WHEREVER Roy Hodgson goes to watch football up and down the land a permanent smile dances across his face.
Why not? Why wouldn’t he be happy when suddenly there is an abundance of ambitious, talented and exciting players to fill England’s team and squad for this summer’s Euro 2016 tournament?
For so long a succession of England managers have complained, with quiet reason or noisy indignation, about the problems of having so few footballers of international quality to select from.
Hodgson has parroted that theme himself from time to time, chattering with frustrated envy about the production line of talent in Germany and Spain.
Now, instead, he’s the one with a fiendish selection puzzle.
Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck are a coruscating cast of strikers. They can’t all waltz to the tournament this summer.
Ross Barkley, Dele Alli and Eric Dier have emerged as midfield titans to push ahead of solid performers like James Milner, Michael Carrick, Jordan Henderson. There are others on the rise as well, like Danny Drinkwater.
Fraser Forster and Jack Butland are superb understudies with the gloves for Joe Hart, while the development of Chris Smalling in central defence should make for a strong partnership with vice-captain Gary Cahill. He may be suffering a dip in form just now but John Stones remains a wonderful prospect.
Oh yes, and I haven’t yet mentioned the young footballer who gave the finest performance by an English player in last week’s European club matches and who was the only Englishman named in the Champions League team of this season’s group stages.
If one dazzling talent more than any other allows room for optimism with our national team, it is surely Raheem Sterling.
How could you not be entranced by the shimmy that took him past a Dynamo Kiev defender, the dart into the box and the perfect low cross for David Silva to score?
What made Hodgson smile just as much, I guess, was the sight of Sterling tracking back as if it was the most natural part of his game, making timely tackles and interceptions as Manchester City secured an impressive away victory in a place where few visiting teams thrive.
Sterling gave a complete display of the modern footballer – razor sharp in attack, patient when required, forever making the right choice with his passes, and wholly diligent in his defensive duties.
Watching the show was to understand Manchester City’s wisdom of splashing out £49million to buy him from Liverpool last summer – far and away a record transfer fee for an English player.
The kid is still only 21 but he truly didn’t play like a kid the other night.
Hodgson has experimented with various strategies as England manager and only a fool would expect otherwise.
What he must do now is settle on a system that delivers the very best from Sterling wide on the left, whether it is 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.
Another big match arrives for the young star this Sunday afternoon in the League Cup final at Wembley against his old club Liverpool.
The jeers of the opposition fans will ring in the ears of Sterling whenever he touches the ball but he will only be inspired by the hostility.
The chances are, whether City win or lose, he will produce moments of magic to make the rest of us smile.
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