Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
This Afternoon’s friendly at home to Turkey could provide Roy Hodgson the perfect opportunity to pair Strikers Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy together. With Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford not available after the F.A. Cup commitments and Daniel Sturridge rested after his Europa League exploits on Wednesday, Hodgson only has two recognised strikers available but what a duo it is to choose from
You have a Premier League winner and the Golden Boot winner with 49 league goals between them this season and if they can carry that form into today’s game at The Stadium Of Light then the Turkish Defence are going to be in for a long afternoon
With the forward line all but picking itself the real selection dilemmas are in Defence and Midfield. In Defence there will be no Chris Smalling again due to F.A. Cup commitments yesterday so you would imagine John Stones and Gary Cahill will be the Centre Back partnership
While in Midfield, Hodgson has an embarrasment of riches and this is where the decision will not only need to be made Today but also in terms of who doesn’t make the short journey to France. The midfield ranks are definitely the most competitive and with only 23 seats on the plane, 3 players know they will be suffering the heartbreak of being left behind
Whisper it quietly but there is certainly some optimism in the England camp especially after their stunning 3-2 win in Germany back in March. Both Kane and Vardy were on target that night and everyone connected with England will be hoping that’s the case later on
Turkey Manager Fatih Terim will look to Burak Yilmaz and Melvut Erdinc to get the goals but will have to do without Arda Turan as he will be needed for Barcelona in the Spanish Cup Final later this evening. Liverpool fans will remember Nuri Sahin’s brief loan spell back in 2013 and he should feature for Turkey
It’s a home fixture for England but not their usual home what with England going on a mini-tour before leaving for France. It’s The Etihad playing hosts and I think Roy Hodgson will be looking to play as strong a line up as possible and it should lead to a relatively comfortable win. I’ll go 2-0 England.
