adminWhat is the future of England? Of Gareth Southgate? Of Anthony Gordon? We are about to find out at tea time on Saturday when Fabian Schar and his Swiss try to roll over the Three Lions whose greatest asset is Lady Luck.
As for Gordon he may as well apologise to his missus and take her on their delayed summer holiday. He made her wait in the hope of getting picked for national service at Euro 2024 and his reward has been three minutes of futile action in four matches or six and a half hours. Really, has it been worth it Anthony?
Slovakia’s right-back was made for Flash Gordon. Aged 37, Peter Pekarik is a reserve for Hertha Berlin who play in Germany’s second division. He managed only five appearances in the season just ended, which tells you everything, and surely Gordon’s direct running and commitment to go beyond him would have produced nightmares whereas Phil Foden drifted inside leaving Pekarik a relieved man or played in front of him. Even when Foden came off it was not for Gordon which must have sickened Newcastle’s star. He has not only fallen off his bike but off the international radar.
Three distinguished England internationals – Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Micah Richards – have pleaded for Gordon to play against Switzerland. They want him – but does Southgate? Has he been shamed into picking him? Is he desperate enough to try something new at long last? We are all crying out for England to win so help us and yourself at the same time Gareth!
Mind you, after all the tub-thumping to get Gordon into the side the pressure on him to then become England’s saviour would be immense. His continued absence is so baffling that a suggestion was put to me that perhaps it could be due to the open speculation over a possible transfer to his boyhood club Liverpool that has reportedly “left his head all over the place”. I don’t know I can buy that one. However United do have significant repair work to carry out when he gets home which is concerning.
Meanwhile just behind where Gordon ought to have been playing Kieran Trippier has added four more caps to his collection picked on his wrong side because the only orthodox left-back Southgate selected in his 26-man squad, Luke Shaw, is permanently injured and has been since February.
If there is a manager more stubborn than Southgate then please name him for me. So far he has started the same 10 players in every single game and in every game England have produced more huff and puff than a pack horse trundling up a hill.
Yet Southgate and his muzzled men are still alive and somehow in the quarter-finals. Why? Lady Luck, definitely, while others would suggest because they haven’t played a quality side as yet.
Certainly while Switzerland is nowhere near a footballing powerhouse they are the best we will have faced so far. This is a test and while I pray for a miracle like every patriotic Englishman I have seen nothing to encourage me that we are about to go on to win it. Maybe, just maybe, stagger through another round given the lack of world class opposition but a lighter shade of 1966? Naw.
In an effort to produce a feelgood factor that would get us over the line some of television’s big name pundits prior to the first knock-out match had become cheer leaders instead of telling it how it is as they are paid to do and the national newspaper with the country’s biggest sales unapologetically launched a “We’re Backing England” campaign.
The outcome? England were out of the tournament and Southgate out of a job until the 95th minute on Sunday night when Jude Bellingham scored a worldie. This against a side in the foothills of football’s international pyramid.
Will Schar suffer the same fate as Martin Dubravka? The Swiss are ranked beneath England but that means little this tournament. They were outstanding against Italy, who looked as shot as we are, and Schar was the classy defender who comes out with the ball that we have come to love at St James Park.
Southgate looks like he knows he is a dead man walking and that in a leader rubs off on his troops who are hardly blameless themselves. Oh how pleased I am that I follow Newcastle with my heart and laptop rather than England these days. One brings hope and often joy while the other trepidation and often disappointment.
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