For much of the last year, Marcus Rashford looked like a player drifting further away from the level expected of him. Questions over his confidence, consistency and long-term future followed him through one of the toughest periods of his professional career. At one stage, even the possibility of missing out on the World Cup entirely felt realistic. That is why his inclusion in England national football team's final squad for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada carries far more emotional weight than a normal international call-up.
In 2024, when the Football Association was tasked with finding Gareth Southgate's successor, Mark Bullingham hired two external data companies who built a profile of what successful international managers looked like then tailored it to mesh with England's player base. The top 50 coaches in the world were matched against the criteria and a shortlist emerged.
When it comes to the most prolific strikers to pull on a red shirt, you needn't look further than Michael Owen. A player whose career decisions definitely split opinion, but for some, he was the catalyst that opened the door to adoration of this football club. He was the talisman, the flicker of hope to pin ourselves to. Regardless of how you view Michael Owen, what cannot be denied or questioned is his talent, a talent that you only tend to see once in a generation.
Hargreaves was a European champion with both Bayern Munich and Manchester United, and battled for an England place against Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes during that era. If you think back to our group, they all achieved enormous success at their clubs, like the Champions League, he tells FourFourTwo. Not many of this group have had that success yet, but they're super talented, and what they have done a better job at during this era is to put everything together better.
Joe Hart admitted he felt 'unwelcome' as part of the national squad during Fabio Capello's time in charge, despite being grateful for his first World Cup experience. He described feeling like he was almost fourth or fifth choice, only coming into the squad when others were unavailable.
What a f-- stupid Instagram post man. What's wrong with you guys? Guy hasn't played or trained for so long. People like you guys are what's wrong with the world. Have some respect.
