After a poor International break from the England team, it was a welcome sight to see the Premier League return this weekend. With the World Cup only 200 days away, the core of the England team were in action hoping to impress the England manager before the squad gets picked for Brazil.
The weekend started at the Merseyside Derby with a haul of England players on show. There was a lot of talk after the internationals if Daniel Sturridge would start as he is not fully fit. A player who was fully fit though was Ross Barkley of Everton showing great foot work and good pace driving forward for the Toffee’s in an electric game. Phil Jagielka put in a solid performance in the centre of their defence.
Steven Gerrard didn’t have the best game of his career, but he can still provide one or two killer passes to show off his quality. Gerrard’s dead ball quality is one of the best in the world and his whipped in ball in the 89th minute showed this and Daniel Sturridge in. John Flanagan from England’s U21 also put in a solid display in for Liverpool’s defence.
Wayne Rooney put in a hardcore display for United on Sunday as Cardiff came back to equalise in the last minute. Unfortunately, Rooney went from hero to villain. He scored in the 15th minute, but later on in the game he put in a bad tackle which was over looked.
Frank Lampard went back to former employees West Ham United on Saturday, putting in a stunning display against them scoring a brace on the way and becoming Chelsea’s top goal scorer.
The FA and many people believe that England will improve and should target the World Cup Final in 2018. But why should they wait until then? England went through the Qualifiers being unbeaten and in a tough group came out on top. England gained a creditable draw in Brazil in June, so England need to challenge now. With the regular crop of players doing well for their clubs and the younger talent coming through the system such as Lallana, Rodriguez and Ross Barkley, why can’t they pull it off?
Further good news came out this weekend when Theo Walcott came back from a long injury lay-off playing some part in Arsenal’s game and Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain is soon to come back as well. England will still be underdogs for the Tournament in 2014 but may well cause a few surprises under Hodgson.