The England squad will meet up this month as they prepare to face Scotland in the qualifiers for next summer’s World Cup in Russia, however, Three Lions captain Wayne Rooney has been left out once again.
With Rooney’s time in the international setup seemingly coming to an end it seems fitting to look back to the start and the tournament at which he exploded onto the international scene, Euro 2004.
The now Manchester United captain was, despite being injured in the quarter-finals where England were knocked out on penalties, named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament having bagged four goals in three group stage games.
There has not been such a stand out tournament performance in an England shirt since Rooney at Euro 2004, however, could we be treated to one in Russia next year?
Tottenham duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli have been outstanding for Mauricio Pochettino’s side and, with Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate seemingly happy to experiment and afford more creative freedom to those further forward with a back three, now have the chance to replicate that with the national side.
And Tottenham hero Gary Lineker feels that they could well go on to do it.
“Who knows? You need a bit of luck to peak in a major tournament at the right time,” Lineker, BT Sport’s UEFA Champions League host told Shoot!
“It happened to me at a couple of World Cups and at a couple of Euros it didn’t so sometimes things come together and you get a bit of luck, a bit of confidence.
“The one thing they [Kane and Alli] have got is the ability and quality to do it so they should have that self-belief and I’m sure they can make it happen, they appear really confident and not afraid of anything.”
The former England striker, who scored 48 goals in a Three Lions shirt, also thinks that the new formation trialled by Southgate could be ideal for the current squad.
“I like it I think It will suit us if we go that way,” he said.
“It’s funny how the game goes around like that, like fashion everything comes back in at some point, and I think it’s a system that would suit us, it frees us up a little bit and I thought that when we did it in 1990.
“It was like someone took the shackles off us tactically and, all of a sudden, we had more freedom on the pitch and I think it will be the same [with this squad].
“It will suit us with the kind of defenders we’ve got as well, you’ve got Stones, possibly Keane and Cahill who plays in it regularly. I think it will suit Stones because you can let him come out, and we’ve got great full-backs that’s for sure with bags of pace on either side.
“It will give you a bit more versatility in midfield and upfront and we’ve got the players to play like that if he [Southgate] wants to play like that.”
England face Scotland in a World Cup qualifier on 10th June before coming up against Euro 2016 finalists France in a friendly three days later.
Watch the UEFA Champions League Final, Juventus v Real Madrid, on BT Sport channels and free on YouTube, the BT website, the BT Sport app, BT Sport Showcase and in VR on Saturday 3rd June. Visit btsport.com/final for more on the ways you can watch.