Start the Car

 With Kane-like ponderance, I find myself in the height of summer realising I didn’t finish my last blog post and return weeks later to most likely hit the bar from 3 yards out…. But here goes…

The Euros feel like an age ago now, I’ve enjoyed detaching from the footie and watching pure grit and sporting endeavour at the Olympics, Chelsea have since signed 87 more players, there’s been more goals scored on Day 1 of the Championship season today than I’m likely going to see all season under Dycheball and Everton remain for sale longer than an unused Joey Biden for president flag. 

So let’s recap, with a dose of perspective earned from putting some distance between another glorious English failure and today. Sometimes the game of football is quite simple. Spain, the best team in the tournament, won the tournament. Their best player, won the player of the tournament. In winning the tournament, Spain won every game, and beat Croatia, Italy, Germany, France and England. In terms of statements at international football, they don’t get more impressive than that. And they did so by demonstrating that this crazy game is, and always will be, a team game. By far, Spain were the most fluid and cohesive team where every player knew their role and responsibilities. Even Morata.

So….England. What side of the coin to fall on. A Bellingham masterpiece bike papered over the cracks of a very flat start to the tournament and had that not happened would have resulted in torturous recriminations that honestly I think Southgate would not have deserved. Of course mistakes were made that are incredibly frustrating, the left side of the field, attacking subs only when in desperation, but at least he showed he was willing to make changes as the tournament progressed and not stubbornly stick with TAA in midfield the whole way. In many ways, the ending result was a very Southgate outcome. Better than prior regimes, a professionalism and togetherness about the team (& towards the end of the tournament the fans too), nothing too spectacular (& yes, cautious) but quite productive in terms of tournament progress. But never quite good enough to get over the line. I also think it was clearly apparent this was Gareth’s last tournament. Whether that impacted the players or not we’ll never know until they become overly judgmental and nostalgic Match of the Day expert pundits.

Which brings us to what comes next. And what comes next is somewhat delusional. Even the FA in putting out their job ad (yes, they did this!) made it clear they needed a new manager that would go beyond Southgate ball success - anything other than the new boss coming in and winning a major tournament for the first time in 60 years would be considered failure. No pressure then. We’re also going to see screaming voices for the biggest names in football to step into the breach. Yet the European champions were managed by a bloke who lasted 11 games at Alaves as his only top flight experience.  The reality is that international football is vastly different than club football. Southgate, hardly a decorated domestic manager, did a good job of improving the atmosphere around the England squad, removing the cliques and pulling all of the team together. That needs to continue.

At least, in the interim, the FA has started well by putting Lee Carsley in place. I’m interested in seeing how he does with the games he has in charge… maybe an Everton bias, but he knows the players, the set up and genuinely seems like a decent bloke. You do feel the FA may be hoping it goes well and they find their new accidental manager the same way they landed on Southgate. The biggest challenge is managing the lofty expectations… England have no right to World Cup glory in 2026. Spain’s youngsters just won Olympic gold, France and Germany will surely improve & between Argentina, Brazil, Columbia and Uruguay - there’s some tough competition ahead. It’s very conceivable England could lose to any of those teams. 

But lots to get excited about though for 2026, as the greatest show on earth comes stateside. Seeing Alexi Lalas spontaneously combust as the US team continue to under achieve, the US scramble to improve facilities from the Copa as some shocking pitches and the ticket fiasco at the final were alarming, managing expectations at home with my boys casually asking “hey Dad, can we all go to watch the World Cup final, it’s in New York!”, all while researching RV rentals and various route maps to every single US venue.

So that’s the recap. Support the Brummie. Start the car (& RV? 🤔)