England manager must learn from his predecessor’s failings when he picks his squad for this summer’s World Cup in RussiaIf the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results”, it would come as no great surprise to discover quite a few senior figures in the Football Association headquarters wandering Blackadder style round their Wembley offices with their underpants on their head and a pencil up each nostril shouting “wibble”. England have a fondness for crow-barring star players who are not necessarily match fit into their squads for major tournaments and it is a policy that rarely yields dividends.David Beckham famously went to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where he...
The Premier League’s lack of downtime is much maligned – but few clubs are truly idle over an ever more frenzied ChristmasThe Champions League returns this week and, for many, the most thrilling football tournament in Europe and arguably the world starts now. The wheat has been separated from the chaff, the Juves and Bayerns from the Qarabags and Maribors. As the first country in the history of the competition to have five teams through to the last 16, England’s interest in the knockout stages has never been greater, even if José Mourinho believes it will end sooner rather than later because of the absence of a winter break in the football calendar.Speaking in November, the Manchester United manager poo-poohed...
Everton’s loss can be England’s gain in a World Cup year if Antonio Conte can do the trick for a real confidence playerThere was a time, going back a few years, when Everton envisaged Ross Barkley being a different kind of player to the one we see now. Ask David Moyes and he will tell you that at 15 Barkley was the closest he had ever seen to a young Norman Whiteside. Barkley could get up and down the pitch, he had the same kind of rare quality that saw Whiteside bend the ball past Neville Southall in the 1985 FA Cup final and, more than anything, he was utterly fearless in the tackle. Moyes and the youth-team coaches would...
I’ve heard former pros say they ‘played 60 games a season’ and never complained but the game has moved on and demands on players are increasing every yearIt was a bittersweet Christmas for me. Having not been selected in the squad for Brighton’s game at Chelsea, I was afforded, for the first time in 16 years, the benefit of a Christmas Day off to spend with my wife and children at home without the worry of preparing for a game the next day or being away in a hotel in the evening stuck to my phone with them on FaceTime.While it was amazing to be the recipient of a privilege that not only footballers but also nurses, paramedics, police officers...
From England’s victorious youth football squads to cricket’s county championship underdogs, there are strong claims aplenty this yearThey did not beat the double world champions over three compelling Tests, but Warren Gatland’s Lions deserve a place on the list for their part in a thrilling series in New Zealand that will stand the test of time. Often under the cosh, there were times when it looked as if the Lions would be hopelessly outmatched against a team as brilliant and confident as the All Blacks, especially after losing 30-15 in the first Test. Instead of allowing their hosts to run away with it, Gatland’s tourists responded with a magnificent performance in the second Test, fighting hard to win 24-21. Their...