Euro 2016: Welsh Wonders, Torn Jerseys & Selection Weirdness
Third is the Word
The expansion of the European Championships from 16 to 24 teams has plenty of positives. Without it we probably wouldn’t have seen the likes of Iceland, Northern Ireland or Albania – all of whom have defied reputation to claim some impressive and famous results. But then it also has the odd weird point, like the fact that 16 of the 24 teams still make the second round. Not to mention the stretched out talent leading to more conservative approaches and fewer goals. That’s a debate for later, though.
With that, four of the six third place finishers go through, which seems stupid that a team can lose two games and potentially still make it through with a last-gasp win, although the bonus is that pretty much every team is realistically playing for something in the final round of games.
For the first two sets of fixtures, that didn’t mean much. Teams don’t yet know what to aim for to get those third placers. From the moment of the final whistle in the Albania-Romania game, however, that mark was set. We had our first third placer – the first marker in the sand. The Albanians snatched a 1-0 win over Romania, pushing them to 3 points with a -2 goal difference. That… shouldn’t be too hard to beat. It was a compelling game in which the Romanians showed the same complete and utter deficiencies in front of goal (their two tournament goals came from the penalty spot) and a cheeky Armando Sadiku header was the difference.
Albania had never scored a goal in a major competition before. Bloody marvellous.
As for the next round, I s’pose the Czechs and Turkey could draw, that’d keep Albania ahead of them. Also if Belgium and Italy beat Sweden and Ireland. Both pretty likely, actually – in fact the two underdogs there each need a win to overtake Albania, a draw would leave them each on 2 points. Iceland will catch them if they can get a draw against Austria, who need to win but will still fancy their chances. Portugal also need at least a draw against Hungary – who are basically already through. Northern Ireland need to do better than a three-goal loss to Germany (lose 2-0 and they’re ahead of Albania but sweating on someone else finishing below them). Ukraine, who have been as disappointing as anyone, need to thrash Poland to have any chance.
Russia and Romania, meanwhile, are goooone. Slovakia, after their draw with England and win over Russia, have 4 points and so they’re almost certainly through – though they’ll need to wait at least another day to be sure.
Roy’s Dilemma
I don’t know what possessed Mr Hodgson to make all those changes for the last game. A bit of rest, keep ‘em fresh, no worries. But he didn’t seem to alter the approach in any way. They still tried to play the same way they did before despite having Jamie Vardy up top – the one exception was possibly their best chance vs Slovakia when Eric Dier slipped him in from deep, with the Slovakia defensive line playing unusually high. They definitely adapted to that, the Slovakians. By the end of the game and for most of the second half, even, they were ten men behind the ball and England had no answer.
Jordan Henderson did some good things and some dumb things, he’s a step below their other midfielders and was probably lucky to be picked ahead of Danny Drinkwater or Michael Carrick, a selection that made enough sense at the time but either of those two would have provided a more useful option in this game – from Carrick’s metronomic passing to Drinkwater’s hustle and each has a dollop of vision and guile which Vardy especially would’ve loved. But this was a tough one for Vards, without the room to run behind the defence he faded and eventually disappeared.
And then when he went to his bench, it was all the same guys he was supposedly resting! On came Rooney, on came Alli and on came Kane. Personally, I thought this would have been a perfect opportunity for Ross Barkley. If they’re gonna play deep and invite long efforts, get your best shot from outside the box on the park. Plus Barkley can dribble the ball and draw defenders, he won’t get too many opportunities (if any) this tournament but this was one he’d have done well in. Instead Rooney tried to do the same role and was constantly tackled or had his efforts at goal blocked. I’ll give you this: Martin Skrtel was magnificent. For a defender I don’t even rate that high, Liverpool ought to double that asking price after that game. Plus the keeper, Matús Kozácik, made a couple top saves on the occasions he was actually asked to make one.
It was disappointing after Hodgson had shown such guts in bringing on both Vardy and Sturridge against Wale at half-time, each going on to score as England became the only team to win after falling behind so far these Euros. Unlike the first game, he got all his subs right there. And it was a brilliant second half too, complete dominance, and a very impressive win over a fine Welsh side (who let themselves down, I felt). Now there’s the tricky situation where he’s changed his team mid-tournament and had enough success that it’s thrown out his initial plans. The Slovakian draw was enough to get them second – they’ll hope for a decent draw now, which will see them play whoever finishes second in Portugal’s group. To be fair, that group is weak as piss, so that might be okay. But they would have gotten a third placer otherwise, which is a gamble that Roy Hodgson took and has to live with now, it might not be a big deal but the way it stands, they are looking at France in the quarters, so… yeah.
France another team that has no idea what their top lot is. The back five has been unchanged (although that’s their real weakness, tbh) but the midfield and strikeforce have looked completely different in each of their three games:
- vs Romania – Kante, Matuidi, Pogba, Payet, Griezmann, Giroud.
- vs. Albania – Kante, Matuidi, Payet, Martial, Coman, Giroud.
- vs. Switzerland – Cabaye, Pogba, Sissoko, Coman, Griezmann, Gignac.
Band of Brothers
Forget about their disappointment against England though, Wales are a legitimate threat. Maybe not a competition threat but… well, maybe they will be. After getting the win over Slovakia thanks to that Gareth Bale free kick, they were well placed to progress even with the loss to England, they only needed a result against a poor Russian side. They got that and then some, smashing them 3-0 and it would have been several more if not for Igor Akinfeev in the Russian goal. He’s a keeper that has struggled all his career to live up to the enormous hype about him but this was a great tournament for if… if for few others of his compatriots.
