I recall hearing all the declarations from the ladies and gentlemen of various well-heeled circles; the Rotarians, the Masons, the Hunting fraternity, the Tennis, Cricket and Bowls clubs, the members of the Madrigal Choir, numerous church goers, many of my piano students and so on; "We won't be watching England this time around, they're all overpaid prima donnas" But now, EVERYONE is taking an interest and are prepared to show a degree of patriotism.
The election is done and "the other lot got in," Our first Prime Minister of colour, a generally affable but obscenely wealthy chap, who screwed up spectacularly by choosing to leave the VE Day Celebrations early back in May, gave a lovely exit speech, and for once, his ever absent wife was actually beside him. We have our first female Chancellor of the Exchequer but once again, publicity-mad Nigel Farage found yet another cause to align himself with, and appear relevant for a few weeks on our TV screens. But, no-one cares now though, it's all about the football! Ladies of a certain vintage in the queue at the Co-op checkout are busily debating whether Gareth will ever drop Harry Kane to the bench, or will Cole Palmer start? Discussions are breaking out across dinner tables at all levels about England's best starting line-up. Despite the brilliance of Sky and TNT Sports, being on terrestrial TV changes the dynamic around any sport and right now football is definitely the hot topic, now that Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu will not be flying any sort of flag at Wimbledon.
So, after enduring 5 tedious matches fom behind the sofa or in my case via the bottle of yet another glass of scotch whiskey, we find ourselves in the Semi-Finals, a place which even the Germans could not manage! Can we bore our way through this one and then deliver 5 crisp penalties to secure a berth in the final? The simple answer is No! For the uninformed, the Dutch are a huge step up from opposition we have faced so far. Marshalled by Ronald Koeman, a general who understands the dark arts of achieving victory on the pitch and in the dug-out. For all the beautiful eloquent statements about brotherhood, fabulous friendships and a cocoon mentality in the camp; this needs to be a proper football with an execution of fluid, objective winning football at the highest level. If we fluff our lines on Wednesday, the boys will be back at Luton Airport before you can sing VINDALOO!!! The Dutch have won the Euros themselves with their own golden generation back in 1988 and before that in 1974 and 1978 were losing World Cup finalists with the golden Ajax generation including the late great Johann Cruyff.
I actually believe that we CAN beat the Dutch because we have a fantastic squad of players, who possess a level of technical brilliance we haven't seen from an England team in this life-time. Knowing how to cross the winning line when you are face to face with an opponent who is highly experienced in this elite space will be Gareth's greatest test by a country mile. I personally believe in Mr Southgate, simply because he has got us here and deserves to be respected. The white noise around his suitability and tactical nous has been ridiculous. In sport, the greatest currency is victory. He has delivered at a stage consistently where many have failed spectacularly. Wednesday will be his greatest and hardest step yet.
I wrote in my previous blog about Arsenal facing Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, and Manchester City against Real Madrid in their respective Champions League second leg ties. The experience and resilience of their opponents proved too great in both cases. But, note that we have a collection of winning warriors. John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham are individuals who have learned, over time about the energy required to succeed in journeys like this, their knowledge is key. Bukayo Saka is a smart little wizard with a devastating end product, Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon are like two caged canine snipers growling in anticipation of thge chance to slice open anyone in their way. Not forgetting the sublime sophisticated dribbling skills of Eze who finally gave us a glimpse on the big stage. If we are to win the tournament, Jarrod Bowen and Ivan Toney, will be pivotal. Both have the mental strength to deliver under intense pressure; Bowen did it for West Ham United to win that Conference League Trophy and in bringing Brentford to the Premier League our Northamptonian star Toney, announced himself and has just grown and grown. We have the toolbox for this.
I am excited and nervous in equal measure about both semi-finals. Any of the four teams have the pedigree and superstar players to seize the trophy, I hope and pray that from now, we set the narrative, electrify the pitch on Wednesday and then go again on Sunday. Everything is crossed, another bottle whiskey is on standby with a mountain of ice-cubes and a reservoire of coca-cola, my knees are sore from praying. Come on England! Bring it home...
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