The fact remains that front-loading a prefab sense of shared habits, team cultures and all the rest may not actually have much to do with winning football matchesThe poet, librarian and attic-bound misanthrope Philip Larkin was asked once why he didn’t cash in on his bicycle-clipped celebrity by touring England giving speeches and milking the fame circuit like his contemporary, handsome, leather-jacketed Ted Hughes. Larkin’s response was to shrug and wince a little and point out that he just couldn’t face the idea of “going around pretending to be me”.It is a phrase that always seems to lurk in the background whenever Gareth Southgate or anyone else at the FA talks about the need to discover and implement an English...
Manchester City have found an innovative way to combat cliques but England’s Gareth Southgate will need more than feng shui to tackle his own problemThe butt of much public mockery when Sky’s cameras captured assorted well-heeled corporate clients peering through its walls of two‑way glass last Monday night, Manchester City’s Tunnel Club is the most amusing but not necessarily most interesting renovation to have been undertaken at the Etihad Stadium during the close season. Moving on from the well fed and watered supporters staring in slack-jawed wonder at the exhibits as they prepared for battle, the cameras also gave us a glimpse of an inner sanctum that, for the time being at least, remains closed to prying eyes on match...
Gareth Southgate found natural width replacing Marcus Rashford with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but substitute Chris Martin nearly won Scotland the gameAfter a Premier League season in which three-man defences have experienced a sudden resurgence, Gordon Strachan surprised England by using that system in an attempt to provide extra defensive security – and succeeded in frustrating Gareth Southgate’s side for long periods. Related: Scotland 2-2 England: five talking points from Hampden Park | Andy Hunter Related: Harry Kane denies Scotland win over England after Griffiths sparks frantic finish Continue reading...
Gareth Southgate’s search for a permanent England captain may be over after Harry Kane’s pedigree shone through in denying Scotland victoryIn the end, Harry Kane did almost everything Gareth Southgate had hoped he might. This game had gone, the visitors apparently broken by Leigh Griffiths’ pair of free-kicks, when Raheem Sterling cut inside and flung over one last desperate cross from the left and there, opening up his body in mid-air to meet the delivery as sweetly as he could, was England’s captain to guide home a first international goal in 13 months. The manager leapt into the air, his manic celebrations born as much of relief as delight. He had been at pains to point out that talent, eventually,...
A lot has changed for England in the past year and a tricky trip to Hampden Park for a World Cup qualifier offers Marcus Rashford and company a chance to shineDespite Saturday night’s showpiece in Cardiff, the season is not quite over yet. A round of internationals can be found tagged on almost apologetically next weekend, with England involved in a World Cup qualifier against Scotland in Glasgow on Saturday before a friendly in France takes place three days later.A return to France will inevitably evoke memories of another tired tournament campaign coming to an even more cataclysmic end than usual with defeat by Iceland, though it might be more positive to reflect on how much has changed since then....