With that Wales finish top of the group and ahead of England. A wonderful performance in the third game that’ll give them all the confidence in the world going into the knockouts. As Chris Coleman said, they were at their best off the ball and on the ball (the latter being where they blew it vs England). Once again, Bale scored to move him into clear first in the goalscorers charts. He reckons it was the best Welsh performance he’s been a part of. All big praise.
Thing is, given what we’d seen from each team it was almost predictable. That doesn’t take away from the achievement but Wales, with their ability to both defend a little deeper and also attack with pace and that little bit more space, were better suited to breaking down the Russian defence than England were. Tell you what, though, Bale may be the superstar but he hasn’t been their best player. That title goes to Aaron Ramsey. Drifting around, pulling all the strings. He’s also the only player with more than one assist (two, in his case) so far, not to mention his goal vs Russia. Chuck him in the middle with Granit Xhaka who has also been superb for Switzerland and, mate, that Arsenal midfield is really something.
But that can wait until August. For now, this is all about a top quality Welsh side, that blends a strong defensive group with a few superb playmakers and some very thumbs-up coaching from Chris Coleman. Against England they probably lacked belief, though that shouldn’t be the case if they meet them again. With the positive draw for the next round that they ought to get now, the Welsh can expect another probably defensive opponent which works out nicely for them. When England pressed and attacked, they struggled to get the ball out of their half. Fullbacks Gunter and Taylor looked way out of their depth against the pace that was thrown at them. However each looked wonderful against Russia when allowed to get forward – Neil Taylor scored the second goal. There’s a solid group of hardworking midfielders in there that are comfortable with or without the ball and unlike most teams, including many teams that outranks them for ability, Wales have the incision to break down a defence. Six goals in three games isn’t all that many but it’s a lot more than most teams here. And if they need to, they can always fall back on Gareth Bale’s free kicks.
Jamie Vardy, Still Having a Party
The fact that Vardy couldn’t get on the park in a game perfectly suited to him against Russia in England’s opener suggests that despite it all, there’s still just a little bit of inferiority in the way Leicester City is seen. But he got his chance against Wales and despite a relatively quiet half, he rewarded the opportunity with the equalising goal – once again seizing his chances as he’s done all season and getting 90 minutes against Slovakia as a result.
About a week ago he was photographed leaving the England team hotel with a can of red bull and a tin of snuff., aka powdered chewing tobacco. Would this lead to a drama akin to Wayne Rooney or Jack Wilshere being caught smoking? Nah, because Vardy doesn’t really care. In fact when asked about it he doubled down on the whole thing, saying yeah sure he likes a spot of chewing backy under the lip now and then, it’s just one part of what one may call an unconventional approach to his fitness.
He also uses nicotine patches and drinks a red bull every morning. Not to mention the fact that he refuses to go to the gym. It’ll only slow him down, he says. And after trying to get him to take part in weight sessions, the England trainers eventually decided not to bother. No reason trying to change the habits of a 29 year old footballer who came of age in the non-leagues. By the way, that transfer to Arsenal? Probably not gonna happen. Even Arsene Wenger is saying as much, which Vardy keen enough to stay with the Foxes, sign another huge contract, and the Gunners already looking at other options. Claudio Ranieri sent him a text after his goal against Wales. It read: “Congratulations champ”.
Oh, and the lookalike that he blocked on twitter?
Ripping and A-Tearing
If anyone knows what was going on in the France-Switzerland game with all those ripped jerseys, see if you can let Puma know. Four different jerseys ripped during the game and needed replacing. Granit Xhaka was inhabiting more than one of them when they tore apart around him, leaving Swiss players looking like the Hulk post-hulking. Not a good look for the shirt sponsors there.
Xherdan Shaqiri wasn’t one who had to deal with that problem himself, despite being the most hulkish lad on the park (even at hobbit height). Still, he had plenty to say about the matter:
Shaq: “I hope Puma does not produce condoms.”
Oh, and that wasn’t all, there was also a ball that popped.
And Paul Pogba with a next level tackle attempt here. Can’t fault the improvisation, at least:
Don’t bother with the highlights though. France and Switzerland were each happy with a draw and despite a rocket shot from Pogba and a volley off the bar from Dimitri Payet, there wasn’t much to it. A very convenient 0-0 draw, enough to put many a fan back to sleep.
Advice From One Who Knows
Golden Boot Race
- Gareth Bale (Wales) – 3
- Alvaro Morata (Spain) – 2
- Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – 2
- Dimitri Payet (France) – 2
- Bogdan Stancu (Romania) – 2
Modric Update
Croatia manager Ante Cacic: "[Modric] underwent an MRI and there was no rupture of the muscle, but I will make a decision tomorrow [Tuesday] or after this evening's practice session."
Good-oh, he’s still a chance to play against Spain then. Given that they were 2-0 up against the Czech Republic when he limped to the sideline and they proceeded to collapse and draw 2-2, he’s pretty bloody important to the Croatians, who otherwise look like serious dark horses. But it does depend on their talisman being fit. With four points already, the Croats are all but guaranteed footy in the next round, although they’d clearly prefer a third-placed opponent or something similar. Beat Spain and they can have that.
Yeah, Spain. So… no easy task. The Spanish have been the most complete side of Euro 2016 so far, with Ramos and Pique holding the fort as they always have, though this time with David De Gea protecting their backs too. Then add in the immaculate Andres Iniesta and a few others and the format is there for the team that has been so dominant the last eight years. But it’s more than that. A few Atletico players in there, one or two from other Spanish clubs and an array of Premier Leaguers means that this is a Spanish team with more variety than we’re used to. They can beat you in a few different ways, not just death by 1000 passes – which to be fair is pretty effective. Case and point is Alvaro Morata. A genuine striker who can, as he proved vs Turkey, score a mean header from a cross, one more string to the Spanish bow. Hard to see who can beat them, though you can never predict those things.
