Sterling the star as England kick off their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign in style

Excellent performances in both games, but some England stars subjected to racist abuse once again

We’re off to a flier. Gareth Southgate’s England started their Euro 2020 campaign in fine style, with their first two fixtures yielding 6 points, 10 goals, some teenage prodigies, and much to admire in general. Both the Czech Republic and Montenegro were despatched clinically and impressively.

Disturbingly however, once again some England players were subjected to racial abuse in Eastern Europe, during the Montenegro game. Why this part of the globe has such a disproportionate number of abhorrent individuals is a question for somebody far more worldly than me, but it’s a disgusting practice that needs silencing. Until those nations who are guilty of this are given meaningful punishments – like points deductions or tournament expulsions – it is unlikely to stop. Pathetic, ignorant and reprehensible – it simply has to be dealt with, seriously and effectively.

England’s first game was a 5-0 thumping of the Czech Republic at Wembley. Whilst the modest performance of the opposition must be taken into account, there was much to admire from England. With Southgate now favouring a 4-3-3 formation after the back three used at last summer’s World Cup, they looked confident and moved the ball around nicely.

Star of the show was Raheem Sterling, a player now looking every inch the real deal. He seems to have found an impressive consistency to go with the immense natural talent he always possessed. He scored a hat-trick and was a constant threat to a Czech defence that basically had no answer to him.

Fittingly, the Wembley crowd (another 82,000-plus attendance – astonishing support yet again), gave Sterling a loud and lusty farewell when he was substituted. That must have been a great feeling for the Manchester City star, who hasn’t always been flavour of the month with some sections of England’s support.

Sterling’s first two goals were crackers. The first was a full-stretch finish with his left foot, completing a flowing move involving 10 of England’s players and a sequence of 25 passes – no wonder OptaJoe on Twitter called it “liquid”. The final pass came from the impressive Jadon Sancho, showing poise, confidence and all the positives on his debut that you associate with a player who knows his time has come.

Sterling curled in a nice shot from 20 yards for his second, and whilst the hat-trick goal was a deflection, that didn’t detract from a fine all-round performance from him. England’s other scorers were the ever-reliable Captain Kane from the penalty spot, and an own goal from the unlucky Tomas Kalas, who haplessly put the ball into his own net after another England debutant, Callum Hudson-Odoi, had his shot saved initially. Keeping up Southgate’s theme of unleashing the young guns, West Ham’s Declan Rice also debuted impressively from the bench. Hudson-Odoi in fact became England’s youngest ever player to debut in a competitive game, at 18 years, 135 days.

On Monday, England played Montenegro, where they somewhat disappointed in their last game there, drawing 1-1 back in a WC qualifier in 2013. This time things were vastly different. Once again it was a five-goal thumping, although surprisingly Montenegro took a 17th minute lead before England took almost complete control and scored freely.

Hudson-Odoi and Rice both made their full debuts, looking very much at home. Hudson-Odoi looked particularly good, with a performance that once again questioned the reluctance of his Chelsea Manager Maurizio Sarri to start him regularly. The player is clearly full of confidence, in great form and has a sound pedigree of success through the England age group teams…what’s not to trust? Mystifying.

Rice also looked impressive, his screening and holding role not as noticeable as Hudson-Odoi’s of course, but he showed a neatness, composure and confidence that clearly demonstrated Southgate’s faith in him – and no doubt his delight (and relief) that Rice finally chose to represent England, and not the Republic of Ireland.

After conceding, England hit back with goals from Michael Keane, a brace for Ross Barkley, Harry Kane, and yet another for Superman Sterling. Once ahead, England never looked back, playing once again with confidence and pace, finishing clinically when required. It’s a winning game right now.

The low point though, was of course the racist abuse suffered by Danny Rose and Hudson-Odoi. It was heard by many, including Gareth Southgate. UEFA have a pathetic record of “punishment” in this area, which unfortunately doesn’t give decent-minded fans much optimism that things will change anytime soon, but let’s hope we’re somehow wrong.

Both Rose and Hudson-Odoi deserve immense credit for the way they handled themselves, and the situation. They are strong characters indeed.

Whilst we await whatever sanctions come Montenegro’s way, at least we can reflect on two excellent opening results for England, and the exciting crop of young players in and around the senior squad. And below that, from the Under-21’s down, the age group teams are also impressing. Southgate seems a man at ease – quietly confident, total belief in his players (whatever their age), and a willingness to adapt and change when necessary. Impressive.

How good does the following list of up-and-coming talent sound? Hudson-Odoi, Sancho, Rice, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Phil Foden, Reiss Nelson, James Maddison, Aaron Wan-Bissaka…and there are several more. We also shouldn’t forget the fact that many of Southgate’s more established players are under 25 themselves.

Next up are Holland in the semi-finals of the new EUFA Nations League semi-final on June 6^th. I think it’s fair to say that both England and their supporters are rather looking forward to it. At this rate, hope and expectation are in serious danger of getting reversed in the minds of a lot of England fans.

By Chris Tribe

27th March 2019

Copyright © 2019 Chris Tribe. All Rights Reserved.

Photo credit: Copyright © Антон Зайцев / licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported