England: A look to the future....Posted by Mideast Mirage on June 21, 2000 at 16:30:25:
One fact that was pointed out to me before the first game against Portugal is that, despite the fact that Keegan tested 38 different players before EURO 2000, he made very few changes. 8 of the starting lineup were without change or in short *this is still Hoddle's team.* Now I expect the big change to come (I am assuming that Keegan will continue). England's younger players are quite impressive and I was a bit disappointed that Keegan did not make the change *before* EURO 2000. I think that he was a bit afraid of his critics back home. About 5 minutes after he pairs Sol Campbell with Rio Ferdinand people will forget who Adams and Keown were. Tony who? Martin what? Ferdinand is already a modern defender, meaning that he can also attack if needed. Players like Steven Gerard, Joe Cole, Kieron Dyer, Kevin Phillips,and Frank Lampard, all of whom are much more skilled players than Ince and Wise (PLEASE don't even mention Batty) will now get their chance. I'm sure that there are people on this board who can name other talented young players from the under-21 team (Leeds has several I believe). In short, the near future may be more positive than many seem to think and the style of play should radically improve.
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