Sporting Events- I must see

Every year when I watch the Cheltenham Festival, I always say to myself I must actually go next year, but here we are 40+ years in and I haven't achieved it yet, this then got me thinking whatever sports events should be on my "Bucket List".

Masters at Augusta

Is there a better course in the world?

Everything about the golf tournament is perfect, the golf course is pristine, the back nine especially you feel you know every hole inside out, and the fact you are guaranteed to see the current best players in the world in addition to the roll of honour of former Masters champions. I even like the formality of the event and the feeling that the golf club would really prefer no members of the public on the course.
My 3 favourite Masters memories are watching Sandy Lyle win  on a portable black and white TV in the early hours and on the same telly watching Larry Mize chip in to win a playoff.
The best was Greg Norman completely falling apart and letting Nick Faldo go past him, always good to see an Australian sporting defeat!

Mens 100m Olympic Final

Bolt Wins in London

The race has been tainted with both drug cheats winning it and "reformed" characters allowed to run in it, however for pure drama nothing beats it, so much build up and expectation then over in less than 10 seconds. The 100m is the blue riband event and Usain Bolt is the only current athlete I would pay money to watch.

Cheltenham Gold Cup

Don Cossack crosses the line

To watch this race would be fantastic, i have seen most of the flat classics, but with National Hunt racing the back stories and the build up to the races are more intense as you can build up favourites over a few years, through hurdling, novice chasing and then into the elite. I have never had much luck in this race but my interest race was started by both Michael Dickinson having the first 5 home and rushing home from school to see The Thinker win in the snow.

There are a couple of events that I would love to see but the circumstances would need to be right, the world cup final would be a must see if England were playing, if not it doesn't have the same appeal.

The other is a World Snooker Final, but it would need to be a close game along the lines of the 1985 black ball final, with ideally Jimmy White finally winning that elusive world title.

England Squad for Euros

I have given up on trying to work out what is going to happen in the Premier League so started to look ahead to the Euro's, and what the make up of the England squad will look like, the competition is wide open in my view, and England should be getting to the semi finals at least.

It is difficult to plot the progress as if England win the group as expected then they will face a third placed team, finish 2nd and it will be Austria or Portugal, very winnable but slightly trickier. Third place would mean Spain or Germany and if they are playing that badly they would stand no chance against either.

So who are the men that Roy will take to France

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart and Jack Butland are certainties for selection, and Fraser Forster recent form should book him in as the Number 3, this could be Hart's last tournament as undisputed number 1, Butland and Forster are still getting better and will pass him shortly.

Full Backs

England have a number of average players in the full back position, with the injury to Luke Shaw robbing Hodgson of the one potential high class player in this position.

At right back Nathaniel Clyne is in possession and his deputy last time was Kyle Walker, both are far better going forward than defending and neither are comfortable ball players, there may be an option to play John Stones in this position. The wild card could be Kieran Trippier who is regularly rotated with Walker, but I rate him as a better player.

Left back is even weaker, Leighton Baines has been injured all season, Kieran Gibbs cant get into the Arsenal team ahead of Monreal, so this leaves Ryan Bertrand and Danny Rose as the best bets, a similar profile to the right backs with very attacking instincts, lets hope England can find a good defensive midfielder to cover the full backs.

Centre Backs

Worry here is that the three strong choices of Smalling, Stones & Cahill have had poor mid season through form and injury, but they have all played well for England and can be trusted at this level, the fourth spot would for me go to Eric Dier his versatility is key and he would be very close for selection anyway as the holding midfielder. Phil Jagelkia is the other option, but he is one dimensional and I don't see him as an international player anymore.
 
Midfielders

The two form players here are Ross Barkley and Dele Ali, and they have to be selected with the future in mind if nothing else, Ross Barkley should be the first name on the team sheet and the team built around him.

The two dependable's  for the midfield are the Liverpool pair Jordan Henderson and James Milner both are playing well enough to be selected, how much game time they get will depend on how bold selection is.

Working on the assumption that there will be 6 forward players selected that leaves 2 spots, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can be discounted through injury, which leaves quite a few fighting out.

Adam Lallana has shown signs lately he has rediscovered some of his Southampton form and Aaron Lennon has now added goals to his pacy approach play. Fabian Delph has been in and out of the City side and with ultra sensitive referreing looks like a walking booking.

I have always like Michael Carrick but it is difficult to see how he would get any real opportunity to play, his United colleague Lingard was brought into the squad far to early and has not really done enough to be selected.

The January move for Jon Jo Selvey may have been a mistake for his long term career, and he has displayed a good range of passing, but like Delph he gives fouls and picks up easy bookings

Could West Ham provide two surprise picks, how Mark Noble has never made a squad is beyond me, the other player in a rich vein of form is Michail Antonio, who could also play right back.

Strikers

Plenty of options here and with the following six there are plenty of formation options that they provide.

I would go for the following:

Wayne Rooney
Harry Kane
Daniel Sturridge
Jamie Vardy
Raheem Sterling
Danny Welbeck

I don't see Sturridge as an injury risk a squad of 23 players for a maximum of 7 games, is more than sufficient to carry one or two players as a risk.

Vardy will make an excellent sub, running down defences and effectively defending from the front in the final 20 minutes.

The other possible contender is Theo Walcott, however his performances recently have been woeful, and he should be pushed out by the bright form of Welbeck who has been impressive since returning from injury.

There have been some misguided fools calling for Marcus Rashford to be included, but this makes no sense when there is plenty of proven players to call upon.





So the real decisions need to be made in the midfield selection, and hope that key players stay fit and in form.

For me the starting line up would look something like this