Roy Hodgson decided to play high-powered momentum football in Group B.
So we attacked and dominated, missed chances and half-chances, struggled to score first, rarely looked good toughen to score in open play, didn’t score at all in that 0-0 against Slovakia.
Now he’s brought back Kane and Dele Alli. That makes sense.
But dropping Adam Lallana is madness. It is Roy’s most kamikaze selection ever.
Because our continuity man, our flicky link-man, is Lallana, who is two -footed and busy, a player who runs towards the ball. Lallana is the oil in the engine, the guy helps you out, who gives you the ball back, who holds it while you run into position.
England are always crap without a link-man, without a Peter Beardsley or a Teddy Sheringham.
Dele Alli isn’t like Sheringham or Beardsley, he’s more like David Platt with muscles.
Incredibly, Hodgson has brought back Raheem Sterling, who will start on the left, probably with Sturridge on the right.Both of those players take too many touches.
They don’t play Kane-Alli momentum football because they don’t fit into that. For me, Sterling & Sturridge should be subs because they’re dribblers who create unusual situations, who pull defenders around.
Because of his size, and his close relationship with Dele Alli, I welcome the return of Harry Kane.
Football’s a game of partnerships and units, a team game where organisation and good habits can defeat more talented opponents.
This match in Nice (8pm) will be a contest of half-chances, blocks and misses, a game where one set-piece might decide it.
There won’t be many goals because this England always struggle to score in open play.
And we have no history of winning knock-out matches in major tournaments: only six knock-out victories since 1966.
Those six wins were against Paraguay (1986), Belgium and Cameroon (1990), Spain on penalties in Euro 96, Denmark in 2002 and Ecuador in 2006.
History suggests this is our level.
But losing to Iceland? It’s possible, believe me.
As you probably know, Iceland have a very strong mentality.
And the pressure is not on them, it’s on Rooney & Co
As Ian Wright said last night, “We need a big game out of Harry Kane.”
If Iceland win tonight, their lives will change forever.
And if England stutter, splutter and lose, these players may be scarred for life:
Joe Hart
Kyle Walker- Gary Cahill-Chris Smalling-Danny Rose;
Dele Alli –Eroc Dier-Wayne Rooney
Sturridge-Kane-Sterling
In their four games so far, England haven’t shown us anything except energy.
Iceland, a sporty nation, has really young kids playing many sports all the time. In the last 20 years the number of qualified coaches has grown hugely and sports halls with astroturf pitches are in constant use all year round. Sport has become a huge part of their culture, and that’s why this tiny nation of 300,000 people is punching far above its weight.
Are you apprehensive about tonight in Nice? Do you also detest Engerland match days? Do you also think this starting eleven is catastrophically stupid and self-defeating?