Hart has struggled for games and form but Gareth Southgate is still set to take his 75-cap goalkeeper to Russia despite the claims of England’s younger trio“Three days ago against Spain, I felt like crying,” said Vikash Dhorasoo. “I’m not a supporter, I’m not a spectator, I’m a football player and I’m not playing football.”Filmed before and during the 2006 World Cup, the docu-film Substitute details the existential isolation felt by the France international as he watches his team-mates reach the final in Germany. Released a year after the tournament, the film is an intriguing insight into life on the bench but it also spelled the end for Dhorasoo’s international career after the manager, Raymond Domenech, took exception. Related: World...
Max Rushden and co assess England’s priorities, Old Trafford hymn sheets, Panini versus Merlin and moreRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts,Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acastand Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.Max Rushden is joined by Jonathan Wilson, Sachin Nakrani and Michael Butler to look ahead to a feast of friendlies before this World Cup business that starts in 12 weeks’ time. Continue reading...
Before this set of friendlies, we can focus on Russia 2018 contenders, dark horses – and England – but also the desperate need for a successful tournamentAs the friendly international spring break descends upon the season like a dose of Sunday afternoon blues, it has become a reflex response among those watching to sigh a little, to count the days, to see this severance from the teat of club football excitement as a draught of cold water, another unwelcome interruption from the dying hand of international football. Related: How absurd to boycott World Cup when Russia is so bound up in our economy | Barney Ronay Related: I’ve followed England around the world, but Russia is too risky | Philip...
Politicians were quick to jump on the World Cup and turn it into a political football in the week when 23 Russian diplomats were expelled from the UKAs Anglo-Russian relations grow ever more fraught it seems a good moment to consider just how upset Russia will really be, how deep its pit of anguish, if Prince William and other members of the British royal family refuse to attend the World Cup.There are some clues here. By an odd coincidence, the day after the World Cup final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium is also the exact 100-year anniversary of the Russian government-sanctioned murder of the country’s own royal family. Related: Gareth Southgate ignores Russia tensions for England’s World Cup bid Related: I’ve...
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...