ENGLAND EXPECTS

It is all about EXPECTATION for England’s senior men’s and women’s football teams his summer but can they deliver?

ALL NICE AND COSY

Gareth ‘GS’ Southgate has most certainly got himself settled in as England’s boss now. He has done a fantastic job so far, though we are now seeing that what he might say in public is not always what he does in practice. He did say he would pick players on form, but judging by at least one player he has kept in the squad, Jesse Lingard, that is most definitely not the case. He has been kept him in as he is a favourite of the manager who has got him out of the mire on previous occasions, so understandable he stays in, IF, Southgate had not made his ‘form’ comment in my opinion. He most  definitely is a man with his feet well and truly under the table as he feels he can now give half truths, which is fine when you are winning matches and things are working well.

THE LAST TWO PLEASE

Whilst the target is undoubtedly to be victorious in the upcoming Nations League matches, for me the minimum requirement is for England to win their semi-final against Holland and actually get to a final, something the senior team has not done for a very very long time. Obviously once there, the target will be to prevail and lift the trophy, but this young England team need these experiences of playing in matches of this magnitude. Yes it could go wrong as a one off game, but better to get there in my opinion and have that opportunity to actually win something tangible. It is why for me getting knocked out at the semi-final stage of the World Cup was a big disappointment despite the thrilling run to the last 4. So to the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques  in the city of Guimaraes this coming Thursday (6th June) – the target is simple – win against the Dutch in the semi-final and there can be no excuses.

FRANCE FOR WORLD CUP 2019

Whilst the  men’s senior team may well be in a final and holding aloft a trophy by next Sunday night (9th June), the female team will have only just begun their World Cup campaign, with hopefully a positive result against Scotland in their opening group game. The Lionesses go into the tournament as one of the favourites and that is not an over exaggeration. There is still work to be done but they will be a side no team at the tournament will want to face, especially after their She Believes Cup win in March, which shows they are a team to fear, with bottle aplenty and they wont lie down in any situation.

HISTORY MAKERS?

On the slightly negative side England head to France off the back of a friendly defeat to New Zealand, a match they should have won but didn’t take their chances when in the ascendency, and then basically gave the opposition a goal with a goalkeeping error. They have shown the ability to fight back, but this has happened twice now in recent months and there will be inquest into how this is happening and needs to be nipped in the bud so it does not happen in a match that REALLY matters. Either way this team will not get carried away and the key will be setting targets, which for me is initially the obvious one of getting out of their group and qualifying for the knockout stages. After this anything can happen, it is knockout after all, but they will fear no one and will look to go further than they have ever done before in this competition. Hopefully come Sunday July 7th we will see England lining up in the final and if that is the case what an opportunity they will have of being global champions and push even further the already growing appeal of the women’s game in this country, especially with the England hosting the next European Championships in 2021. Fingers crossed.

Let me know what you think

You can tweet me:- Tweet to @biggishmouth  

Go to my facebook page at:- www.facebook.com/thebiggishmouth      

or click on this link to pick up:- ALL my latest and historical blogs