England fearful ahead of Euro 2016 Battle of Britain after Wales’ win against Slovakia
Three Lions must go toe-to-toe with Dragons in tunnel pre-match and possibly spit a few insults Gareth Bale's way
Don’t worry, Roy, be happy.
England’s boss is on the back foot before a ball has even been kicked at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
Stressed Roy. Touchy Roy. Edgy Roy. Group B does not look good, Roy.
One Wales win, an historic win in Bordeaux last Saturday, and they have got England right where they want them.
What happened to England’s big-match mentality, the one that says they will go toe-to-toe in the tunnel and spit a few insults in Gareth Bale’s direction?
We could have spent the night here and we would still be searching for it.
There is so much fear around the Three Lions camp at the minute that you can feel it, smell it, touch it.
It is all well and good for psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters to go round telling every England player to be relaxed and to rise above the provocation.
Sorry, Steve, but this is the time for England to get in the faces of these lippy Wales players and scrub them clean.
Wales have won the PR battle hands down after Bale and his boyos accused England of getting ahead of themselves.
They never did — how could they? But they still allowed their naughty brothers to trample all over them.
Dear old Roy has to do something about it. Starting this afternoon.
He said: “Action on the field is action on the field. Talk is talk.”
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So let’s walk the walk, Roy.
There is a spring in Chris Coleman’s step, a real zeal about him after reinventing himself as a proper football coach instead of an ex-player who likes a few pints.
Coleman, impressive and charismatic, is loving this.
He said: “We knew there’d be a circus around England and we’d rather not have played them because of that.
“They are an obstacle in our way. All the talk — blah, blah, blah — doesn’t concern me, but we can’t be afraid to give our opinion.”
England are. All week players have been queuing up to trot out the same thing before playing a country ranked 48 places below them by Uefa.
“Taking care of business” is how Coleman talked about this Battle of Britain clash when he stepped off Wales’ team bus in Lens.
They are a win away, a Bale missile away, from reaching the last 16.
It is already turning into a remarkable story.
England have a plan for Bale because they trialled it by getting Ross Barkley to mimic him by running full pelt at their suspect defence in training.
It is a nice idea, but Bale shifts through the gears quicker than any England player.
Coleman noted: “You can work on things as much as you like, but it might not work. Great players find a way.
“I’m not sure Roy will have a special plan for Balo, if I’m honest with you.”
If only Hodgson would talk with this conviction from time to time then the football world would be a much better place.
England cannot ignore a player of Bale’s quality and stature because we are talking about a guy who has just won his second European Cup.
But Hodgson and his players must, to borrow Coleman’s phrase, take care of business.
England’s head coach added: “Bale is a fantastic player, but Wales have a lot of good players in their team.
“It’s not England v Bale, it’s England v Wales. We have to stop a lot of their players.”
England need a threat of their own, with lone striker Harry Kane in need of some help against Coleman’s three-man defence. Kane looked sluggish against Russia.
Hodgson added: “Every time we go into a tournament we discuss how our players perform after a long Premier League season — is there enough juice in their legs?
“I haven’t had any severe doubts about that.
“Players will be analysed, scrutinised and some will get tremendous pats on the back.”
Hodgson sorely needs his players to earn one of those pats because they have deliberately allowed Wales to jabber away all week about just how patriotic they are.
Coleman is playing on it, and every Englishman must be sick of him flashing that winning smile about the place.
Now it is Hodgson’s job to wipe it off his face.