By Myles Palmer
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JOHN TERRY is a talker, a leader and a goalscorer.
We need that.
We need a leader and we also need somebody who can connect at set-pieces
I fancy John Terry to shout and play a blinder in Coimbra tonight.
And maybe score as well.
ROONEY will pulverise the Swiss, who are 47th in the FIFA rankings.
Rooney and Gerrard will destroy them in the first half.
Sven was very chirpy on TV this morning.
He was cocky and serene because he knows England are going to win this game.
THE DIAMOND ?
Well, the diamond is garbage.
The diamond is rubbish with Nicky Butt and it is rubbish without Nicky Butt.
The only good thing about the diamond is that it places Steven Gerrard on the left, where he roams and makes the play and does a lot of damage.
That part of it works. The rest doesn’t work.
And Scholes has not trained normally for the last four days, so he can’t really be sharp enough to play at the point of the diamond.
But in a walkover mini-league game like this, that detail does not matter.
Rooney and Gerrard and Terry will win the game for England.
Gerrard is a dynamo, very fast, very energetic. He makes things happen.
ENGLAND WILL WIN despite the diamond, not because of it.
Sven is still backing Owen.
He says, “I have faith in Michael and I’m quite sure that he will play even better than he did on Sunday.”
Sven says, “I have faith in Michael and I’m quite sure that he will play even better than he did on Sunday.”
THAT IS WHAT HE SAID.
Sven said, “I have faith in Michael and I’m quite sure that he will play even better than he did on Sunday.”
SVEN HAS A HOUSE in Estoril, which is like the Malibu of Lisbon, where the rich hang out.
If Switzerland win, Sven can’t go on living in Regents Park.
He knows that. You know that.The FA know that.
If England lose tonight, Sven will play Croatia in Lisbon on Monday and sleep at home in Estoril on Monday night.
BUT ENGLAND WILL WIN THIS AFTERNOON.
Rooney can’t wait. He is sick of beating Stevie at table tennis and pool.
He has been thrashing Stevie all week to kill time before hammering the Swiss.
Wayne can’t wait for Switzerland because he knows that they are made-to-measure for him.
And I can’t wait.
And you can’t wait.
Invariably, I say that 90% of big events are disappointing.
So, when you look at big events in hindsight, quite often 80% of the fun is the anticipation.
BUT THAT DOES NOT APPLY TODAY.
Because England v Switzerland is not a big event. It’s just three points.
It’s only a big event if we lose.
England will win, so Sven might have a couple of big games coming up.
June 17th 2004
PS : Don’t sit on the fence, Myles – tell us what you really think !