Things I am wrong about

As we head into the second semi-final, I wanted to share a few things that clearly I've been wrong about. This thought pattern emerged as I picked up a pack of Giant Wotsits from my local supermarket shelf (along with an 8-pack Brewdog selection case). As I did so, I immediately knew my assertion that "Wotsits are the best crisps known to humankind" was wrong. These big boys are incredible! In set the self doubt - the world around me clearly wasn't as it seemed and I wondered else I'd been wrong about. Turns out that is a rabbit-hole that could take some time to climb out of - but let's stick to tournament related things.

1) That Spain would beat Italy. I was convinced that Spain's fast passing and ball retention would overwhelm the spirited Italians and ultimately England also. But not to be. What a goal from Chiesa, what a bear hug from Chiellini, and what a final penalty from Insigne.

2) That individuals always shine in tournaments, often more than teams. During my argumentative-grump-phase about Grealish's omission (now over) - I cited that other teams with exceptional raw talents always play them, and always reap the benefits. Whilst the first part might be true, the latter part clearly isn't a given. It is probably no coincidence that the four semi-finalists were the four teams most coherent as teams. Belgium boasted De Bruyne, Portugal boasted Ronaldo, and Poland have always had Lewandowski but despite having solid line-ups didn't gel quite like the final four have. 

3) That Sterling shouldn't have been selected at all. What a tournament he has had. I'm not a huge fan of his; I am frustrated at his lack of natural finishing (I watched Julian Joachim back in the day, and think if he was plonked in the current Man City team that he'd probably perform just as well if not better), and I find interviews with him to be very grating, there's very little humility, albeit in the face of unfair criticism. But he has grown into the tournament perfectly and clearly has the bit between his teeth. 

4) That Southgate has too little ambition. I've slowly learned that his team selections and methods are driven almost entirely by ambition. It is executed in a different way to the way I would do it - but it is a consistent, steely, resoluteness that is actually admirable. He has slowly but surely reduced my grump. Even in the selection of Mason Mount, which on the face of it is like eating an Asda own generic biscuit when you could be munching down on that dark chocolate McVities digestive [Grealish] instead. But he does an effective job and when it works it becomes hard to argue with the mentality behind the decision making. 

Now there's a tonne more of things that I've been wrong about this tournament, but I need to get this posted so it has an hour of being relevant before kick-off. Then I need to lay into that 8-pack and hide the rest of the giant Wotsits from myself. 

One more thing I'll put out there to be instantly wrong about. Grealish starts tonight. The Southgate hug at the end of the Ukraine game was a "now it is your time" hug. And he's bringing it home!

Come on England