At least we’ll have an excuse if we lose now.
England assistant boss Ray Lewington has been photographed holding a pad of paper with an England formation drawn on it, and it seems to indicate that England are going to play two up front.
Lewington was pictured in Wednesday’s Sun walking through the streets of Chantilly with his notes on the team there for all to see.
It has a touch of “The Thick Of It” about it, and could of course just be a set-up.
The piece of paper could just be one of many, many options the team are thinking of going with.
It could just be a training exercise.
It could just be the seating arrangement for tonight’s England pre-tournament dinner.
But if it is the formation England will play in France, it would indicate we’re playing two up front – Vardy and Kane.
The one problem with this is that for this formation to work, we’d have to play three at the back, which is something that has never actually been done under Hodgson… it seems unlikely.
In their last friendly against Portugal, England began with a diamond formation with Wayne Rooney playing off Kane and Vardy but it seems as if the Manchester United skipper is being considered for a deeper role.
It’s clear that both Rashford and Sturridge are considered only as back-up strikers and that Eric Dier’s place is safe – with no-one else there to do his role.
Lewington’s scribbles suggest that the country can line up a number of ways but it potentially shows you who’ll play where if each player is deployed – poor Ross Barkley having to make do with a position out wide right.
When life immitates art, eh? Or at least fans of Malcolm Tucker and The Thick Of It might agree anyway.
Quiet batpeople.
