Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has praised the progress of teammate Marcus Rashford during the course of the current season. The England international had found himself in-and-out of the first XI under ex-boss Jose Mourinho but the same has not been the case with caretaker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has featured him regularly from the starting lineup.
Gareth Southgate said that the FA should address the falling number of England players starting for their club. He said that it has fallen to a record low of 25% in recent weeks and he believes that this will hinder the England national team.
England manager Gareth Southgate has sent a warning to youngster Reiss Nelson, who has impressed on loan at Hoffenheim from Premier League club Arsenal. The 18-year-old has been in fine form for the Bundesliga club this term with six goals from just eight league appearances but Southgate has indicated that he cannot just ‘roll up’ to earn his maiden Three Lions cap.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has admitted that he has not been performing to the best of his abilities despite contributing three goals for Spurs since the season started. The England international has been deemed to be struggling with his fitness after making a quick return from the summer World Cup and he has now personally accepted that he could have done better in the games which have passed.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Kane stressed that the pressure is on him to perform at a high level, given he has already set his standards over the past few seasons. He added that the Brighton & Hove Albion game was probably his best performance of the campaign, though he only found the scoresheet from the penalty spot.
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Former Manchester United star Phil Neville says England women can extend the World Cup fever into 2019. The popular pundit and now England women manager believes that with the women team qualifying for the World Cup finals set for next year in France, the Lionesses can extend the passion for international football that started since when Gareth Southgate took over.
Former Manchester United and England midfielder David Beckham said that he is proud of what the England team has achieved under Gareth Southgate. He said that there were some doubts that the team might struggle at the World Cup in Russia given the inexperience of both the players and the manager.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche claims that England boss Gareth Southgate will determine if James Tarkowski is good enough for the England national team. Ben Mee has been in the England over the last couple of months after some impressive performances with Burnley, who have been excellent at the back in the Premier League. Very few teams have been able to score past the clarets this season, as Mee has formed an excellent partnership with Tarkowski at the back. Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are the only three teams to have kept more clean sheets than Burnley in the Premier league this season.
In terms of the headed clearances and blocks made by players over the course of the campaign, Mee and Tarkowski are in the top five list. Speaking with regard to the potential call-ups for the England national team, Dyche says that it is up to Southgate in order to determine the ability of the two players in the next few months. Southgate has major decisions to make with regard to the players who will be traveling with the squad for the World Cup 2018. After a comfortable qualification campaign, England have a major job ahead of the tournament after their failures in recent events.
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Gareth Southgate has revealed that four or five of the young players he gave international debuts to over the last two friendly games are now options for the World Cup squad next year in Russia.
The England boss introduced Jordan Pickford, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Joe Gomez and Harry Maguire to the global stage and all of them impressed during the games against Germany and Brazil. There were also first caps for Tammy Abraham, Dominic Solanke and Jack Cork.
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Manchester United skipper Wayne Rooney is set to retire from international football after the 2018 campaign in Russia, if England makes it there. The England international has disclosed his intention of ending his career at Old Trafford, but he hasn’t placed a time limit.
On his retirement, Rooney said: “Going into the World Cup, hopefully we qualify, the time will be right. It will be my 15th season playing for England, and in anyone’s terms, it’s a long time, so I just felt the time would be right then. The physical factors in basketball, football and other sports mean that continuing at the very top once you pass 30 years old is very difficult, and only a few have managed to retain that level of performance at the highest level whilst playing both domestic and international football” Rooney added.
England manager Sam Allardyce says he plans to play the skipper in the No. 10 role, and as captain. Rooney seem to be happy with the arrangement when he said: “It brings consistency [considering United coach Jose Mourinho has restored Rooney to the same role] in terms of where you are playing. Sometimes, it is difficult to go from one position to another and keep changing.”
Ukraine have been one of the surprise packages of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign for far. They were not expected as one of the contenders in the group, especially when they opened the campaign with a 1-0 defeat against Slovakia. Since then, however, Ukraine have notched up three consecutive victories and it has propelled them to a great position in the table. Manager Mykhailo Fomenko, who took charge of the team during difficult circumstances, says that he is extremely happy with the discipline shown by the players. The latest win came in the form of a 3-0 score against Luxembourg.
Admittedly, Luxembourg were not expected to get anything from the match, but still Ukraine played well and will be taking a lot of confidence into the upcoming matches. Slovakia continue to lead the table after getting four consecutive wins. They have a three-point advantage over Spain, who are only ahead on goal difference. Ukraine are stll rank outsiders for the European Championships, at 100/1 (England can be backed at odds of 12/1). (more…)