BY GEORGE ALUO, WITH AGENCY REPORT

INCOMING Bayern Munich boss, Carlo Ancelotti says he sees England breaking her over five decades trophy jinx this month at the Euro 2016 cham­pionship.

The veteran Italian tacti­cian was however quick in warning that any country that wants to leave France with the trophy must be prepared to play Leicester brand of football which involves a lot of counter attacks.

Ancelotti told The Telegraph that adopting a counter-attack­ing style is the best way for any country to win Euro 2016, highlighting Leicester City and Atletico Madrid as examples of teams that have achieved suc­cess without playing posses­sion football.

Leicester upset the odds to win the Premier League this season, while Atleti overcame favourites Barcelona and Bay­ern Munich to reach the Cham­pions League final, where they were beaten by city rivals Real Madrid.

Spain head to France as the two-time defending European champions, successes they achieved with their famous possession-based style.

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But Ancelotti believes Euro 2016 will see a different ap­proach flourish.

“When I look back over the league seasons in the biggest football countries in Europe, and then ahead to the tourna­ment in France over the next six weeks, I believe that Euro 2016 could be a tournament suited to one style above all. This could be the tournament of counter-attacking football,” Ancelotti told The Telegraph.

“Just look at how Leicester City have won the Premier League this season by counter-attacking against teams with pace and aggression. The same could be said of Atletico Ma­drid, who reached the final of the Champions League again with that approach of allowing opposition teams to have the ball and then attacking them quickly when possession was turned over.”

On England, Ancelotti said Roy Hodgson’s men could end their 50-year wait for a major trophy.

“In the England team, for instance, Hodgson has Jamie Vardy, a player who has been stretching defences all season and doing it very well. I like Vardy and given the right cir­cumstances I believe he could cause some big problems to op­position teams on the counter-attack. Harry Kane is able to play this way as well. England have many quick forward play­ers to counter-attack teams, although any side that wants to play that way has to be confident in its defence holding strong because there will be times when the opposition has a lot of the possession.

“I know there are concerns in England about the qual­ity of the defence but when I look at Roy Hodgson’s squad I see a lot of very good young players – Kane, Dele Alli, Ross Barkley and then, new to international football, Vardy. Kyle Walker is a player I rate too. The challenge for Roy is to build a team out of these pieces.

“England could be a surprise success in this tournament if they adopt a winning mental­ity and pick their best team. To do that they need a positive attitude and to understand they have good players.”