Soccer VDO

That’s the thing with the Promised Land: once you’ve had a glimpse, it becomes very hard to leave it behind.

The number men suggest the difference between playing in the Premier League and the Championship is approximately £100 million when you factor in TV revenue, sponsorship cash and prize money, so while the romance of playing in the English top flight is alluring enough, it is the financial bottom-line that is most seductive.

West Ham United are lining up an attempt sign Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, who is desperate to return to the England national setup ahead of next year’s World Cup.

The Gunners forward bagged 19 goals during the previous campaign, but despite this, he did not look in the best of form. Walcott started the season as one of the first names on the team sheet, but he soon found himself falling down the pecking order with the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexis Sanchez taking up the wider positions.

England defeated Venezuela 1-0 to win the Under-20 World Cup against all odds.

It is the biggest achievement for the country in the international stage since the 1966 World Cup win. The youngsters all chipped efforts to make the tournament a big victory. Toffees youngster Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored a first half goal and the keeper Freddie Woodman saved a penalty in the second half to deliver the title over the South American side.

Premier League giants Manchester United have refused to share player fitness data with the England national side over fears that it could be leaked to the public, according to reports.

The national team coach Gareth Southgate has four United stars in the squad set to play a crucial World Cup qualifier against Scotland before a follow-up friendly match against France. Southgate wanted the sports science data of the players but the Red Devils refused.

Manchester United skipper Wayne Rooney has been left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad list for the World Cup qualifier against Scotland and friendly game against France. Southgate did not include Rooney in his last squad and he warned that the Three Lions skipper would not get a spot in his team unless he was playing regularly.

It did not come as a shock as Southgate eventually left out the star as Rooney was still not playing regularly. United coach Jose Mourinho used him a bit more towards the end of the Premier League season after star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic picked up an injury but Rooney failed to contribute anything meaningful in the Europa League final as Southgate had warned.

England Football Association (FA) has moved to cut dissent at grassroots level by asking the lower leagues to try sin bins from next season.

In a bid to help out officiating and the game officials, the FA wrote to organizers at County League level – those six tiers below the National League – to allow a temporary 10-minute dismissal for dissent with the hope that it would reflect on player behaviour.

Gareth Southgate has reiterated that he will not be picking players just for the sake of giving them appearances.

He says that the England national team cap will be provided only for those who are extremely serious about it. The new England manager was responding to questions about the absence of Wilfried Zaha from the national team. The Crystal Palace winger has chosen to play for Ivory Coast despite having appeared for England in a few friendly matches during the 2012-13 seasons. He recently made his competitive debut for Ivory Coast in 2017 and has gone on to make seven appearances for the national team.

Burnley forward Andre Gray says that he is only concentrating on working hard and not thinking about the England call-up.

The Burnley striker has been in excellent form this season. At 25 years of age, he has managed to get ahead in front of Wayne Rooney as one of the possible regular players for the England setup. It is because he has impressed manager Gareth Southgate with his consistency. In the 22 league matches, he has scored eight goals and created two assists. His form has been a major factor behind Burnley managing to comfortably award relegation so far this season.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes that England manager Gareth Southgate should consider building the England team around midfielders Ross Barkley and Dele Alli.

These are some of the young blood introduced to the national team fold by former boss Roy Hodgson. Southgate will clearly consider these players as amongst the first names in the squad, as they have been quite impressive in the last few months. Dele Alli, especially, has been one of the best players in the Premier league this season. As England enter into a new era, Carragher says that Southgate should consider building the team around these two players in order to benefit for the long term.

Gareth Southgate has confirmed that he will not be picking players for the England national team only based on reputation.

After being a recently appointed as the permanent manager, Southgate has an opportunity to make crucial changes in several areas of the pitch. Over the next few years, the direction of the England team will be determined by the former Middlesbrough manager. One of the common mistakes made by his predecessor was to select players based on reputation. It was especially rampant during the Sven Goran Eriksson era, and to a certain extent during the Fabio Capello days.