England have struggled against top teams so the visit of Spain is a perfect test for the creaking hobby horse that is the Wembley revolutionAt a time when much of the chatter around England has centred on the existential, Gauloise-puffing idea of identity, essence and (God help us) “footballing DNA”, it seems fitting Spain should be Tuesday night’s friendly opponents at Wembley. The FA’s urge to find a template to follow, embellish and generally crib has circled France, Germany and Spain, with an Iberian tang to elements from B team proposals, elite player performance plan and the idea teams at every level should adopt an already outmoded possession game.After Friday’s win against Scotland Gareth Southgate even spoke in his post-match...
The nagging feeling is that Gareth Southgate will become permanent England manager because of the paucity of the list of candidatesOn the face of it, nobody should be surprised the Football Association, on the rebound after the brief, unhappy dalliance with Sam Allardyce, was so attracted to the idea of Gareth Southgate from the outset and always thought of him, personality-wise, as a trouble-free appointment.If Allardyce was a brick through the window of the FA establishment, Southgate was the go-to guy to sweep up the broken glass and put up a nice pair of flowery curtains. He is a neat fit for the parts of the England job that require an ambassadorial presence and, though there are bound to be...
Giving England an identity will be Gareth Southgate’s big challenge as full-time manager, Gordon Strachan’s future looks bleak and Lallana’s quality was keyForget the reality that the scoreline felt rather deceptive at times, with this far from pristine. The Football Association has a formal process still to undertake, which will now include the input of Howard Wilkinson, but the appointment of Gareth Southgate on a permanent basis is surely a formality. England head into the winter lull clear at the top of this group, unbeaten now in 33 qualifying games, with the interim manager having taken seven points from three matches. Even a humiliating defeat by Spain in Tuesday’s friendly is unlikely to damage his chances of being offered the...
The interim manager will now surely be appointed on a permanent basis but while England finished well against Scotland there were the usual deficienciesOver to you then, Gareth. On a cold, still night in north London England’s players pulled themselves up to their full height and produced a display that was enough first to see off a limited Scotland team and second to ensure, in all probability, that England’s temp-to-perm manager can now take the job on as permanent a basis as these things ever get.For England there was always a degree of additional self-inflicted tension about this World Cup qualifier. Having lost two managers in three months, they had the chance here to lose another by all-but declaring Southgate’s...
The midfielder’s retirement U-turn when a World Cup 2018 qualifier against England looms increases the pressure on his national managerThe intensely tribal nature of Scotland’s football scene means neutral analysis of Scott Brown is about as forthcoming as peace marches before an Old Firm fixture. The combination of Celtic captain and a confrontational playing style that is viewed as being favourably looked upon by referees means Brown is adored by one club’s supporters whereas rivals view the midfielder as an individual they love to hate. This is not a novel concept, as Barry Ferguson, Graeme Souness and Neil Lennon will confirm.On Friday Brown is expected to step back into the Scotland team after a brief absence that only intensified debate...