When Jamie Vardy scored his wonder goal last Tuesday night against Liverpool, the cameras panned straight to the watching England manager in the stands. And, unsurprisingly, he had the look on his face of a man who knew he had just won the lottery. Without even buying a ticket.
But while I am reasonably sure the fact that he is heading to France with one of Europe’s hottest strikers in the squad is making him chirpy, there is more behind Roy Hodgson’s newfound cheery disposition.
Because the truth is that the English national team, in a surprising quirk of fate and contrary to all the prophets of doom, suddenly has an abundance of talent at its disposal.
It’s like the football stars have all aligned at exactly the right moment for a manager whose international career has been anything but inspirational so far.
Vardy is on fire and could yet turn out to be driving force behind the most unlikely champions in English football history. His first against Liverpool was sheer brilliance, his second the sign of a player at the peak of his poaching powers.
But the emergence of Vardy is just the tip of the Hodgson’s iceberg of good fortune. A wide variety of English players are either rising to the surface, confirming their excellence or starting to hit form.
At Tottenham Hotspur, Harry Kane is proving that last season was anything but a one-off, while Dele Ali has been a revelation of staggering proportions in the heart of their midfield. He may be only 19, but he made the transition from League One to Premiership with supreme ease and there is nothing to suggest he won’t be equally brilliant on the international stage.
Ross Barkley may not be a new kid on the block, but he is now showing the form that made him the most exciting talent in English football a couple of years ago. He is running the Everton midfield, scoring goals and generally turning into a player of world-class stature.
So that’s four players who, in my mind, should be starting in France. Add to them Wayne Rooney, who is getting back to his best, Raheem Sterling, who is growing as a player with every game at Manchester City, Joe Hart, who now has experience to go with his raw talent, and Chris Smalling, who is threatening to grow into a new Rio Ferdinand, and suddenly the future is brighter than it has been for decades.
Whereas a couple of years ago we were all wondering where the next proper England stars were coming from, they are popping up all over the place. The question is whether or not Hodgson has the inclination, or even the ability, to forge a bright, new, exciting England team around these players. Or will he continue his policy of trying to bore opponents to death by selecting the James Milners of this world?
The question is whether or not Hodgson has the inclination, or even the ability, to forge a bright, new, exciting England team around these players. Or will he continue his policy of trying to bore opponents to death?
In the past I would have said the chances are he will go for caution, giving the likes of Ali and Barkley half a game here and there before returning to his risk-free favourites.
But considering the resources he now has at his disposal I suspect even Hodgson will realise unleashing a fresh and exciting new England team this summer is not just an option, but a necessity.
Failing to build a team around this group of entertaining, talented footballers would be tantamount to dereliction of duty. And achieving nothing with them in the team would be unacceptable.
So while on the one hand this blossoming of talent is good news for the manager, on the other hand he knows the stakes have been raised to a whole new level.
Bottom clubs pay top dollar
The most exciting thing about the January transfer window – in fact, the only exciting thing – was watching the mad spending spree by the clubs at the bottom of the table as they try to buy their way to safety.
With the biggest television deal in history set to kick in next season, nobody wants to get relegated from the Premier League. And this incredible desperation (or greed, if you prefer) showed in their spending last month.
While the top six teams collectively forked out a rather paltry £8.7 million (€11.3m) on new players, the bottom six splashed out a considerably more impressive £93.3 million (€121.3m).
Surprisingly, the biggest spenders of all were Newcastle United, with owner Mike Ashley digging out the corporate cheque book, dusting the cobwebs away and using it to sign nearly £30 million (€39m) of new talent. (Although the spending didn’t seem to make much difference when they lost 3-0 to Everton last Wednesday).
Other relegation-haunted clubs – Sunderland, Norwich City and Bournemouth – also made significant purchases, knowing some cleverly spent cash now could bring ridiculous financial rewards next season.
In fact, the only club out of the bottom four which didn’t spend a penny were Aston Villa, the team propping everyone else up. Either they know something the rest of us don’t, or they have well and truly given up the fight despite having nearly half a season left to play.
It’s almost as if, and I know this sounds ridiculous, they actually want to relegated. If that isn’t the case and they do want to survive, they are going about it in a very strange way.
Top marks to LVG
I’m perfectly happy to dish out criticism where I think it is deserved, but let it not be said that I don’t give credit where it is due as well. And today Louis Van Gaal is due some.
Many men would have crumbled under the immense pressure that has been heaped on him over the past couple of months, but Van Gaal has stood his ground and taken the abuse on the chin.
And there were signs last week that suggest the tide may be turning for him and Manchester United.
The FA Cup game against Derby County had the potential to not only be a banana skin, but also the final nail in his Old Trafford coffin. But his team rose to the occasion and played decently.
They then followed that up with possibly their most entertaining performance of the season in the 3-0 win over Stoke City. This was a display much more like the United of old – swashbuckling, entertaining and full of attacking energy.
Whether this turnaround is down to luck remains to be seen. But I suspect Van Gaal reached the point where he knew his position was untenable and he was left with no choice but to send his players out to play with freedom.
So far it is paying off. But United have had numerous false dawns over the past few months so let’s reserve judgement for now.
sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade