WHEN news emerged last week that Wayne Rooney was facing a lengthy injury lay-off that would disrupt his preparations for this summer’s European Championships, it was like the ghost of tournaments past had walked into the room.

We’ve been here before – countless times in fact – with Rooney’s futile battles against injury, suspension and untimely lapses in form repeatedly providing the backdrop to a familiar tale of failure.

The fear, with less than four months to go until the start of this year’s finals in France, is that we’re about to go through the same thing again. The tragedy, if that was to happen, if that for once, it doesn’t have to be that way.

As he ponders his squad for Euro 2016, Roy Hodgson has a rare opportunity to take a bold step into the unknown, with a new generation of players who have been tearing up the top end of the Premier League.

If he was being bold, the England boss could select John Stones at centre-half, Eric Dier as a holding midfielder, Ross Barkley and Dele Alli as his main attacking-midfield options and a combination of Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane in attack.

The Northern Echo:

A risk? Unquestionably. The six players in question boast 44 senior caps between them, and while there are five friendlies scheduled before England play their opening game of Euro 2016 against Russia, the opportunity to develop an understanding between a new core of players is severely limited.

Yet what is the alternative? The other approach would be to err on the side of caution and fall back on the perceived security of sticking with the players who have featured in the majority of matches during the last two or three tournament cycles.

That would mean fretting about Rooney’s fitness and retaining him in the ‘number ten’ role, even if that meant having to shuffle around the rest of the midfield and attack in order to accommodate a player who has been desperately out of form for the majority of the season.

It would mean watching Jack Wilshere play a couple of games for Arsenal at the end of the season, proclaiming him the linchpin of the England midfield and throwing him straight into the starting line-up even though, as things stand, he hasn’t played a single game this term.

And it would also result in praise for Daniel Sturridge if he scores on one of his sporadic appearances for Liverpool and a guarantee of  place in the squad, even though that might mean one of Vardy or Kane having to miss out or make do with a place at the end of the substitutes’ bench.

If Hodgson really wants to be regressive, he could go the whole hog and select the likes of Michael Carrick, James Milner and Jordan Henderson. They haven’t been good enough in a host of previous appearances in an England shirt, but hey, at least you know what you’re going to get from them.

This could be one of the most exciting summers in ages, or it could be yet another opportunity missed as a safety-first approach proves costly. Ultimately, Hodgson will decide, and for all that the England boss deserves considerable credit for his remodelling of the squad so far and his 100 per cent record in qualifying, his inherent conservatism has to be a concern.

Does the 68-year-old strike you as someone who will throw caution to the wind and pin his hopes on an unproven bunch of youngsters? His career so far suggests that is unlikely, although the make-up of the last few squads at least suggests Hodgson is willing to seriously consider the credentials of England’s emerging talent.

He might well identify a middle way – perhaps retaining Rooney in the side but still finding a place for Alli or Vardy in a wider position and Kane up front – but given that he is unlikely to preside over many more tournaments, even if things go well this summer, this is surely the time to be bold.

If nothing else, at least it means we won’t have to spend the next two months fretting about an injured knee.

 

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THERE’S not a lot I can add to the long list of tributes that have been paid to BBC Tees presenter Alastair Brownlee, who brought Middlesbrough to a standstill as his funeral took place yesterday, other than to say that everything you have read and heard in the last week is true.

He was a superb broadcaster and a passionate ambassador for Teesside, but above all else, he was a thoroughly likeable bloke who leaves a gaping hole within the North-East press pack.

The Northern Echo:

I remember my first meeting with him after I joined the Northern Echo more than a decade ago. “Ah, you must be the new lad from the Echo,” boomed a voice from the back of the Riverside press room. “I’m Ali, welcome to the Boro.”

Middlesbrough moved their press conference to 9am yesterday morning in order for senior club officials to attend the funeral. Ali would have been pleased. “It’s my funeral later today, but before all that, let’s get down to the serious business and hear what Aitor Karanka has to say about the need for a positive result at Fulham.”

They well and truly broke the mould when they made Ali.

 

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It’s Sunderland’s trip to West Ham for me tomorrow, and the last ever visit from a North-East team to Upton Park.

From the start of next season, the Hammers will be playing in the swanky surrounds of the Olympic Stadium, and like Roker Park, Ayresome Park and Feethams, Upton Park will be consigned to the footballing history books.

It’s not a ground that’s everyone’s cup of tea with Upton Park tube station notoriously over-crowded and a rough old walk taking you from the exit barriers to the Boleyn Ground.

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But it’s nice to walk to a ground flanked by traditional pie-and-eel shops rather than the identikit food stalls that are alongside most new stadia, and it’s nice to watch football in a ground where the likes of Bobby Moore and Trevor Brooking once plied their trade.

Football moves on, but every time a ground like Upton Park disappears, it’s hard not to feel that a bit of the game’s soul disappears with it.