Category: England

Would Devon’s Ollie Watkins Be a Good Addition to the England Squad for the World Cup?

The World Cup is approaching fast, with the opening games in Qatar kicking off next month. As is to be expected, there has been heated debate as to England’s chances in this year’s competition. After narrowly missing out on glory in the final of Euro 2020, and after a relatively successful campaign in the previous World Cup, some have felt that this England team’s chance of securing silverware is a matter of when, not if.

However, the national team’s performances have undeniably faltered since then. Their Nations League campaign has been disastrous, seeing England relegated off the back of a series of poor results. Where did it all go wrong? Many have pointed to the lack of scoring as the issue, with England going on a stretch of 450 minutes without scoring from open play. Regardless, most agree that the squad, talented though it is, needs refreshment.

There is a wealth of home-grown talent in the Premier League Gareth Southgate can choose from. Let’s take a look at Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins and discuss whether he would make a good addition to the England squad for the World Cup.

A squad in need of a shake-up

There can be no denying England have an immensely talented pool of forwards to draw from. With Raheem Sterling, Tammy Abraham, Bukayo Saka and, of course, Harry Kane, you’d be hard pushed to find a more star-studded national squad in world football. This is why, despite poor recent results, England remain among the favourites for the upcoming World Cup. Check the Unibet football odds, as just one example of a plethora of sports betting platforms. Only Brazil, Argentina and France are ahead of the Three Lions.

Why then have the goals dried up? With these players, surely England should be putting teams to the sword on a regular basis. Despite the talent of the aforementioned players, perhaps an overreliance on them has made the squad slightly stale. Opponents have them figured out, and difficult defeats over the past few years have left some players feeling jaded and disheartened.

If this is the problem, then the obvious solution is to bring in fresh blood: new faces who are eager to perform and free from the cynicism bred by some of England’s bitter recent disappointments.

Ollie Watkins

Ollie Watkins has often been linked to the national team but, despite previous call-ups, where he has scored twice in seven appearances, he has failed to secure a regular place.

Watkins joined Aston Villa from Brentford in 2020. In his first season there, he netted 14 goals, including a hat trick against champions Liverpool, becoming the club’s top scorer for the season. He plays mainly as a traditional centre forward at Aston Villa but has been played on either wing in the past and has bagged goals from both the left and right wing positions.

Many think that with these numbers, Watkins would have been an obvious choice for the England squad. However, when he was playing well so were England, and there were fewer cries for a refresh of the national team. Now that England’s form has dipped, so has Watkins’! Up until this weekend, he had scored just once in this league campaign and was coming under some fire for his lack of contribution.

Will changes at Villa benefit Watkins – and England?

Watkins’ underwhelming recent performances could be seen as a reflection of the greater malaise at Aston Villa. In this case, if he starts scoring goals again that could put him back in the frame for Southgate’s squad. With Watkins scoring his first goal in two months in Villa’s 4-0 win over Brentford this weekend, perhaps the recent manager change at Villa will be the catalyst that pushes the Devon man right back into contention. With Southgate determined to keep his card’s close to his chest, we will have to wait and see.

Image © grebeshkovmaxim

england v san marino world cup qualifiers

Clubnets Blog #8: Three Reasons Southgate Shouldn’t Underestimate San Marino on Thursday

Gareth Southgate’s England team will host minnows San Marino on Thursday night as they embark on their qualification campain for Qatar 2022. The team from the tiny principality in North Italy are ranked 210th out of 210 by FIFA. Yes, football’s governing body officially regards San Marino as the worst team in the world (England are currently ranked 4th).

While it is difficult to see beyond a convincing home win on Thursday (England have beaten the Sammarinese side by at least five goals in their six games against them), there are a few facts that Southgate should keep top of mind to avoid any red faces.

That Record Breaking Goal

Anyone who recalls the end of Graham Taylor’s tenure as England manager will probably remember the embarrassing start to England’s away victory in San Marino on 17th November 1993.

England were on the brink of failing to qualify for the USA ’94 World Cup finals just four years after that dramatic penalty defeat to Germany in the semi-finals of Italia ’90. England’s final game was in Bologna, against San Marino but eyes were also on the game in Poznan between Poland and the Netherlands because that was where England’s destiny was likely to be decided. A win for the Poles would see England sneak through ahead of Dick Advocaat’s side. If the Dutch were victorious, England would be out.

But there was another scenario. If Poland managed to draw with the Dutch (as they had in Rotterdam a year earlier), England could qualify on goal difference IF they beat San Marino by eight goals or more.

If you don’t know what happened next, the start of this video should raise a chuckle!

In fact, it took 20 minutes for England to get on terms, through Paul Ince’s first international goal. Ian Wright scored four times as the Three Lions eventually ran out 7-1 winners but by the time Wrighty banged home number seven, it no longer mattered. There would be no Dutch disaster in Poznan because the Netherlands had wrapped up a 3-1 victory. There would be no World Cup finals for England.

Davide Gualtieri’s opener for San Marino was scored 8.3 seconds after kick-off making that goal the quickest in World Cup history until Belgium’s Christian Benteke managed to shave 0.2 seconds off with his opener against Gibralter in October 2016.

Unlikely Draws

Conceding an unlucky goal might be forgiven. Any team can have a lapse of concentration. But what if San Marino managed a draw against England? This is highly unlikely but despite their dismal record, San Marino have managed several draws against opponents who should really have wiped the floor with them. Take Turkey. In March 1993, in the same World Cup qualifying group mentioned above, San Marino held the Turks to a goalless draw. Although a draw against a side ranked outside the top 50 may not seem a big deal, Turkey did go on to beat Norway, who were then ranked 2nd in the world.

In October 2014, during the Euro 2016 qualifiers, England narrowly defeated Estonia 1-0 in Tallinn. A month later, Estonia were also held 0-0 by San Marino.

And on an interesting side note for Devon readers, one manager who knows exactly how damaging a draw against San Marino can be is Torquay United’s own Gary Johnson. He once spent a spell in charge of the Latvian national team. While Latvia are by no means a footballing superpower themselves, a 1-1 home draw against San Marino (the side’s first ever away point) was so humiliating that it proved to be Johnson’s last game in charge.

That game saw San Marino park the proverbial bus which brings me on to the third – and probably most important danger for Gareth and co.

Improvement at the Back

Anyone who has been following the progress of San Marino over the past couple of years will have noticed a huge reduction in cricket scorelines. In fact, you could almost say that the Sammarinese have become rather stingy at the back with their last heavy defeat a 5-0 reverse against Russia in November 2019. In their last four competitive matches, San Marino have conceded just three goals.

Granted, their opponents have been of the calibre of Gibraltar and Liechtenstein but having gone 256 minutes without conceding a goal, San Marino must be doing somnething right at the back. And you can bet San Marino will want to prove they can hold out against the big boys too.

But what does it matter if England take a while to bash down the door? Well, as we’ve already seen, goal difference and even goals scored can be critical when it comes to who makes the cut and who doesn’t. Even if England do post a comfortable win on Thursday, the actual goal tally could come back to haunt them when the final World Cup places are being decided.

So from freak goals to humiliating draws to coming up a couple of goals short on goals scored, Southgate has plenty to keep him and his team on their feet in Thursday’s Qatar 2022 opener.