2016 makes it exactly half a century since the Three
Lions of England First recorded success at a major international competition,
that afternoon when Sir Alf Ramsey’s men led by captain Sir Bobby Charlton beat
West Germany to lift the world cup, England’s only major success till date.
From that time, two words best describe England at
major international tournaments; Perennial Underachievers. From the Lineker and Paul Gascoigne days, to
the Beckham, Ferdinand and Owen era right down to the Gerrard and Rooney Era,
expectation and Disappointment have very well become complementary goods for
fans of the Three Lions. Rocked by as
much trouble off field as on it, be it Terry Venables financial racket or
allegations of Sven Goran-Eriksson’s Philandering to Rio Ferdinand missing a
doping test and John Terry’s alleged flirting with his teammate’s wife and the
race row that effectively ended his career with the national team, England’s
on-field woes coupled with the ‘Great’ press they get from their various in-house
scandals have gradually shifted them from the power corridors of European and
world football to something most people have come to associate with colossal
disappointment over the years.
With EURO 2016 set to kick off in a few with all
the fanfare and glamor that greets any major international tournament, the eyes
of the world will well be fixated on Current champions, Spain (who have
undergone some major shake-ups of theirs since 2012) and many will be keen to
see which of Europe’s elite teams, if any can stop La Roja’s protracted
dominance of Europe. While the likes of current World Champions Germany and the
youthful set-ups of Marc Wilmot’s Belgian side and Host nation France have been
heavily tipped to genuinely mount an assault on a title Spain have held for 8
years, mentions of England as potential up stagers is likely to cause chuckles
among football enthusiasts who overtime have come to associate England with
nothing other than simply making the decorative numbers at international
tourneys, A paper tiger that cowers at the presence of other big cats of the
footballing world.
However, for all the lashing and bashing they get,
if there’s one thing England do better than any other footballing nation in the
world, it’s raise expectations of Her Fans and faithful. Almost as consistent
as the inconsistency of the Three lions is the level of expectation and backing
they’re sure to get from the English supporters even after several short-falls
on the international stage, and would EURO 2016 be any Different? NO!
For hopefuls, this year’s continental showpiece
MIGHT just be the year when the three lions stun bookies (in a positive way)
and shift themselves genuinely closer to the powerhouses of European football.
For them, more than anything, England’s perceived underdog status could very
well be the tool with which they plough the fields of success for the first
time on continental stage. And from a vintage viewpoint, it’s not very
difficult to see why their optimism isn’t as farfetched as some will like to
believe.
One of England’s biggest problems in recent
tournaments have been their over reliance on the (mostly underperforming) Wayne
Rooney to deliver them the goods. From the young age of 20, The English golden
boy has been saddled with the hopes and dreams of a country that only grows
bigger tournament after tournament. So bad has it been that the current
Manchester United and English national team captain was made to play both
GERMANY 2006 and SA 2010 World Cups at questionable fitness levels. The effect
of england’s overdependence on Wayne Rooney’s genius is anything but a welcome
one for England. From a statistical viewpoint, England have scored 9 Goals in
Their past 3 International tournaments in a total of 11 games. The lack of real
bite in the English attack is a question that has seen different answers thrown
at it, mostly without result. From relatively household names of Peter Crouch
and Jermain Defoe, to the more unlikely and almost ridiculous pictures of
Likes of Bobby Zamora and Darren Bent featuring for England, it’s ultimately
been a futile exercise for England in their attempts to find a credible
goalscorer to lead the line alongside Wayne Rooney. However, for the first team in nearly 2
decades, England seem to be capable of assembling a potent frontline that can
deliver them the success that has so much eluded them on the continental stage.
Spurs forward, Harry Kane whose threat in the box, technique and awareness have
drawn comparisons in no small measure with all time great, Alan Shearer would
be starring for England at this year’s showpiece. And if that isn’t enough to
water the mouths of supporters of the three lions, Jamie Vardy who was arguably
the most prominent actor in Leicester’s unprecedented march to a first premier
league title would also be representing England. Both forwards notched a
combined total of 48 league goals last season, and while it’s still left to see
for all how Roy Hodgson will deploy the duo alongside spearhead Wayne Rooney,
the fact that England seem to finally have natural goalscorers in their ranks
and the mere possibility that they will for the first time in a decade not be
relying solely on the genius of \Wayne Rooney to lead them to the promise land
is more than anything a welcome development for England.
