Nice write-up red and I'd agree with everything you say. Regarding England, I thought the full-back selection very weird and would have Trippier ahead of Kyle Walker any day, with a pukka left-back playing left-back. Does Southgate think the club link between Walker and Foden gives them some advantage? Best performance in an England shirt was undoubtedly Kalvin Phillips though - I think he can be England's star man this tournament and he certainly adds another dimension to what does otherwise look quite a pedestrian approach to probing the opposition's defences. Give them the benefit of the doubt though - it was hot and the first game is often a nervy affair, better to come I think.
I for one didn't mind the selections, given that Croatia didn't have much pace out wide right and I think both Walker and James are ahead of Trippier at right back. I don't think Walker had a good game but his pace and height is an advantage in a flat back four. If/when we go to 3 at the back it will be interesting to see if Reece James and Ben Chilwell are higher in the pecking order, given their exploits with Chelsea in that formation. I thought Southgate got it about right, a good solid performance if not spectacular. Croatia will prove to be a good team in the group and we despatched them comfortably in the end.
'I'm no racist' - Austria star Arnautovic apologises following claims he said 'I'm f*cking your Albanian mother' to North Macedonia's Alioski If you got to watch the match between Austria & North Macedonia then you might have been saying to yourself after ex-Hammer Arnautovic went on a bit of a rant gobbing off to one of the opposite players. Well worry not, he's come out to say that he's not a racist but just said 'Im f***ing your Albanian Mother...!!' which i suppose is ok really... It does seem that there is a bit of history between the whole Serbia, Albania and North Macedonians over the past years, mainly when the old Yugoslavia split up back the 80's & 90's...
I know a few folks from down there, still lots of bad blood. Don’t even mention Kosovo to the Serbs. Remember Shakiri making the Albanian eagle sign when he scored for Switzerland against Serbia at the last World Cup? I can’t ever imagine that part of the world coming to peace. The BBC made a very good 6-part documentary on the Yugoslavia war sometime in the late 90s / early 2000s. Well worth a watch if you are interested (probably find it on YouTube)
I'd say it's definitely advantageous to have players from the same club playing together. They can read each others game much better having played together all season. I can remember the Spaniards dominating and 7 or 8 of the players all played for Barcelona. The same with Germany and Bayern players. I thought putting Trippier at LB was weird. It turned out that Trippier was one of our best players on the pitch. Southgate called it spot on.
I thought Spain might be a bit toothless upfront this tournament and they've done nothing to change my mind so far. Plenty of nice possession football but aren't creating clear cut chances with them and if they do it's either Moreno or Morata they're relying on... Isak has been the best player on the pitch. He looks like he's got bags of potential. He could get a big move on the back of this tournament if he keeps performing like this.
Spain have been utterly dreadful. The epitome of style over substance. They have regressed so much in 10 years . The fact that Jordi Alba and Morata still get picked , shows exactly how poor they've become.
The world has become obsessed with this style over substance football that all teams seems to want to play nowadays and this Spanish side epitomize that thought. Obviously when its good its really good, Barca, Citeh and to a lesser extent Liverpool, and when these teams click they are unstoppable at times, but there are a lot of poor imitations out there... Then again, you could watch a team put 11 men behind the ball for 90mins in the hope that they can break out and score, which nearly got the job done but had the opposition had a goal scorer in their team should have been 3-0 down before registering a shot...!! At least England won their opening game...
Fascinating clash between France and Germany tonight and I’ll be watching it at my favourite Italian restaurant. Gone for 3-2 France in what should be a very entertaining match
In the style vs substance debate, I think many modern teams miss intelligent movement off the ball. This is particularly true of England and results in the depressing use of the square ball. It astonishes me how many players just seem to stand in their allotted room without moving. It is one thing that Germany have done really well under Löw - their intelligent movement off the ball drags the opposition all over the place - Perfect example their demolition of Brazil in the 2014 semi.
So, tonight see's the clash of Le French v Ze Germans, and these wo have got some good history when it comes to head-to-head fixtures but those of a certain age will almost certainly think of just the one match, or more specifically, one shoulder charge by one Harald Schumacher...!! Its 1982, World Cup semi-final and Le Bleu's had some team which sucj stars as Platini, Tigana, Rocheteau and the flaying, literally, defender Battison... I have to admit that i forgot how good the game was between the two sides as your first memory is of the challenge Schumacher did on the hapless Battison. But they just got on the wrong side of a horrendous challenge that still today leaves you amazed that he didnt even get a caution for it...!!! In saying that they lost in the final to Italy, who wernt that good a side, very defensive, but that celebration from Marco Tardelli is one that also lingers in the mind as well... Might be my favourite World Cup, or the 1986 one, but either way just brilliant tournaments...!!
Decent 1st half between France and Germany. France look much more organised and together than Germany. I still can't see anybody getting the better of France in this tournament.
Oh and Pogba always shows what a world class player he is when playing for France. Great performance.
Germany played as good as they could at this moment.France just cruised through the game and have several gears to go through should they require it. Hats off to the French defence as well., they were superb .
I thought it was a daft and almost arrogant decision by the Germans to start without a proper striker, in this match. The German build-up play was good but once they were in the final third they looked confused as to who would be making the run through with no recognised striker to aim for. France looked as solid as a rock. Composure and quality all over the pitch, they oozed class and could win this tournament with something in hand. Good result for England. France play Hungary next so that will be them through and they won't need to go full throttle against Portugal, which should now make Portugal favourites to grab that 2nd place and face England in the last 16. I think we can do them.
Its a sad state of affairs that Germany don't have a top class striker anymore. Muller is just way too old these days and Werner isn't proving good enough. I think having Lewandowski plying his trade so brilliantly for years and Haaland beginning his ascent has pretty much killed strikers coming through at the top teams in the Bundesliga. I think Portugal have way too much quality for England
Seriously!?!? I thought Germany were really poor. I have never seen a German side play with such poor first touch and never seen the National team pass the ball away to the opposition with the regularity that this lot did tonight. If that is what is to come from then it is possible that they may not make it out of this group.
I didn't say Germany played good.I said they played as good as they could at this present moment . Which to be fair isn't particularly good. I should have said, they played as well as their limitations allowed them to play.
