Qualifying has wrapped up for Euro 2016, and there’s been surprisingly little buzz surrounding the English national team.
Perhaps this is only natural, given that the English were drawn into a relatively weak group. Qualifying was taken for granted, and with domestic leagues getting started and Champions League action heating up, most football fans’ attention has been occupied.
Nevertheless, the English side conducted itself quite nicely through qualifying, and while few are predicting a win in next summer’s European competition, there are several reasons for optimism about the quality of play we’ll see.
1. Roy Hodgson Is Coaching For His Job
England was once a bold, decisive, and deadly squad, and somewhere along the line those qualities have dissipated in recent years. The English side we saw in Brazil was tight and unsure of itself, seemingly weighed down by expectations it just wasn’t ready to fulfill. But now some of those expectations are lifted. When that’s coupled with the fact that Roy Hodgson is almost certainly coaching for his job, the result could be some more daring and free-flowing football. In a way, this is a squad with nothing to lose and everything to gain. In Hodgson’s case, that means a contract renewal that likely won’t be on the table unless the Three Lions play well in France. Hodgson was lucky to keep his job following the World Cup and should be fired up at the chance to solidify it.
2. A Perfect Qualifying Record Bodes Well
As mentioned, England’s qualifying group was rather weak, with Switzerland representing the only true quality national side the English had to oppose. Still, 10-0-0 in qualifying demonstrates some consistency and level-headedness that bodes very well for England moving forward. It also falls in nicely with an intriguing historical precedent. Looking back to Euro 2012 and World Cup 2010 qualifying, the four European nations to have achieved flawless records each prospered in the following tournaments: Germany reached the Euro 2010 semi-finals; Spain won the tournament; and Spain and the Netherlands met in the World Cup 2010 finals. This year’s England team isn’t necessarily up to the quality of those clubs, but those examples show that a perfect qualifying record can be a nice starting point.
3. Upcoming Friendlies Are Perfect Preparation
As some were quick to note following England’s win over Lithuania to conclude qualifying, the upcoming friendly schedule features matches against Spain, France, Germany, and Holland. That is about as tough a gauntlet as you can run in Europe these days. They’re only friendlies, but these games should help Hodgson’s side to build on a fairly easy qualifying process against clubs that will at least loosely resemble the best of the competition at Euro 2016.
4. Youth Can Thrive
Remember when Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo made continual headlines at Euro 2004? Well, England certainly doesn’t have any young players that quite match up to those two in quality, but it’s a nice reminder that youth can excel on the biggest stage—and there are a lot of young stars England could take to France for Euro 2016. The combination of lower expectations and promising youth could make for some surprising triumphs for England. Also, players like Harry Kane and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will get the chance to showcase themselves on the biggest stage in football outside the World Cup.
5. Wayne Rooney’s Twilight Could Be Ideal
There aren’t many luxuries in football better than having a player who’s capable of playing like a star but isn’t necessarily treated like one. The best example in England of late is the play of Olivier Giroud at Arsenal. Long thought of as something less than a top-notch striker, Giroud has shouldered enormous expectations for a few seasons now. But thus far in 2015/16, he’s thriving in a more balanced attack in which the focus is no longer solely on him. Rooney could well play a similar role for England next summer—a dynamic, threatening attacker who’s no longer viewed as the sole focal point of the offense, he’ll have an opportunity to excel.
Again, no one is predicting an England win. But considering these factors and the strength of the squad of late, a strong run is certainly not out of the question. Euro 2016 could become a nice starting point for a new era of English national team success.
