The Crying Game

Two games into our triumphant Euro campaign and I’m sticking to my prediction that we are nailed on to win it. Woy’s half time rush of blood yesterday will be our equivalent of Sir Alf opting to play without wingers – the moment that it all started to come together.  Plus it will hopefully be the last time we see Sterling on the pitch in this tournament.  There’s a joke in there about Sterling Euro jitters, but I’ll leave that one to Gary Lineker’s scriptwriters.

It’s easy to pick on Sterling. Very easy.  So this won’t be difficult then. It must be great to have already picked up 25 caps on the strength of being able to scuttle along like a clockwork toy with about as much end product.  £49m for Sterling?  Imagine his value if he had positional awareness, better distribution and an ability to finish. Or any of the three. 

Joe Hart too will hopefully learn from his mistake against Wales. Like it’s generally better to stand in the middle of the goal.  At least, on the scale of England goalkeeping cock ups, he didn’t do a Robert Green or get caught flatfooted by a 45 yard lob.  At least not yet.

Let’s concentrate on the positives, the reasons why the rest of the competition will fear us.  Dier – the only person under the age of 60 called Eric, and playing with a maturity beyond his years.  Vardy – half goalhanger, half coathanger – in the form of his life and even managed to bag the glamorous Rebekah despite looking like a ferret.  Walker – keep up those surging runs, the further you get from defending the better we all feel.  Rooney – we always knew he’d light up a tournament, though we were kinda hoping it wouldn’t be his 14th.  Sturridge – our ace: just get through the next few weeks in one piece and you can be injured all next season. Which you will be.

Having lifted one monkey off our back by actually winning a game, just wait for the other totems to fall:

England don’t blow a really easy potential draw!

England don’t shoot themselves in the foot with a needless red card!

England win a penalty shoot out!

England at last beat someone good!

Meanwhile I hope that Welsh fan has stopped crying now.  It was only looking like a draw for chrissake. Even worse were the numpties in the crowd who were all forlorn at the final whistle, only to break into a big beaming smile when they saw themselves on the big screen. There should be a law against it.  People in the crowd shouldn’t be able to see themselves on the telly. It breaks the fourth wall.  They should look happy, tense or miserable according to the game situation, not endlessly gurn at the viewers. It’s bad enough having to look at Robbie Savage.  

If, by some cruel fluke, England don’t win Euro 2016, I hope to God that it isn’t France. Anyone but them. Whenever they host a tournament (which is too often) they always win, which is particularly annoying because they don’t even particularly like football in France.  It stirs their emotion slightly less than a bunch of drug addicts pedalling up mountains.  Even a close game of boules gets them more animated.  Another French win next month would just prove that these things are fixed.  But like I say, it won’t happen.  Come on England.         

Stop blubbing boyo