Top half / bottom half

Well, I feel better now. Spain have also played their bungled group game card and England are in good company now.... And that's the problem - Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England all sitting in a mouthwatering side of the draw. Some epic games to come. 

And while we spend the next few days convincing ourselves " you have to beat the best to be the best lads", the north side of the draw has opened up like a Republican primary, primed for an upstart with no history to charge to the front of the pack. Croatia have looked impressive, barring a blip as their fans misbehaved, and look now well placed to go deep. But as I watched snippets of N Ireland being pounded by Germany, but somehow end up celebrating qualification to the next round, I have a sneaky feeling some unjust 3rd place team will cause some disruption, at least in the top half of the draw. Turkey or Sweden maybe... teams that in the first two games looked completely abject. While I applaud the attempt to expand the tournament, I just don't think 24 is a good tournament number. That Turkey can do anything but go home after their first two games just does not feel like tournament footie. 

A couple of crappy groups left to go now, but one which will determine England's next opponent. Then onto the fun stuff.

I must go now to watch USA's big football adventure against Argentina. The locals are pumped - they reckon this will be a more watched sporting event than the recent NBA finals. It might not be by the final whistle....the US trail 1-zip after only 8 mins.... Could be a long night

Things I feel good about

There's much to feel good about right now:

1. Stevie C being back on the blog. I was ploughing a lone furrow through these championships, looking listless and immobile (much like Jack Wilshire) until he showed up. Welcome back into the fold, Stevie.
2. England's performance. We have looked excellent, in my opinion, in all 3 group games. Watching us has been relatively fun, and a massive step forward from the 100mph, Hollywood approach that blighted the past, golden-generation of players. If I'd watched Spain or Germany perform like we just have, I'd have them marked down as a real threat, as soon as they find their scoring boots.
3. Wales getting through. Their 3-0 win against Russia saw them through as worthy qualifiers for the round of 16.

Things I worry deeply about:

1. Wilshire playing any more minutes for our team.
2. England facing Ronald-0 and seeing him slap in free kick after free kick to our net, whilst Hart fumbles around on his knees. Ronald-0 winking at the camera in an awful, yet effective, self-parody.
3. Football being reduced to a game of 5 minutes duration on the basis that the first 85 minutes are meaningless.

We will score goals one day......

Ok, ok. I'm clearly late to the party, and for that Mr Birch, I apologise. And while I can roll out the excuses of time zones, family life and actual time needed to carve out to actually watch the footie (all of which are somewhat legitimate), there have been a series of events that have occurred in the last couple of weeks that should have awoken me from my blogging slumber....

The Highlights So Far:

• Incredible "tickling of de ballz" by Herr Low
• Just the most concerted on field and off field effort by any team ever, to get ejected from a tournament. Well played Russia.... can't wait for that world cup thingy you have in a couple of years
• The 'let's put Harry Kane on set pieces' experiment
• No team yet, really stamping their mark on the tournament - this thing looks wide open 
• A ridiculous portion of goals being scored in the last 5 mins or so. Has me thinking I'm watching an NBA game. 
• Wonderful, consistent support from the Irish, both north and south
• Consistent loons attaching themselves to England 
• England flattering to deceive (more of that later)

Predictions:

Yeah I know what you're thinking. All a bit easier to lay out some predictions as we're deep into group matches. But thankfully, I already put my money down before the tournament, so here's the run down:

The Good: Spain to win the tournament (5/1)

The oh my goodness Good: Spain to win, Morata to be top goalscorer (66/1)

The pessimistic England fan bet Good: Wales to make the semi finals (11/1)

The Bad: Thomas Muller to be top goal scorer.....

The potentially Ugly: France to win, Muller to be top goalscorer

So in summary, it's all going very well so far, apart from the fact Germany forgot to pack a goal-scoring threat in their suitcases so far. Maybe redemption is only a blow out trouncing of N. Ireland away... I'm trying not get carried away with Spain just yet, but Turkey made them look very impressive, and they have just as few faults in their team as the other main contenders... 

Engurland:

I have to say, we've played some decent stuff. Now, coming off my third season of watching Roberto Martinez football, it turns out that for this to be effective as well as nice to watch, you need to score goals, and not concede any....otherwise you slip into a mid-table abyss of underachievement (sorry Birchy, I know this pales in comparison to your travails this season). And herein, so far, lies the problem:

- While we've kept it relatively tight against teams with zero attacking ambition, the trio of Smalling, Cahill & Hart just scream calamity about to happen. It almost happened today vs Slovakia, and you can mark Hart's attempt at saving Bale's free kick in that category also. Not at fault for the Russia goal, but you do feel that a more organized backline would have dealt better with that late cross. 

