Larry Ryan: Could rebirth of the screamer save humbled England?
TOP CORNER: Georgia ’keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is beaten by a long-range effort from Turkey’s Arda Guler in their Euro 2024 clash in Dortmund. Just as the screamer returns, will we now be condemned to a lost generation of hopeful scuffed efforts? Picture: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty
Two key themes emerged in the opening week of the Euros. The return of the screamer. And England being terrible. The job now is to investigate if these two trends are somehow related.
Many of you will remember a time when every good goal was a screamer. You might rent a 501 Great Goals VHS (Ask Paul Rouse, kids, he’s the history prof) and find about 460 of them to be screamers, thumped in from long distance by everyone from John Harkes to Jeremy Goss. The rest would be any old middling goal the producer could find to fill up the quota and go home.
Unlimited access. Half the price.
