If England do not beat Panama and Tunisia, we should start again, says Danny Murphy
Tuesday 5 December 2017 11:11, UK
England will have no excuses should they fail to qualify from their group at next summer's World Cup after Friday's draw, former international Danny Murphy told The Debate.
Gareth Southgate's side were paired alongside Belgium, Tunisia and Panama in Friday's draw in Moscow, with England playing the North Africans in their first Group G contest on June 18.
Murphy, who was capped nine times by his country between 2001 and 2003, says there should be no reason why England will not make it through to the knockout phase at Russia 2018.
"There is less [expectancy] because of the youthful look to the squad, a lot of our players are new to this," Murphy told The Debate.
"Yes, a couple of them had a taste of it at the last tournament, but many of them will not feel that weight and burden that a lot of the players have carried over a good few tournaments over the years. So that is one good thing.
"There is good competition for places - people have been talking about the strength of the squad not being good, but the recent performances of the likes of Rubens Loftus-Cheek, Harry Winks, who has been sensational… They are pushing the likes of Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson.
"And I think Gareth now has a few players pushing for places, which is good in a World Cup year. So I am quite positive and I think it is a good group."
England will take on the top-ranked nation in their group, Belgium, in their final match on June 28, a schedule that should also favour Southgate's team, says Murphy.
"The Belgium game could be good preparation if we do go through - keeping Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne will be fun," he said.
"But at least it prepares us if we are going through for playing some of the good sides further down the line. But if we do not beat Panama and Tunisia, we should start again!"
Former Republic of Ireland and Newcastle United goalkeeper Shay Given agrees that England have been handed a more than favourable draw.
"Gareth will be telling the lads, 'We need to be super professional going into them two games,' he said.
"But even the draw today will be exciting for the fans. The draw has been made and they can see the teams they are up against, where the games are situated and they have to travel to.
"But for me, Tunisia first then Panama are two perfect starts. It gets some of the younger lads, who may not have played in a major tournament before, into the tournament nice and gets them a run into the Belgium game.
"Belgium will be favourites even to win the World Cup, but it is the perfect game to see how good this English team is."
