Top 5 Reasons IT’S COMING HOME

**DISCLAIMER: This is from the POV of a fatefully and wildly optimistic England fan ready to see a long overdue Euro 2020 from the comfort of his local beer garden**

Euro 2020 is finally here, and so are our hopes that the Three Lions’ long wait for a European Championship could soon be over.

With what looks like another golden generation with Foden, Grealish and Bellingham in tow, and a semi final appearance at our last major tournament, hopes are higher than ever. With that in mind, it’s only right I embody such patriotic optimism and delusion with my 5 reasons IT’S COMING HOME.

We’re basically playing as the home country…

See the source image

Should we secure the hotly contested top spot of Group D, England opportunistically have a path to the final that only features one ‘away’ game.

That or try our luck finishing 3rd in the group with enough points to sneak into the knockouts, and we have a path to the final with just one game away from the comfort of Wembley stadium. With the hard to ignore pandemic too, you’ll largely see domestic fans gracing our national stadium, providing even more of an advantage to our Three Lions. Let’s not forget how we fared in 1966 with home advantage.

Don’t get too excited though, as if you cast your memory back to October 2020, you’ll remember even Denmark beat us at Wembley.

Sir Gareth Southgate has a lovely ring to it…

See the source image

Love or hate a man whose greatest club managerial achievement is relegation with Middlesborough in ’09, Southgate did fare relatively well in his first major tournament as senior boss.

Turn a blind eye to our ludicrously easy schedule, and the fact we lost the three times we faced quality opposition, and hopes should be sky high for his second bite at the cherry. In the midst of our fairytale-ish run to the semis in 2018, and you’ll have seen Facebook posts galore getting ready to include Southgate in the New Years Honours list. Fast forward to 2021, and Sir Gareth Southgate still sounds meant to be.

Harry Kane has learnt to square it…

It’s fair to say life peaked when Trippier scored that free kick versus Croatia, it’s just a shame his Spurs teammate at the time couldn’t get himself a goal contribution that day.

Whether Sterling was offside or not, it couldn’t have got much more heart wrenching than the usually heroic Harry missing the double sitter. However, Kane is a changed man. In the 17/18 season, while Kane hit the back of the net a mighty 30 times, he only set up teammates for 3 assists. Fast forward to 20/21, and his 23 goals and 14 assists show how the once one-dimensional goal scorer has turned into a provider. So no need to fear, with Harry here, he will square it this time.

We’re in great form! (Sort of)

See the source image

Form is a huge part of any international tournament. Therefore, you should be delighted that we’ve won six on the bounce. Just don’t pay attention to the fact it was against: ten man Iceland, San Marino, Albania, Poland, Austria and Romania.

Rewind to the dreaded Nations League performance, and you’ll find we couldn’t beat Denmark over two attempts, we scraped past ten man Iceland away from home, and we justifiably beat Belgium at home to lose away to them. Hey-ho though, it’s a stark improvement on our performances against Iceland and Belgium in our last two major tournaments.

Phil Foden(‘s hair)

See the source image

The ‘Stockport Iniesta’ has gone full Gazza for Euro 2020, and let’s hope he can replicate the magic of the beloved England star at Euro ’96.

To millennial England supporters like myself, Gazza’ is somewhat of a legendary, mythical mercenary who symbolises that national side of the 90’s. A man that makes a convincing argument for England’s best player post 1966, and fellow millennial Foden is hell bent on creating a similar legacy for the Three Lions. Off the back of winning PFA Young Player of the Year, the Man City youngster has come along way from his controversies with Greenwood last year to seamlessly replace Silva for the Citizens.

Now he must complete his redemption to the England faithful, by being pivotal in helping us bring it home.

There you have it, my delusional Top 5 Reasons IT’S COMING HOME, featuring no legitimate reasons of why it could actually come home. Let me know what you actually think about our chances this summer in the comments below, I’ll enjoy reading them from the comfort of my local beer garden as I witness my first international tournament with a legal drink.

‘It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming… footballs coming home’

Leave a Reply