Roy Hodgson says that he is remaining confident about the fitness of midfielder Michael Carrick ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifying match against Estonia. The England national team can complete a miraculous turnaround following a disappointing World Cup if they reach the Euro 2016 with several games to spare. England have won all of their qualification matches so far and are now seen as strong favourites for the title.
Between 1993/94 and 1998/99, at the peak of Manchester United’s powers under Sir Alex Ferguson, the Red Devils graced the FA Cup final four times in the space of six years – claiming three successes.
Since then, in the 16 years that have followed, United have trodden that path just three times.
They have come unstuck on two of those occasions, with their last success coming in 2004 – away from Wembley as they proved far too strong for then-Championship outfit Millwall at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill claims that his England counterpart Roy Hodgson is putting unfair pressure on Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish over choosing to play for England rather than Ireland.
Grealish is seen as yet another hot prospect in British football, but he is eligible to play for either England or Ireland. So far, he has featured in all of the games at youth level for the Ireland team. Naturally, his senior call-up should also be with the Ireland senior team, but Fifa rules allow the player to switch between nationalities at the time of being called up for the senior squad.
Patrick Viera, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Tony Adams and Pat Jennings are just a few of the players that are mentioned whenever people start talking and debating about which player has been the best one who has worn an Arsenal jersey.
Thierry Henry is generally considered to be the best one as the retired Frenchman helped Arsenal on winning big pieces of silverware by making a total of 254 appearances and scoring 174 goals during his playing career with the Premier League club.
However, according to the former Arsenal player Paul Merson, considers Dennis Bergkamp to be the greatest player to have performed for Arsenal.
Why Wayne Rooney can fire Manchester United to the Premier League title this season
Wayne Rooney is one of the best strikers to feature in the Premier League and will lead the line for Louis van Gaal's side this campaign. The Red Devils, who lifted the title back in 2013, finished fourth last term and will be aiming to finish at the top of the division for the 20th time in their illustrious history.
Rooney, who is United's captain, could play a key role in their success this season. He will be looking to emulate his individual performances from the 2009-10 and 2011-12 seasons when the England international scored 26 and 27 league goals respectively.
Back in 2012/13, Sir Alex Ferguson’s final Champions League campaign at the helm of Manchester United was brought to an abrupt halt by Real Madrid at the round of 16.
The man to deliver the knockout blow was one Cristiano Ronaldo, with a former Old Trafford favourite returning to his old stomping ground to dash the dreams of those who once idolised him.
A similar story could be about to unfold in 2015/16.
We are not talking about club icons here, but United will be all too aware that familiar faces could come back to haunt them on European football’s grandest stage.
The England senior team may benefit from Manchester United defender Luke Shaw being left out of the England under 21 team for the upcoming European championships.
Harry Kane appears to have confirmed his breakthrough into the England senior team after featuring in back-to-back matches towards the end of March.
Roy Hodgson says that the quality of strikers available at his disposal has improved substantially from the time when he took over from Fabio Capello in 2012. Back then, England have only a limited choice when it came to top-class strikers.
We are just short of 18 months away from the next major international tournament which means lots of European countries are in the process of transition.