Former England U21 man makes 'rocket science' verdict amid Leeds United World Cup showdown

Leeds United have three players at the Qatar World Cup, four if you include Dan James, and that's definitely good from a club cache point of view.

Leeds used to be stacked to the rafters with internationals. Then, as we all know, there was a very fallow period of which I was a part of.

A, there were no international players because we were in League One and b) we didn't have enough players to qualify for those other types of teams like Denmark and the USA.

The fact that Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams are in Qatar with the USA and Rasmus Kristensen is there with Denmark reflects on what Leeds are steadily building back into I think which is great.

And the remainder of the lads that are still here can now enjoy this.

We have found ourselves with a lot of unprecedented time in recent seasons.

It seems to have been the buzzword across everything really and here is another one with regards to having a break and such a lengthy break at this time of year which, unless you are injured, is something I’ve never experienced.

I'm intrigued to see how the players deal with it and I hope they use the time wisely to be able to reconnect with family and friends, maybe enjoy a bit of the World Cup and fundamentally keep their eye on, literally, the ball when they get back but also their eye on the ball of what is going to be expected.

It's been a hectic opening portion to the season but once they get back it will be hectic from here on in and there's no complaints.

Everyone is in the same boat and there can be none of this complaining that there are too many games.

The players will have to come back, hit the ground running and maybe have a season ending more like the season before last where it was a nice canter towards the finish and enjoying it rather than a case of 'oh my God, the nerves are going because it looks like we are going to go down.'

England obviously have to play the USA which will mean coming up against Aaronson and Adams and it will be good.

Having seen the Premier League up close and personal, I am sure that Brenden and Tyler will be absolutely relishing the chance to represent their country in a meaningful game such as this and I think all three group stage opponents for England are going to be tough for all different purposes.

There will be no love lost, even though there are a lot of mutual connections with obviously the USA game and even more with the Wales game.

I did the England v Wales game in the Euros back in 2016. It was a cracking atmosphere and I am hoping for more of the same.I will be intrigued to see how many are out there and what kind of partisan crowd is created by virtue of the fact that it is miles away and probably costs a fortune.England are favourites in that group, undoubtedly, because of the players that they have got.

But you might just get Wales and the USA being able to operate with a freedom of expectation, which means that England will find those games tough.

Overall, I think England have got a decent chance but I think there are stronger teams there. I don't think that is rocket science.

As ever, there will be a huge weight of expectation and the manager's every move will be poured over and disassembled. as is the case with major tournaments and our national team.

From a footballing perspective, the World Cup is always something to get excited about.

But whilst I am not for one second trying to virtue signal, I think I along with people still look at this firstly with what time of year this is and secondly, where it is and what that entails.

It's something beyond what football is but as ever football shines such a huge light on so many things that it gets used as a way of flagging that up. I hope it does.

If people think they can go over there and use this platform to get people to look at things in a certain way then great although I think it's certainly a tournament, a geographical situation and a political situation which has left many people feeling more than a little uneasy.