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A Jack (Wilshere) of all trades! — England roundup

By on June 8, 2015

Jack Wilshere seems to be a man of all trades — in the past nine days alone he has lifted the FA Cup with Arsenal, got in a bit of bother with a Gordon Ramsey-style expletive laden chant against Tottenham with a microphone on a victory parade through London, and finally produced a comfortable display in an England shirt against the Republic of Ireland. Quite the week, to say the least. Wilshere was a rare ray of light in the dour 0-0 friendly between the two nations; peeling potatoes for the Sunday roast was more exciting than the actual game. The boring encounter between Martin O’Neill’s side and Roy Hodgson’s men was in vast contrast to the entertainment seen the previous night in Berlin between Barcelona and Juventus in the UEFA Champions League Final, which Barca won 3-1 to seal a fifth club triumph. The flat international friendly needed a bit of quality which could only come from the World class players on display at the Olympiastadion, but superstars like Neymar and Lionel Messi were too busy celebrating their latest European crown; and England seemed to lack many of them.

Hand written to lack any action!

Wilshere has found a new home in the Three Lions’ lineup in a holding midfield position. He’s still adapting to a more controlled position, but still could play the role place at Euro 2016 in France next year.

It was the first time that Ireland had played England in Dublin for twenty years, but don’t be fooled — is this sort of game is not seen for another years on live television, it would be too soon! Chris Smalling had a decent game at center-back but was hardly tested by the Republic of Ireland forward line. Joe Hart was less busy than the highlights editor for the game. At least there was no crowd trouble for the FA or FAI to concern themselves over, but I suspect that the FAI have had bigger concerns this week in the wake of revelations of the Fifa pay-off as compensation for the Thierry Henry handball in a 2009 World Cup qualifier.

Both England and Ireland used the game as preparation for their respective crucial matches next weekend, where the Irish have a must-win qualifier against Scotland and England have an away game at Slovenia, who currently sit second in the Three Lions’ group. Both Ireland and England will hope to be catching a quick flight or train ticket on the Eurostar to France next summer, but will have to improve their performances when there are points on the table.

Transfer Talk means England fail to walk the walk!

England may not be able to beat the men in green, but most of the players who played in the draw, such as Raheem Sterling, may have other things on their mind this summer. Some of the members of the playing squad have moved clubs in the past few days, such as midfielders James Milner and Tom Cleverley. Milner started the match against the Irish and he could be playing alongside Sterling again come August (though, I somehow doubt it…), as the versatile player moved from Manchester City to Liverpool on a free transfer. Opting for a move to Anfield or a more central role, the 29-year-old could slot into Steven Gerrard’s vacant position in the middle of the pitch.

But Sterling could be heading in the opposite direction, having already been linked with a move to both Manchester clubs so far this summer. Another player making a permanent move out of Manchester is Tom Cleverley, who has chosen to join Everton, over his former loan club Aston Villa, whose run to the final of the FA Cup wasn’t enough to keep Cleverley around, on a free transfer from Manchester United on a five-year contract.

Up with the Women’s National Team!

The men’s England side may have failed to particularly impress, but let’s not forget the women’s team, who are at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, playing against France in the first tournament game for manager Mark Sampson. The Three Lionesses are not the favorites to win the World Cup — that’s the USA, Germany (Frankfurt won the UEFA Women’s Champions League, so the Germans may follow in the wake of their men’s World Cup winning squad) and Canada — but have players like captain Steph Houghton, striker Eni Aluko and the occasionally controversial selfie-taking Toni Duggan at their disposal. Houghton and Duggan both play for the Manchester City Women’s side in the Women’s Super League (WSL) and Chelsea Ladies forward Eniola Aluko is the sister of Hull City’s winger Sone Aluko. However, her brother Aluko chose to play international football for Nigeria and was in a Tigers squad that was recently relegated from the Premier League on the last day of the season. Hopefully, the latest crop of England women can get past that quarter-finals stage at a major tournament and put in some impressive performances on Canada’s artificial pitches.

Photo credit: Kieran Clarke of Flickr

About Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis can relate almost anything to football and quite often does! You may have seen Richard's previous ideas and work in the BBC Match of the Day Magazine, from 2011 to present. He is a Manchester United and England fan, but has gone to see Leyton Orient play with his O's season ticket in the 2013/14 campaign. Aside from football, Richard has written articles on Doctor Who and studies English Language and Linguistics at the University of Westminster. Aspiring sports journalist.