Steven Gerrard is another player who can take this tournament and build on it for the future. He is unlikely to figure a great deal in the next month. So that leaves the forwards. In my opinion, yes. His international pedigree is superb and while I agree it is wrong for a player to be in the side purely on this basis, Shearer has the class to go with it and is still a force.
People are all too ready to jump on the back of someone who is the national captain.
I thing he will leave the England set up with a series of fine performances during Euro 2000. A tally of 34 goals last season as a Premiership player in a side which hardly set the League on fire is quality. We also cannot go into Euro 2000 with an inexperienced strikeforce. Shearer is the only striker who has played properly in a number of top tournaments. Okay, Michael Owen set the world on fire at France 98, but he's still on his way back from injury.