Look who's back

Slovenia 1 - 1 Denmark

3 years ago I was on the tournament grind, watching Denmark v Finland on my mobile in the local boozer. I remember the feeling of absolute doom as Christian Eriksen lay motionless, face down on the turf after his cardiac arrest. Any kind of mass public event felt like it was naughty back then (insert 'apart from if you are a Tory' gags here). 

Anyway, obviously I'd kind of forgotten that all that happened until I saw the team-sheets today, and despite him having played a lot of football between then and now, I found myself surprised and amazed that he was lining up for the Danes tonight. Alongside a very capable set of team mates too. I found myself interested also, to see how Hojland performed, without being surrounded by the Man United circus.

And so to the game. Eriksen scores, a lovely moment and big personal redemption for him, I expect. The game is pretty messy, fun in parts, but largely forgettable. Denmark are better, Slovenia offer not much really but claw their way back into it with a late equaliser. The point probably opens up Group C and ensures and interesting match day 3 for sure.

[☝️This paragraph was completely re-written during the final 10mins]

Quick bath, some more paracetamol (suffering a chest infection which is making the football all the more welcome as I'm not capable of much else) and onto England. From nowhere I'm now feeling wildly confident. I saw our predicted line-up (and just now the actual team sheet) and it's really impressive, capable of doing some real damage, if only they can ignore the Southgate soul-drain and find the intensity that tournament winners need.

All about Wout

Poland 1 - 2 Netherlands

I went into this game, fully cognisant that normally the only tougher watch in tournament football than Poland, is Poland without Lewandowski.

Luckily they were up against the Dutch, a team I've been fond of watching ever since Gullit and Van Basten rocked my world way back when. I have particular interest in the current team as Dumfries, Maatsen and Frimpong have all been loosely linked to Villa transfers, so a good chance to see them in action.

Poland took the lead, as was inevitable after my first paragraph (written before k.o.) and Gakpo grabbed a deserved equaliser after the Netherlands responded well. Following this, the game seemed to fall into a pattern of the Dutch attacking, one of Simons or Depay wazzing it wide, then the BBC cutting to a bloke wearing an orange jumpsuit. 

This holding pattern continued for the majority of the match, until Koeman, inspired I think by the Hungarian's use of of Martin Ádám the other day, made things simpler, bringing on big man Wout Weghorst for the final stages. Bosh, goal, no fannying about, job done. 2-1.

And so onto Slovenia (how annoying it is for the wall chart filler that there's two teams in the tourney that should be abbreviated to SLO) Vs Denmark, a matchup worth watching to see what, if anything, England should fear.

23 seconds to go

Italy 2 - 1 Albania

Just two seconds shy of tabloids full of So Solid Crew references, Albania kicked the evening off with a bang. What a start to the game! 

I was rejuvenated by the BBC coverage, actually talking in some depths about the teams and their countries before the game, something ITV probably want to do more, rather than killing me with Southgate chat and congratulating each other on their OBEs. I hadn't known that Sylvinho and Zabaleta were behind the growth of the Albania team, nor had I known that the match would largely be a Serie A clash.

And what a game it was. Albania quite gutsy and direct. Italy slick and well balanced, definitely contenders. Their possession and passing from 45yds-20yds from goal was excellent. Add a proper striker and they'd be favourites imo.

The game was great. Italy dominated and could have won by more, but Albania were always in it, dangerous on the break and could have levelled it up with the last kick. Notable performances from Calafiori, who definitely has a Maldini vibe about him, and Barella who is measured in everything he does.

The first full day of tourney has been excellent. Obviously, with England playing today, I fully expect the first doses of refereeing controversy / fan violence / bore draw to rear their heads.

I will do some obligatory parenting before settling in for the trilogy this afternoon. Park Run and a trip to Halfords before a scouting watch of Denzel Dumfries in action, and then onto Group C.

What's Morata you hey?

Spain 3 - 0 Croatia 

The big game was something of an anticlimax then, with Spain dominating and racking up a 3-0 win. Gone are the days when they clock up 80% possession but with little threat - now that they have Nico Williams and the ridiculously young Yamal. With those two they add incision and purpose to their still dominant possession game.

Croatia lacked something, both in central defence and up front, the end of an era I feel. That said, I guess it is worth seeing them Vs less formidable opposition before judging.

Tonight I learned a new thing about encroachment from a penalty kick. I'd not realised it just results in a free kick rather than a retake. Definitely a disincentive.

A cracking start to the tournament. I'll be taking in Italy Vs Albania on delay, to facilitate being a normal human for a few hours - but very much looking forward to seeing the holders in action. I've always said the thing that I like most about these international tournaments is the fact that teams have a real national identity. Whilst that has diminished over the years (with so many players of different nations all playing in the same leagues), I do feel tonight's matchup will display this theory.

Fondue > Goulash

Hungary 1 - 3 Switzerland 

Game 2 in the bag and a surprise win (to many) for Switzerland. They've come a long way from the soporific teams from the 00's and 10's. Truly they used to be the toughest fixtures to comtemplate as I settled in for any major tourney, but they are much pacier and free-er now and this result has presented a massive problem for Scotland's hopes. Hungary rallied in the second half, which only further jeopardises Scotland's plight. Definitely some fun fixtures to come in Group A.

My favourite moment of the game was seeing Martin Ádám come onto the pitch. An absolute barrel of a man. He literally looked like a present day Rooney would look coming onto the pitch. Amazing. Some basic research reveals that he is an absolute goal machine, scoring 230+ goals from his 290ish career appearances. He is currently tearing it up with Ulsan of the K-League.