- Roy has packed his squad with strikers. And it shows. We just look unbalanced and lack width - a real draw back against teams that sit back and defend (ie, all our opponents so far). In his defence, I don't think I can claim he left a world beater at home - I think it's just a dearth of talent in key areas, which results in square pegs in round holes. 

- Jordan Henderson is not even a square peg. 

- It's not all bad. The full backs have played well, and I think Rooney in his deeper role has been relatively successful, although he tried too hard today. I still like Jamie Vardy in the team - he just gives you that something different and constant goal threat. You know 9 times out of 10 he would put those chances away that he had today, and against teams that actually attack, he will be a big threat. 

- Eric Dier. Mysteriously, he was temporarily on the books at Everton. Well played there lads...looks a great coaching call to let him move on. Hands down, the best player & a great free kick to boot. Dare I say, while it's not sexy, he could be in the running for player of the tournament so far. 

The Americana Experience:

So, things are going fine this side of the Atlantic, all of the games are being televised on ESPN, with some notable highlights:

• So far, it appears Alexi Lalas' contract has not been renewed. I'm sure he will appear at some point, but so far, so good. 
• An amusing chuckle each time expert panelist "Premier league manager for the last 7 years, Roberto Martinez..." is introduced. A subtle dance around the current employment status of the poor man. 
• The time difference just is terrible. Games during the week are kicking off at 9am, 12pm and 3pm. At least the concentration of late goals has meant the well-timed casual jaunt to the common area for caffeine boost has included some cracking goal highlights. Beyond annoying that England's 2nd place finish now means a game on a Monday, vs a Saturday... 
• It's wall to wall football. You may not be aware, but the Copa America is also being played right now. This means that the daytime Euro action is being supplemented by evenings of Chile vs Argentina and Peru vs Brazil.... ok, the latter doesn't sound great, but Peru actually knocked Brazil out! The US and Mexico are included in this version (it's really a corrupt, money making effort to "celebrate" the South American tournament's 100 year history). It may seem a cynical view, but the FIFA / Concacaf folk behind the tournament being organized are now spending most of their time with lawyers, and the tournament  is being held in the U.S., a country with nothing to do with the competition... That said, the footie is good. Chile spanked Mexico 7-0 the other day, and the locals are getting excited as the U.S. has gradually improved through the tournament to make the semi finals (where inevitable failure against Argentina awaits)

So, that's me caught up I think. I can now leave and return to my darkened room and try to figure out the random number generator that is UEFA's third place team qualification rules, and try to work out how I explain the concept to my American work colleagues who are still asking why the group games are not going to extra time.... 

 

Ronald-0

Not sure if any of the papers used that headline, but I quite liked it. An astonishing match last night, with Austria hanging on for dear life as Ronaldo spurned chance after chance. Funny though it was, I still expect CR7 to have an impact on the tournament. Hungary's charmed life is certain to come crashing down in a few days I expect.

Iceland against Hungary was a battle of the dodgy keepers, with Gabor Kiraly coming out well and truly on top (in terms of being dodgy). Iceland will feel aggrieved, but just need a win against hapless Austria (which I don't expect they will get) to progress. Austria, have put themselves in a spot though, by losing to Hungary...and by my reckoning they will finish below Hungary regardless of the results now, because of the head-to-head. A shame in some ways because they have a couple of decent players (Alaba, Arnoutovic) who I'd like to see more of.

Today was a bit of a head wreck, no 2pm or 5pm games to enjoy...so I had to settle for a lovely day with my family!

Football anywhere

I am old enough to remember when tournaments required serious carful planning. Grainy pictures and appalling sound from Mexico in 86. No catch up TV or wifi. It was only when I was walking from the barbers back to my house this afternoon that it really struck home. I'd watched the first 10 minutes of Belgium vs R. O. Ireland on their freest box, and then watched via 4G on my mobile for the 5 minute walk home, before watchinghte rest via Virgin TV. The availability is amazing. It will be a sad day when it is all stuck behind pay-per-view ; as I am sure it will be one day.

Yesterday's games offered some drama and some class. Italy looked a shadow of the team that was so competent and fluid in their first game, but scored a cracking late goal to put them past shotless (in the tournament) Sweden. Then came the odd game. Croatia vs Czech Republic - ending 2-2 after Croatia were coasting to victory. Their fans turning on themselves in a barrage of fists and firecrackers, causing the game to be halted, focus to be lost and the Czechs did the rest. This opens up the group enormously and leaves the promising Croatia in real danger of finishing 3rd in the group.

Spain shoed their class in the evening game winning 3-0 vs Turkey. Whilst their midfield is not as sublime as it once was, they still managed a 20 odd pass move involving 10 outfield players in the lead up to a goal. They've also not conceded for 10 games now, making them seem formidable opponents.

