It was a slightly strange night, but good all the same. Immediately before kick-off was quite moving, quite a few joined in the singing and the minute's silence was immaculately observed, after it the atmosphere was a bit weird (it was very quiet for an England game). I was immediately above the France fans and oddly, many of them didn't return after half time, presumably many had just come to make a statement. Even more oddly, all of the France fans stood and applauded when Dele Alli scored. I've also never seen a game at Wembley where so many left before the end, almost half the crowd had gone by 85 minutes. Quite nice for me personally, as in addition to taking junior, I met up with my brother in law and his mate Stu and the last time the three of us were together at an England game, was the World Cup in Japan. There was much reminiscing about the Thai restaurant we got wasted in after the game and the blind fear in the eyes of the owner as a large group of Swedish fans came in and sat on table next to us.
Did we learn much about England's abilities against a top team in this match or were France's hearts not in the game? (I didn't watch as I watch the Sweden qualifier instead)
People's thoughts are going to be varied about how much the French player's hearts were in the game. France started off very well and showed a lot of skill but England's players created some good moves and were just lacking the final ball.
There were two groups of French fans. One lot were on the lower tier near the half way line opposite the Royal Box - I assume you were above them - and there were rather more in a corner which was on the far right side of the Royal Box but they were on the top tier.
I was indeed above the ones on the lower tier (which is the normal away end nowadays), the ends of the upper tier are normally the tickets sold in the run-up to a game, so I suspect that the group on the top tier had seats made available following events in Paris over the weekend.
It was a none event. In a tournament or qualifier, France would've started with Pogba, Griezmann, Evra & i'd expect if there wasn't a scandal stopping Benzema & Valbuena playing they'd start and all. Ben Arfa must be doing something right in Ligue 1. He must be putting in a shift over there cos he's one of the laziest footballers i've ever seen. How the hell's he got in their national team? England played ok though. Better starting line-up than against Spain. Still look pretty poor keeping the ball, and i think a counter attacking style does play to our strengths. Alli played really well. Great goal.
Not at Wembley, but from watching TV I think the game just about passed muster as an entertaining game. It's easy to big France up as a team and say they might have done better if they had started different players, but we were hardly our preferred starting eleven. The football was there to be played and I think our lads did that and did it well, they clearly focussed on their passing game and that came off. Hodgson could take good football positives from the match and his team provided, along with France, a huge positive in the fight to save the moral standing of the game at international level. Both teams won, as did their countries and their supporters; it was good.
I was impressed with Kingsley Coman last night, he's only 19 and that was only his second France appearance (he's a Juventus player, currently on loan at Bayern), Gibbs couldn't get anywhere near him.
Yep he seems like a real gem. Pogba is seriously impressive also. Optimism and England are always a scary thing but we are definite contenders in my book. I don't think Germany and Spain are half the teams they used to be, however it wouldn't surprise me to see them step it up when it actually matters. But I would put money on England or France.
I understand why we all focus on the individual players and how they gel as a team, but when you say, "I don't think Germany and Spain are half the teams they used to be, however it wouldn't surprise me to see them step it up when it actually matters.", I think you hit on a hugely critical point that is often missed. Roy Hodgson has many responsibilities as the manager, but for us to take the Euros - and we can - he has to turn us into a tournament team and one that can also take penalties when needed. I think Roy is heading in the right direction, the youth are finally becoming men and the men are starting to understand their limitations and play within them. It could be a wonderful year to be remembered by Hull City AFC winning the Championship and starting a long life in the PL, while England win the Euros and set their sights on the World Cup.
