disposal. Buttler and Root have both been utterly sensational in this tournament, Roy has done a really good job at the top of the order and if they get firing, Morgan, Stokes and Hales are all extremely dangerous players. With the ball, the introduction of Plunkett has hugely helped this side, as he offers control that nobody else does, his economy easily the lowest for England, although that's due to not playing England's two toughest matches. Willey and Jordan have both really stepped their game up, and have taken wickets and are bowling well. On the right wicket, we have two top spinners and I feel that we're developing a decent side.
The problem of course is that we have to face a New Zealand side who won all of their group games, have easily the best bowling attack in the tournament and look extremely dangerous. It's odd, New Zealand have never impressed with the bat, and have relied on their bowlers, whereas England have been largely very impressive with the bat and the bowling has been a mixed bag. Overall, yes New Zealand are huge favourites but over 20 overs, anything is possible and England have a solid chance.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Jack Edwards scored twice as Leam snatched a draw.
- India vs Australia, should be tasty.
- Sarries beat Exeter to move top.
- Suarez scores on return.
- And Northern Ireland held Wales.
See you tomorrow...I promise.
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