Tonight’s friendly comes four days after an atrocity in Paris which shocked the whole world.
But maybe we can give the French some normality tonight.
A different atmosphere is inevitable, but let’s hope the match is a reasonably normal one for the French squad, their officials and fans.
A strange and emotional moment in football history.
But a match we hope will be a stabilising event, played out on a normal pitch, with a normal rivalry, a normal goal or two, some saves by Lloris and Hart, several subs coming on in normal blue or white shirts
Next summer 24 nations will playing in groups in 10 stadiums
Right now England are uninspiring, the West Brom of Euro 2016.
We don’t have our own style, our own identity.
We don’t have a Ronaldo or an Iniesta. And we don’t have a Martial or a Pogba, or even a Griezmann.
The way Antony Martial waltzed the byeline to set up the first goal for France against Germany was sheer genius. He’s such an accomplished footballer, very creative but also, it seems, reliable.
On England, I don’t have time today to do that piece about radical moments in team-building by England managers. That will take a bit of research to nail down some dates and facts and I can never do that kind of stuff on Tuesdays, when I’m about to run out to a class where I tilt my pelvis and set my abs on fire.
So all I can say today is that I agree with AK.
The Sun’s European football correspondent Antony Kastrinakis is knowledgeable and forthright. I don’t read The Sun but I always want to hear what he has to say.
Two days ago Sky’s Sunday Supplement closed with his summary of tonight’s England-France encounter.
Kastrinakis said: “Roy has to show us something. Yes, it’s going to be a grand occasion. Yes, it’s going to emotional. But he has to show us something, regardless of the injuries. England have to show something on Tuesday. Give fans reason for optimism.”