The Countdown

June the 16^th, the pivotal date, England’s first group match v Serbia, the adrenalin rush into the tournament as one of the favourites alongside France. The golden generation has passed us by during the Sven Goran Erikson tenure and now we have the next generation talent, arguably a notch above the golden boys. England’s Achilles heel has always been the failure to close matches out and to become psychologically tougher when the going gets rough, there will be those moments. Spain’s golden generation prior to the year 2008 were a mirror image of where England are today. The key to their eventual success was to lift their psychological barrier from their shackles, they delivered the 2008 European Championship, and four years later the lifting of the World Cup and a second European Championship filled the trophy cabinet, if England can remove those shackles, they will become European Champions. Manager Gareth Southgate needs to have learned from his previous tournament mistakes, be brave, be bold, don’t sit on the fence dithering, fortune favours the brave, it’s depicted on the shirt, the three lions, it’s time to roar England onto the pedestal champions.

The Manero 23 man squad as listed. The goalkeepers, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and James Trafford, the Manero selected will follow on.

Jordan Pickford (Everton) 1

Jordan has his critics but without the excitability Jordan would not perform, it’s not an Achilles heel as the pundits say. England’s number 1 prior Joe Hart was ladened with the same criticism, 75 caps squashed their theories. Jordan can be prone to wayward kicking and poor judgment calls on reaching out for driven mid-air crosses and exiting the penalty box to be caught in no man’s land on occasions. To put the nit picking to one side, Pickford makes the world class saves hence the pick.

Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Aaron as the backup keeper. Aaron has been treated shoddily by Mikel Arteta, the need to monitor Aaron’s confidence due to the Arteta drain on the player who seems to have responded in the correct manner and taken it on the chin, Joe Hart suffered the same treatment at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, managers trying to be too clever with no rhythm or reason.

James Trafford (Burnley)

A surprise choice to many perhaps, but James’ locker is full of all the technical attributes required, has excellent distribution skills, stays level headed when under pressure, a future England number 1, Vincent Kompany’s dropping of Trafford is of no consequence, a rest from the firing line to suggest.

The Defenders

Kyle Walker (Manchester City) 2

Reliable, consistent with electric pace, Kyle has developed more skills on the tactical side of the game and has erased his positional play tactical awareness Achilles heel. A resolute defender who reads the game with ease, a threat to the opposition on forward movements and can back track at pace, arguably the world’s number 1 right back.

Ben Chillwell (Chelsea) 3

A body gait which suggests that Ben is of a right sided nature but has supreme balance and movement to operate on the left side with aplomb. A classy defender who radiates confidence, is defensively astute and can offer attacking movements inside the opposition’s penalty area.

John Stones (Manchester City) 5

Mr Reliable, another classy defender who has developed into the player formulated in the true art of defending. Under the Guardiola tuition, John has learned the art of bringing the ball out of the defensive zones to link with the midfield and into deeper opposition positions on occasions, a tactic Southgate must utilise, Stones is the go-to man.

James Tarkowski (Everton) 6

During the 2018 World Cup campaign, James was selected in a team of five backup players for the squad. Tarkowski later had to relinquish his position due to a hernia operation. Since then Southgate has continued a non-selection policy of the Everton defender, Southgate has historical values of pettiness. The Manero profiled Tarkowski link to article Aug 3^rd 2023 ‘Southgate’s Nepotism’, the leading player on the stat count in the Premiership, a colossus of a defender who leads from the front line, Southgate’s denial of awarding further caps to Tarkowski is a travesty. James continues to perform to the highest of levels which is testament to his professionalism and character.

The Midfield

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) 8

Bukayo has to be one of the first picks on the team sheet. At 22 years of age Saka plays above his years, the best is yet to come with the renowned peak football years at 28 Saka will become one of the World’s leading players, pace, balance an intelligent player, favours to drop the shoulder onto the left foot to create an angle to offload the shot either side of the goal, can go direct and wide right with a venomous shot, a player to admire with his progressive determination to keep raising the bar, a prolific talent.

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) 10

We have run out of superlatives for Jude, the world’s best? Jude is in that category, the supreme player who can defend, authorises the vision into attack with a strong goalscoring input, strong in the air and the tackle, has an air of Zidane, likes to mix it and can be confrontational if required, a future England captain with 100 caps in his locker to come, as near perfecto as they come.

Phil Foden (Manchester City) 7

To work in tandem with Bellingham as an attacking threat working behind and either side of Harry Kane to trail blaze into the opposition’s penalty area. A gifted player who is always aware of the correct technical skillset to harness, has adopted a more central role at Manchester City in Kevin de Bruyne’s absence, the Belgian was not missed to highlight the level that Foden now operates at. Foden’s game forte has to be to operate outside the penalty box and to move into the box lines when the opportunity arises, high technical skill on strikes on goal, an ever improving player who is vital to England’s progression.

Declan Rice (Arsenal) 4

The world’s number 1 holding midfield player, operates in the main in front of the defensive lines with forward play if play dictates, an all round game with posting the Achilles heel of being short on goals, needs to set a target of ten goals a season, link to article May 30^th 2023 ‘Declan Rice’.

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July’s edition to feature The Olympic Dopers, Boxing’s Charity of Farce, and Euro 2024 Coverage.