Introduce a Winter Break

It beggars belief that this hasn’t been done already. It was apparent against Norway just how jaded our players are after a long, gruelling season. There’s no doubt in my mind that the injuries sustained by Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard, that are forcing them to miss the tournament, are due to the effects of a lack of rest.

While Gareth Barry won’t be missed by many (because he is one of the worst England players ever. Don’t get me wrong, for Man City he is amazing but when he plays for England he is a pleb), Lampard will be a huge loss for us. You have to wonder whether a winter break would have prevented these injuries?

This sounds like I’m making an excuse for poor performances but you look at our team and the individual talent in that team, we shouldn’t be so far behind the best teams in the world. If a winter break is good enough on the continent then why isn’t it good enough for us? The FA- being prehistoric and out of touch – won’t rectify this and will continue to believe that everything it has ever done, is doing now and will ever do is correct and that it’s a completely flawless organisation.

Anyway, however England perform this summer, we should be optimistic about the future. Putting his own stamp on the team is going to take a fairly long time for Hodgson. There’s no doubt in my mind, though, that, on this occasion, the FA made the correct decision and appointed the right man. We’re not expected to win so whatever happens it’s important to get fully behind the team. If we lose against France then so be it. Let’s put it out of our minds and move on to the next one. We’re a team in transition. Don’t expect instant results.

I know I’ve been pretty harsh about some players that have been selected but they’ll have my support once that tournament kicks off. It may not happen this summer but we have to believe that those trophy-less years (I didn’t want to go for the over-used and ever so clichéd ‘years of hurt’) will be over sooner rather than later. There are certainly exciting times ahead. C’mon England!!!