After the highs of reaching the World Cup, the manager must find some answers after a poor start to Euro 2024 qualifying“We need to remember how to enjoy this again,” said my friend Garmon, pointing at his plastic cup of lager and the exposed concrete concourse of the Cardiff City Stadium’s Canton Stand. “Because we won’t be enjoying the football.” Wales were 2-1 down to Armenia at half-time, losing to a team 71 places below them in the rankings, in a Gouldian throwback to the mid-90s, when Bobby’s team made a habit of losing to Georgia, Moldova, and Leyton Orient, and getting locked in the prison Bobby Gould had inexplicably decided to train in.Wales hadn’t lost a home European Championship...
Much was made of Manchester United forward’s absence from recent squads but he was in the zone on his home groundOver on the left, Marcus Rashford was busy softening North Macedonia up with his direct running and mazy dribbles. Further back, Declan Rice was holding his position in defensive midfield, maintaining his discipline and making sure to keep possession ticking over. Meanwhile Jordan Henderson was in ultra-pest mode, all boundless energy as he charged down every lost cause, a one-man pressing machine who appeared to be on a mission to prove that meaning can be found even in a facile mid-June Euro 2024 qualifier played on a Monday night in Manchester.This was England at their most merciless. There is a...
Home loss to team ranked 97th in the world adds to poor run of form making Monday’s game in Turkey feel make-or-breakThe inquest into Wales’s humbling by Armenia began in earnest on Saturday morning, a few hours before an afternoon flight to Samsun, the Turkish city on the Black Sea where suddenly it all feels rather make or break when it comes to qualifying for Euro 2024.The grave mood in the stands at full time in Cardiff, as the remnants of a sold-out crowd wondered whether they had inadvertently been teleported back to the bruising days when Wales were nestled below Guatemala and Guyana in the Fifa rankings, married with what is now a bleak forecast. Continue reading...
Best creative attacker is likely to determine whether Gareth Southgate can finally mould a genuine champion teamWith 40 minutes gone at Wembley Stadium Bukayo Saka took the ball in the inside left channel, bumped away the yellow shirt at his back and produced that familiar whip‑crack turn, one of those moments where he just seems to have a weirdly preternatural grasp of the physics of movement, snaking off into spaces that aren’t, technically, supposed to be there. Perhaps this is one reason why he gets kicked a lot. There is no logical answer to this problem.Saka had time to think about what to do next, a micro-second of processing time. The finish was ridiculous. Not novel or unorthodox: the left-foot...
Sixteen years after reopening, Wembley still does not feel like home but it gave the visitors an opportunity for expressionA recorded announcement plays on a loop on the approach to Wembley Stadium. “I’m Clive Tyldesley,” says the voice, for the voice is indeed Clive Tyldesley’s. “It is not allowed to drink alcohol on Olympic Way or the surrounding streets. This is due to a Public Space Protection Order. I’m sorry, it’s the law.”On Tyldesley goes, advising fans that anybody caught with an open container of alcohol will be dealt with by law enforcement officers, before warning that bags over a certain size will not be permitted into the stadium. “I’m sorry,” Tyldesley repeats, and to be fair he genuinely does...