Despite only being three episodes in, we’ve made no secret of our love of Nike’ England Matters’ series, which takes match highlights, training footage and behind-the-scenes video of the England team during key matches and teams them with interviews from the players themselves.
In the past, Nike have looked to bring the spotlight onto the younger stars in the England line-up, with Wilshire, Sturridge and Welbeck all given their chance to discuss the attitude in the England camp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ2SWPpK8MM
This time out, however, Nike have turned to three of the England camp’s old hands in the form of Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and Theo Walcott. The theme is very much the melding of old and new that is happening at St. George’s Park at the moment, and the gamble of attempting to do that as England looked to secure their place in the 2014 World Cup.
The last two episodes have focused much on the tense World Cup qualifiers, and one of the most interesting aspects of the video was how the players in the camp shared the same ‘crunch time’ mentality as the fans – knowing England should be at the World Cup, but it was by no means a given.
However, unbeaten in their campaign, England faced deciding matches in Ukraine and home matches against a stubborn Montenegro side and a Polish side packed with talent and came out on top, meaning this episode can concentrate on reliving the drama of those two home games, and the thoughts of those three key players heading into the World Cup.
It’s also to see Andros Townsend in focus so much; a Nike athlete for a good while now, perhaps this hints that Nike are looking to make the Spurs man a real feature of their World Cup campaign should his sparkling form continue.
Nike’s England s**ks, think those who watched the games against Germany.