By Myles Palmer
Will Sheringham or Cole or Fowler partner Heskey against Greece on Saturday?
Should Seaman and Keown play in defence?
I’ve been dreading this week and looking for other things to talk about.
Talking about Cole/Sheringham/Fowler has become so tedious.
Let’s get this straight : England will beat Greece by one or two goals whoever plays.
But I suppose we will be hearing all the familiar arguments for the next four days.
Andy knows Beckham, Scholes and Old Trafford, Teddy is on form, Robbie isn’t 100% fit but can link well with Gerrard, Barmby and Heskey.
And so on. Blah,blah, blah.
It’s boring because England’s midfield will annihilate Greece.
England’s midfield will be Beckham, Gerrard, Scholes and Barmby and their running, tackling, passing and shooting will decide the game.
So I don’t care if Keown and Seaman play or not. Keown’s done well for England and has been unlucky not to win more caps. But he is not playing anywhere near his best at the moment.
Seaman, we are now told, carried his shoulder injury into the Panathinaikos game in Athens. A fit Seaman should have saved that header. A fit Richard Wright would have saved it.
Only the doctors, Gary Lewin and Sven will know the exact state of his damaged shoulder.
Seaman is still there because international football is 90% temperament.
That is why Keegan, Lineker, Stuart Pearce and Shearer lasted so long.
Talent is one thing, temperament another.
Darren Anderton has a great temperament and I would have put him in the squad way ahead of Trevor Sinclair, who has disappointed me more than any other footballer in the last ten years.
At QPR Sinclair first appeared as a young,chunky,versatile winger with skill and explosive pace.
I met him one night at Brentford after an Under-21 game against Denmark, when he played well. It was the night before Tel’s first game at Wembley in 1994, when Anderton and Le Saux made superb debuts in a 1-0 win.
The Under-21s played a 4-3-2-1 Xmas tree formation and it worked.
Sutton’s flick-on gave Sinclair the only goal.It was a very good goal – a spurt of pace, a vicious half volley on the run – I can see it now. Parlour also did well that night.
Trevor Sinclair seemed like a nice kid and I expected a lot from him.
But he didn’t bother in QPR’s away games and he never learned to pass the ball.
His scoring record was so pitiful that he contributed hugely to getting QPR relegated and plunging them into the downward spiral that ended in the administration we see today.
He had a modelling contract, so he never headed the ball. He was pathetic. He was a disgrace to his profession while similar players with less talent, like Steve Stone, were a credit to the profession.
If Trevor Sinclair plays for England on Saturday then I will be really glad I’m not there.
I will watch the game on Sky. If Sinclair comes on as a sub, I will switch it off.
2nd October 2001.