Other points of note were Hungary's manager frighteningly resembling Jeffrey Dahmer and Breel Embolo coming on and scoring for the Swiss after a season long ACL outage (giving me hope for Mings, Buendia and Kamara who have all suffered the same fate this season).

Now, whilst I smash together a slow-cook curry, I'm readying up for the first BIG game of the tourney. Spain v Croatia. I'm very much looking forward to seeing hypothetical (if PSR/FFP didn't exist) Villa target Nico Williams playing. Still perplexed as to why Pau Torres isn't gracing this stage, and wondering if it is even possible for Croatia to still function as a top team at this level, given the age of their major players. This afternoon, I fear, we will get an answer to the negative...

Glass half Fulkrug

Germany 5 - 1 Scotland

And we are off. Following a pretty lame opening ceremony, we got our first dose of tourney action, and Germany looked frighteningly awesome. They are much more likeable as a team now, with a good brand of football, blending control with directness.

Toni Kroos was some kind of passing machine, completing 119/120 passes as the Germans strangled the life out of a sterile Scotland. I'd actually thought it would be a close game, but it became clear early on that Germany would prevail. Scotland had literally no outlet. A forward threat of Che Adams and zero wingers is a serious problem for them, especially when the midfield is bolstered by the likes of Scott McTominay, who everyday looks and plays more and more like a keen sixth former than a premier league midfielder.

Musiala was majestic. I know there was lots of fuss about him in the last tourney, but he seems to have come on a lot and is much less a wildcard now, instead an integral threat for a pretty good team.

InstaVAR was on show, with decisions happening without fuss. It makes me wonder why the Premier League can't afford to put microchips into its footballs, instead preferring shambolic prevarication from muppet officials. Tournaments usually highlight good signings that need making, and already this one has put semi-automated VAR front and centre in the shop window.

Selfishly, I spent the second half considering the benefits of McGinn coming home early so he can rest up and do good things for Villa early next season, but then I remembered that this tourney has the stupid format where most of the third place teams still qualify. So it's not over for Scotland, and we may yet still see Che Adams set the knockout stages alight.

3 games today, fridge stocked, now I'm hyped.

Not hyped?

Why have I not been hyped for this tournament? I love international tournaments but something is different. By this time I am normally knee deep in Panini stickers, decorating my walls with fixture charts, booking annual leave and  humming "it's coming home" to myself. This year I feel a bit cold about it all, until 8pm tonight that is.

I think there's a combination of reasons. 

First and foremost is the Southgate effect. I feel numbed by his management of our team. He's had a top 2/3 squad for his entire tenure, and has set them up like underdogs each tourney, largely earning praise for our progress when really he should not have. I despise how he manages the squad. Since the World Cup its all been about hanging on to Hendo, MacGuire, Phillips as long as possible, only to be without them all going into the tournament, and thus we now have a team with virtually no cohesion or understanding. Still, we are good enough to do well despite him, so all hope is not lost.

Then there's the fact that I've pretty much only just switched off the Champs League final - the tourney seems to have come about quickly.

Either way - this negative vibe is set to wear off during the day, as game 1 approaches. Hosts Germany vs Super John McGinn's Scotland, promised to be a high energy opener I'd think. With friendly kick off times throughout, I should be able to watch a good amount of the tournament, and it should be pretty open with a host of teams realistically in with a shout. 

I've been feeling a bit grotty this week, and had some time off work, including today. So my plan now is to take in some of the pre-tournament commentary and vibes, so that I can offer up a predicted winner (surely it comes from France/Spain/Germany) and also pick out potential dark horses. I think there could be a good few upsets in this one. 

The best possible outcome? Southgate leaves the squad early after being offered the Man United job. He promises to slowly crush their soul over the course of his 9 year contract. England are taken over by the BBC punditry team. We draft in an actual left back to the squad (previous reports claimed that there were none, but then someone realised that teams other than the sky six exist). Then Bellingham, Konsa and Watkins unleash all hell on the tourney, winning it in style. Konsa and Watkins (amazingly considering their exertions in the tournament) manage to tap up lots of Europe's top talent, with six top players returning home with them to join Villa on a free. 

Its coming home. 

After some considerable reflection time

 First a big thanks to Stevie C and Kev for bringing good content during the tournament. It is always fun to blog about a major tournament with a different perspective to bounce off. 

I couldn't bring myself to blog about the final outcome and was thankful when Stevie did so. At the time I was just fuming. I'd said from the outset that I disliked Southgate's caution and that the approach would only be warranted if it yieled a win. That sounds fickle - but frankly I'd rather we were Netherlands - expansive, impressive but knocked out early, than we we England, cautious, with unfulfilled potential and losing finalists. All I get from the tournament is a sense of what if. we proved that we can generally defed when we put 7 or 8 payers behind the ball. We learned that we have some excellent attacking talent and the Grealish can unlock a game. What we didn;t learn was how to go out and win the bloody thing. 

Italy deserved it. They did everything that Gareth didn't, in my opinion. They treated the tournament like a special occasion, played with positivity and expansiveness, and took the prize. For England, I just see a horrible waste of a golden opportunity. Nothing ventured. 

This is why I didn't post at the time - a full month later and I am still angry. The coke-hoofing, fighting fans didn't help leave a good taste either. I expect we've blow-n all chances of winning upcoming bids to properly host tournaments for the next decade or two.

But - all this aside - the tournament was good. Some strong teams and good performances blessed it. Crowds gradually returning to stadiums was amazing. The new format, actually worked pretty well too. Tournament football is still, to my mind, the pinnacle of the game. I loved the tournament and feel blessed that we only have to wait just over a year until the next one. I look forward to being back, and sharing whatever mayhem unfolds in Qatar in 2022.

Lots of love.