England played their third and final group match of Euro 2024 earlier today, taking on Slovenia in Cologne, Germany. It was a scorching hot day in northwest Germany, so both sides knew going in this could end up being a slog. England knew that a win and possibly even a draw would see them top the group, depending on the result between Denmark vs. Serbia. England were also through to the knockout stages as of yesterday, when Albania lost to Spain. The rules around progression from the group stages are different this year, with the top two teams from each group advancing, along with the four best 3rd place teams (based on points, goal differential, and other factors). It can be kind of tricky to explain, but the main takeaway is that England had already clinched progression to the knockout stages before this match even started.
Slovenia were quick out of the blocks, and forced the first shot on goal of the match. It was a tame header from striker Benjamin Sesko though, which England keeper Jordan Pickford collected easily. England eventually got on the ball more, but when they did it was the usual harmless and tepid position that they’ve been guilty of the last two matches. No one was willing to run forward, no one was willing to pass it forward, and no one was willing to dribble a little bit and take on their defender. This lasted for about 20 minutes or so. England did have the ball in the back of the net around the 25 minute mark after a neat pass and move and from winger(?) Phil Foden and midfielder Declan Rice, which was tapped in by winger Bukayo Saka. Unfortunately, the goal was (correctly) ruled out by the linesman for offside. Foden was about half yard behind his man when Rice played him the ball. Frustrating, but that moment should have provided a formula for an England goal. When they move the ball quickly in attack, the Slovenians won’t be able to keep up.
Unfortunately, England seemed to ignore this formula and continue to play passive and slow possession that often ended up in nothing happening. On some occasions, they would lose possession in dangerous areas and allow the Slovenians to run at them. There were one or two half chances for them in the first half that made Three Lions supporters sweat more than the heat did. Make no mistake – Slovenia were not over-awed by England nor the occasion, particularly in the first half. They were well organized in defense, and keeper Jan Oblak had little to do. At halftime it was 0-0, with Slovenia surely the happier of the two sides.
England manager Gareth Southgate brought on midfielder Kobbie Mainoo at halftime for the ineffective Conor Gallagher, and after about 4 or 5 minutes, England were in possession and control of the ball a lot more. That is not solely down to Mainoo, but he certainly helped. They were still struggling to create clear chances, but they had snuffed out Slovenia’s attack for the most part. Substitute midfielder Cole Palmer and winger Anthony Gordon eventually came on, and it was these subs that were probably England’s best players on the day. Palmer got on the ball and created a half-chance for himself, after which Gordon did well to dribble at his man and create a chance. There were one or two other “good buildup but misplaced final pass” situations for England, but the match ended 0-0.
Fortunately for England, Denmark vs. Serbia also ended 0-0, so England won Group C on 5 points. Denmark finished second, with the Slovenians third. Serbia are eliminated. Group C ended up being a bit of a snoozer overall. Very few goals and a lot of 0-0 draws. England will play on next Sunday, with a likely opponent being the Netherlands, but that is not set in stone as of yet due to tomorrow’s fixtures. But by winning the group, England have avoided the fearsome quartet of Spain, Portugal, Germany, and France, all of whom are on the other side of the bracket. They cannot play any of those teams until the final.
But that is about the extent of the good news. England’s performance today was not a reassuring one for fans, not by a long shot. They failed to score for the first time this tournament against a side they should likely be scoring against. Again, the play was slow and lethargic for long portions of the match. There was very little effort from England’s players to get forward and take chances. This has to change. The system is certainly part of the problem, because it’s not allowing the players to play where they excel. I think the lack of productivity feeds into itself, because the body language of the players today was very nervous and anxious.
Southgate needs to fix this, and it needs to be fixed now. He started Gallagher in place of midfielder Trent Alexander-Arnold today, but that was the only change he made from the last match and it didn’t do anything. Bringing on Mainoo, Palmer, and Gordon was correct, but Gordon got little to no time to do anything. Foden still looks lost on the left wing. Midfielder Jude Bellingham was anonymous for the second straight match. Striker Harry Kane was dropping deep too often and not leading the line like he is supposed to. Left back Kieran Trippier needs to be dropped, too. He slows down play far too much and still acts like he has no idea Foden exists in front of him.
One potential solution would be to drop Gallagher and move Bellingham to the number 8 position, alongside Rice at the 6. That would allow Foden to move into his natural number 10 position, and Gordon can take his place on the left wing. If left back Luke Shaw ever gets himself fit, he needs to be played over Trippier. These are just a few of many ways in which this team could be improved. Most importantly of course, the manager must take the shackles off these lads. They need to be encouraged to run forward and take on players, because most of them have the natural talent to do so.
