Quite, his breakout year while still at Everton.
After that he shone in qualifying mid season games and amassed his goal tally especially against small nations and grabbing the ball to take penalties. However, he never properly turned up again in the summer tournaments where it really counted. It was wholly clear that he was a club over country man and seemed to play the tournaments with half his attention on the holiday he was missing. Perhaps he would have displayed more enthusiasm had he elected to play for Eire?
I recall one particularly annoying moment when we were playing Italy in the Euros and Pirlo had the ball around the halfway line. Several times. He was able to really take his time, search out the pass and execute it without any pressing at all from the forward player tasked with the job...
Spud head just stood and watched from a safe distance. He could not be bothered. I mean, if you are going to gift a player the freedom of the pitch, the last one you would choose would be Pirlo!
And who was captain for that Iceland game? The very next day he was photographed smiling on his yacht.
That said, I may have gone overboard in criticizing England team selection. Love him or hate him, Southgate marked a move towards selection through merit rather than size of club. I attended so many games in summer tournaments in boozy pubs over so many years with successive England teams selected on players with European football experience (with often better players from smaller clubs having to watch from the sidelines or on the telly like the rest of us). The innate disappointment and shattered hope still weighs me down. I am bitter!
And as clear evidence of selecting on merit, Southgate dropped Rooney. Thereafter (and I say partly down to that), our country's fortunes rose. For that I will be eternally grateful to him.
Veneto
England
Scotland
