Kamara: Switzerland game now a ‘must-win’ for England

Pressure is mounting on Roy’s boys ahead of Switzerland clash

There is now massive, massive pressure on England boss Roy Hodgson and his side.

Naturally, there’s lots of doom and gloom because of that performance against Norway in midweek.

On the back of what happened at the World Cup and then to play like that is disappointing.

Everybody was hoping that the changes Roy made in bringing in the young lads would result in an improvement in performances but sadly we didn’t see any.

And now it’s just added extra pressure to the Euro 2016 qualifier on Monday when we face Switzerland.

It’s now become a ‘must-win’ game for loads of different reasons and not just because it impacts upon Roy.

The public’s opinion of the England team and the feelings of the players themselves will all be affected by the result.

In some regards it’s unthinkable that we could start the qualifying campaign with a defeat but if you look at the two teams’ performances at the World Cup you’d have to say the Swiss are favourites.

We can’t make judgements before it’s happened but he’s added more pressure to himself. His reaction after Norway shows he’s feeling the pressure. He took exception to people saying it wasn’t a good game, he believed it was.

For this moment in time let’s get behind him and be positive and have no doom and gloom, especially from this column!

There will be no calls for his resignation if he wins. We still might lose but we might perform better which people would be reasonably happy with.

Wayne Rooney isn’t ‘undroppable’ despite the fact he’s now captain

Wayne Rooney wasn’t the only poor performer. People are looking at him because it’s his first game as captain and asking whether we’d see massive improvement in his performance because he’s been given the armband.

The first game didn’t prove to give him a spur but the rest of the team were poor as well.

I wouldn’t say he’s undroppable but who would you put in to replace him?

We look short of experience and he’s ranked fourth in England’s record scorer’s list.

Appointing Chris Powell was the right decision by Huddersfield

I’m absolutely delighted for Chris Powell.

He deserves another chance, he was very unlucky to lose his job at Charlton.

He was well loved at The Valley and he felt he would have kept them up. The performances were not bad but they made their decision and it’s good to see Huddersfield giving him another opportunity so quickly.

It’s not an easy job mind. The Championship is such an unpredictable league.

Huddersfield have no God given right to win promotion to the Premier League but that is the ultimate aim and Chris will give it his best and make a real go of it.

To suggest that Chris’s skin colour came into Huddersfield’s consideration during the recruitment process would be an insult to the club.

They are just thinking they’ve got the best man for the job irrespective of his colour.

There is a wider issue surrounding a lack of black managers in English football and that needs to be addressed but Huddersfield  have got  a good manager and they don’t care if he’s red, purple or pink!

People are always saying black managers don’t get second chances and that they have to do well straight away but this appointment levels the playing field slightly.

There would have been hundreds of people – and there are some very good out of work managers – trying to land that job. Huddersfield didn’t rush though and they got the right man for the role.

It won’t be easy to get into the Premier League but I wish Chris the best of luck and long may his reign continue.

There will always be an issue with a lack of black managers as you’re never going to change everyone’s opinion. You just hope you can change the opinion of most people.

Times are moving on though and this is another example. It is good for black people who are ambitious in the game to see that Chris has got another opportunity. It shows them that they can do it.

Kammy’s quickfire Premier League round-up

Swansea for the top 6?

Swansea have made a fantastic start to the campaign under Garry Monk, who will probably be named Premier League Manager of the Month when it’s announced next week!

He’s had the perfect start but obviously it’s early days and Garry will not be getting carried away.

We’ve seen teams start like this in the past only for them to get relegated. The Hull City side of a few years ago comes to mind in that regard.

But Swansea look like the best of the rest at the moment but that’s not to say things can’t change.

Push for the title not just a two-horse race

It’s certainly not just a straight fight for the title between Chelsea and Man City.

Liverpool showed against Spurs and in 40 minutes against City that they can be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Arsenal will be there or thereabouts this season and Arsene Wenger will now be hoping all his new signings settle in well.

If Wenger’s squad gels quickly I can see them being right in the mix. With that in mind it’s going to be as good a title race as it was last year but Chelsea are rightly favourites.

It’s now all down to Louis van Gaal to turn things around at Man United

Things have got to improve for Louis van Gaal and Manchester United from here.

The club have spent more money than any team this summer and Van Gaal has spent almost as much money in a few weeks than Sir Alex did in his 26 years at Old Trafford.

In attack they look absolutely blessed with resources and will be a hard side to stop scoring.  But the problem is still at the back. Is Manchester United’s defence strong enough?

The one thing the manager prides himself on is organising his defences so it’s a work in progress at the moment.

It’s still early days and there is still a lot of talk about last year.

That talk was not there after the excellent pre-season results but I warned, in this column, pre-season counts for very little when the real action gets under way.

Manchester United certainly have to push on and get results now.

Van Gaal has gone out and got the players he wanted during the transfer window. I haven’t heard of him missing out on any targets. Now it’s all down to the manager.

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