Also boosting England’s goalscoring potential is the
presence of Liverpool striker, Daniel Sturridge. The 26 year old forward
featured sparingly for the reds last season due to a long standing injury
battle that has almost become synonymous with his name, but in the handful of
games in which he did feature, it wasn’t hard to see why he’s so highly rated by
fans of the beautiful game. Away from the frontline, the vibrancy and industry
of youngster Dele Alli is in more ways than one a plus for the English National
team. The spurs midfielder who beat likes of teammate and countryman Harry
Kane, and Everton youngster Ross Barkley to claim last season’s PFA Young
Player of The Year Award was one of only two players (Riyad Mahrez being the
other) to register double figures in both goals and assists during the season.
Roy Hodgson will be hoping he at least produces something similar for England
when called upon. Not forgetting bright young thing Marcus Rashford who can be
a handful with his pace and sleek in-box movement.
On a less cheering note for England though, a sneak
peek at the squads of pre-tournament favorites is likely to put a check on any
optimism built from their strength in attack, especially how impaled their
midfield looks when compared to the likes of France, Germany, Spain Or Even
Outsiders Italy and Croatia. While some of those nations can boast of the
tireless industry of players like Andres Iniesta, Paul Pogba, Sergio Busquet,
Blaise Matuidi, and Ivan Rakitic to go with the creative genius of likes of Mesut Ozil, Cesc Fabregas and Luka Modric, England are left to rely on the
youth and almost gross inexperience of the likes of Dele Alli, Ross Barkley and
the Less than consistent Jack Wilshere who has seen as much of the ball in one
year as Some now retired footballers. For critics who believe that the success of
a team lies in how much they can control proceedings in the middle of the park,
just like Spain, Germany, Barcelona and Bayern have shown us in the past years,
England are clearly not the team to stake your bottom dollar on for a surprise
triumph.
Perhaps, if the dearth of an A-Class midfield cast is
overlookable for England, their defence sharing a similar problem is anything
but that. Assistant captain, Gary Cahill endured what we’ll like to glorify by
calling a turbulent season with ousted premier league champions, Chelsea. So
bad were some of his performances that he momentarily lost his place in the
Blues first team to young charge Kurt Zouma. It took a lengthy layoff for the
Frenchman in January for 30 Year old Gary Cahill to win his place back in a
squad where he had once been considered untouchable. Without the watchful eyes
of Chelsea skipper, John Terry over him, Cahill has often looked a shaky figure
for both club and country and if that trend is to continue into EURO 2016,
England will have more than enough to worry about if they have to go the whole
yard and win the competition. Chris Smalling endured a more bearable season
with Manchester United but even in arguably his best season as a footballer,
the babyfaced centre-back was called into question not a few times for his
decision making. In this season’s F.A Cup Final, he earned himself a
potentially game costing red card against Crystal Palace, 3 days earlier, he
had scored an own goal in more or less academic last fixture of the season for
Manchester united which they won against Bournemouth. Youngster John Stones was
the subject of a heated transfer fiasco between Chelsea and Everton last
summer. Chelsea on their own were ready to cough up as much as 30 Million
pounds for the Everton defender, and while that episode is a bit distant in our
memory now, John stones hasn’t particularly done much to justify the ratings he
got by many last in the 2014/2015 season. The media themselves haven’t spared
the rod on the 21 year old for his perceived ‘Overdoing’ in his own box. While
some of the backlash Stones has received is a bit harsh and more properly
directed at former Everton manager, Roberto Martinez’s perceived hype of the
youngster, the lad has far from won the hearts of English football fans just
yet and he’ll be hoping to do that with a solid performance at this tournament.
Danny Rose is now where Ashley cole used to be and while the left back enjoyed
a stellar season with Tottenham Hotspurs, he would be hoping to replicate that
form at the EUROS and partner with team mates in providing the much needed
cover for Joe Hart.
Roy Hodgson is managing his Third international
tournament with England and while the first two were in simple terms,
underwhelming, he would be hoping it’s a case of ‘Third time's the charm’ this
time around. The former Fulham, Liverpool and West Brom honcho will be looking
to learn from the mistakes of the 2012 EUROS and 2014 World Cup to write his
name in good print with fans and an ever questioning media who may still have
their reservations about him at this point. England won all of their qualifying
games to make it to France and they will be expected to make easy work of a
group consisting of Slovakia, Russia and Neighbors Wales.
Although, upsets are
characteristic of competitions like these, It will therefore interest critics
and supporters to see how England fare against Russia on June 11th.
If it is indeed true that the end of a thing can be told from its beginning, we
should be able to see if England can (Finally) mount a serious challenge on the
football’s biggest continental showpiece or if it will follow the trend of
others and end in disappointment for a country that has almost rightly earned
herself a reputation for it.
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