The Nations League is a competition devised to cut down on the number of pointless one-sided international friendly mismatches in which European heavyweights steamroll small mountain-tops or archipelagos in poorly-attended matches that benefit absolutely nobody involved. While the competitive value, format, and byzantine permutations of the Nations League are understood by so few people that the handful of Uefa blazers who dreamt it up are all forbidden from traveling together on the same plane. The Nations League is supposed to pit countries of similar ability against each other, even if England resembles something of a barracuda rubbing fins with the comparative minnows in the pond that is Group B2.
Back-to-back Euro finalists, England is clearly vastly superior to Ireland and Finland, who between them have qualified for just two major tournaments since 2016 and lost to England during the last interlull. Tonight at Wembley they host a Greece side who haven’t been to a major tournament in over a decade. The news of the tragic passing of their England-born international teammate, George Baldock, who had not traveled with his international teammates due to injury, is sure to weigh heavily on the minds of Greece’s players. The players will wear black armbands in their fallen comrade’s memory and have requested a pre-match minute’s silence for the former Sheffield United star, which is sure to be impeccably observed. Baldock will also have played with or against many of England’s players, who are likely to be similarly distraught.
In such unimaginably sad circumstances, the outcome of this game could scarcely be less important, but it remains the latest leg of what is widely presumed to be Lee Carsley’s six-part audition for the role of England head coach vacated by Gareth Southgate in July. As he prepares to lead out his country on the occasion of his 82nd cap in the absence of Harry Kane who is confined to a role on the bench due to injury, John Stones was asked if he sees any similarities between the England interim coach and his club boss, Pep.
“In ways, yes, definitely,” he said. “Everyone has got their own unique style and I think there are similarities throughout every manager in what they want. There are a lot of similarities between Lee and Pep in how they see the game and how they want us to play and I think we saw that last month when we played the two games. It’s been great for me with the likenesses of how we play.” The Manchester City and England defender was wise enough not to mention that the main difference between the two coaches is that one of them is currently happy to pick him, while the other is not.
Additionally, Wojciech Szczesny, despite coming out of retirement to sign for Barcelona on a short-term deal, has definitely entered his DNGAF era. He stated, “I don’t smoke in front of kids, I don’t give a bad example. But people take pictures of me smoking behind trees, where I can’t even see them. I try to hide it, not show to people. If anyone thinks they can change my personal life, try again, it never worked.”
Join Scott Murray for piping-hot coverage of England 4-0 Greece, with kick-off at 7.45pm BST.