The early game today saw Belgium finally come to life, thrashing Ireland 3-0 and starting to look like the attacking force that they clearly are. Ireland played pretty well but were outclassed. I'm sorry to say that Villa's influence was once again present, with Clark's ludicrous lunge essentially making the second goal a dead cert and ending Irish hopes in the game.

I'm now watching Iceland vs Hungary - certainly one for the purists at the outset, but Hungary will be through with a win, and Iceland, keeper aside, look a half decent unit too. If Austria can somehow get a result later again Portugal then this group will be complete chaos.

Shocks and relief

Since I last posted, France avoided the potential ignominy of drawing nil-nil with Albania by slotting two good late goals. Payet again sealed the match with a good finish and is absolutely deserving of his "player of the tournament so far" label.

Then yesterday we had the big England vs Wales match. I spent the most part of the morning scanning my inbox for the all-staff email to announce the office would be closing and that we'd be having a colossal football party in the afternoon. Nothing happened. A lowly TV was wheeled out (like being in science class at school); and then a laggy stream was soundlessly put on. Obviosuly I made my own arrangements, supported by the 4G network so as not to drain company bandwidth - and I watched on as England went in to battle.

Things I realised:

• That the BBC really can do an excellent rousing programme opening sequence. It brought goose bumps, and made me desperately want the team to do well
• Aaron Ramsey is really annoying. From his ridiculous hairstyle (a nod to a Romanian World Cup team of old, or just peroxide accident). He fouled constantly and thought he was Robbie Savage also, which was deeply irritating.
• The BBC's Welsh commentators seemed to have a serious loss of perspective, labelling Bale as the best player in Europe and suggesting that handball doesn't count if the player is looking elsewhere.
• That England are actually pretty good. They are playing with an assurance and dominating games. I like our current team.
• That despite Hart's error for the Wales goal, I would never swap keepers with Iceland.

A super result in the end, and good to see Vardy and Sturridge both getting into the competition. I am sure that they, as well as Kane and Sturridge will continue to feature going forward. And nice to hear people being positive about our team again.

The only downside is that our group remains very much open - all 4 teams still able to go through. Certainly if we blow it against Slovakia, we need to do so by one goal only. Or we need to pray for a draw between Wales and Russia- that would see us through.

Northern Ireland followed up our game with a simply cracking result against Ukraine; 2-0. This sets them up for an incredibly tough final match against Germany, who could only draw 0-0 with Poland. That group also remains very much alive going into the final games.

And so the weekend approaches which means a full schedule of games today and tomorrow and the first of the group deciders on Sunday.

A very good last 24 hours

Portugal vs Iceland last night was an absolute treat. I was convinced it was going to be the first outright whooping of the tournament; but the combination of Ronaldo's ego and Iceland's spirit put paid to that. Portugal absolutely bossed the game, but CR7s repeated refusal to pass to better placed (and talented) teammates, meant that the majority of possession and forward moves resulted in speculative efforts as opposed to guilt-edged chances.

I really liked how Iceland, and Sigurdsson in particular put the boot in, big time. Poor Pepe was desperate to lash out.

And the good game last night tee'd up 2 more today. The games today have served to open up groups A and B really nicely. England now have an insurance policy against a Wales defeat - thanks to Slovakia turning over Russia. By my reckoning we could lose to Wales (rendering them group winners) and then would need to beat Slovakia by a bigger margin than Russia beating Wales in the final game. Not a terrible scenario to be in, were we to be in it. Slovakia looked decent and scored two good goals.

Then this afternoon a 1-1 between the Swiss and Romania, meaning both teams are still in with a shout going into the final game, which is good.

I'm now watching France struggle to overcome Albania (at HT). The tournament is warming up, no nil-nil's to date, and if tonight was the first then it would be a dramatic one.

Teams with personality

I had an interesting chat with a mate at work today who had tipped Croatia to win the tournament. I thought it a bit of a bold call, and he said that they have a good chance because of their similarity of style and cohesion as a team. This in contrast to team like Belgium, who have good player on paper - but most of whom play for teams with hugely differing styles.

Italy fall into the same sort of category as Croatia in my opinion. They have an identity as a national team, and don;t just appear as a transient group of players. The Italian style is predictable but effective. Solid and if necessary brutal defenders (they clocked up 3 stone-wall yellows for professionnal fouling); slick midfield play; and strikers who aren;t all that good but manage to get goals (Pelle's was excellent).

I enjoyed the game very much - probably the best of the tournament. Italy celebrated it in true overblown passion fashion with scenes as if they'd just won the whole thing. I think there is probably a bit more needle with Belgium or its players than I understand.