Southgate seems to have made up his mind, though. He is going to live and die by this “system” of his. Hopefully, he at least starts Mainoo, Palmer, and Gordon in the next match. We need energy and drive in this team, not passive possession. Happy to see the lads moving on and winning the group of course, but much improvement is still needed.
The Euros started on June 14 and have generally been entertaining thus far, although a bit predictable. There have been no major upsets, but there’s been goals in every game and Albania did a good job frustrating the Italians yesterday. Today was the biggest match so far for this particular blog, with England taking on Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The other two Group C teams, Slovenia and Denmark, drew 1-1 in the early match of the day, which meant that the winner of this one would top the group after the first round of matches.
England were the dominant team for the first ten minutes in terms of possession, with the Serbians unable to get out of their own half. The Three Lions were passing the ball effectively, although they didn’t create many opportunities initially. That all changed on 13 minutes though, when all-world midfielder Jude Bellingham got on the end of a deflected cross from winger Bukayo Saka. There was a Serbian defender in his path, but Bellingham dove for the ball and delivered a thumping header into the top corner from about eight yards out, with Serbia keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic unable to do anything about it. It was England’s first attempt on goal and really their first incisive move of the match, with Saka doing especially well to beat his marker to the end line and get a cross in. Bellingham is on an absolute tear right now for club and country, and the sky is the limit for the 20 year old from the West Midlands. His contributions will be vital towards England’s success at this tournament.
It was 1-0 after that and England continued to dominate possession until the last five minutes of the half or so. Serbia made some adjustments tactically and began playing more aggressively, although they did not fashion many good chances. Aside from a slightly inaccurate but powerful shot from striker Aleksandr Mitrovic, the Eastern European side looked fairly toothless. The only major complaint from any England fans would have been the lack of a second goal in the first half. They had several opportunities to put the match to bed, but they failed to do so and it remained 1-0 at halftime.
Serbia manager Dragan Stojkavic made some more changes at halftime, and the Serbs continued with their aggressive play to try and find an equalizer. England were lackluster in the first ten minutes of the second half or so, and Serbia really grew into the game. They still struggled to create clear chances though, as England were defending very well. Every time they’d get close, an England defender would step up and clear the danger. Good games in particular from center backs Marc Guehi and John Stones. Serbia felt they should have had a penalty on the hour mark after a collision in the box, but the referee did not give anything and VAR did not intervene.
As the second half wore on, it became clear that England manager Gareth Southgate was happy to sit on his side’s 1-0 lead. He made several defensive substitutions by bringing on midfielders Conor Gallagher and Kobbie Mainoo, and also brought on winger Jarrod Bowen for Saka. Bowen was impressive once he came on, and he almost got an assist if not for Savic parrying a header from striker Harry Kane onto the bar. Bringing on Bowen was the correct move, but I question the other subs from Southgate. He has a very conservative style of play once England have a lead, and that has bitten him in the behind before. A one-goal lead is a very narrow margin at this level of football, but he perpetually believes in England’s ability to defend that lead. Stubbornly so, at times. This style makes England dull to watch in attack on the best of days, but even more so on days like today when the opposition were hell bent on fouling England’s forwards every time they got on the ball. Kane, Bellingham, Saka, and others did well to win a number of free kicks in forward areas today.
This time (emphasis on this time), the conservative approach worked. Aside from a long-range effort from striker Dusan Vlahovic that England keeper Jordan Pickford tipped over the bar, the Serbs had very little to offer in terms of attacking threat. England won 1-0, and earned their first victory of the tournament! The lads defended well today, but Serbia had far too much possession for my liking and they were given too many opportunities to equalize.
While this was a win, Southgate has a lot to figure out. First and foremost, he needs to figure out what to do with winger/midfielder Phil Foden. Foden is not a natural left winger, and it was obvious he was not playing in his preferred position today due to him not contributing much. He is a natural attacking midfielder, but the problem there is that so is Bellingham. Foden is wonderfully talented, but he should never displace Bellingham in this team. However, that leaves limited options for him to play elsewhere. England got absolutely nothing out of the left side today in terms of production, and that is due to Foden being out of position and having little to no chemistry with left back Kieran Trippier. Foden may grow accustomed to his role on the left should he play there again, but it may take a bit of courage from Southgate to sit Foden in favor of a natural left winger, such as Anthony Gordon. Foden can come on as a sub for Bellingham, and that may be how he can help this team the most.
I also urge Southgate (in the highly unlikely event that he reads this) to not pull back and try to protect narrow leads in the future. Our players should be urged to try and retain possession while building towards a second or third goal. We can’t continue to sit back and just let other teams go at us throughout this tournament. Put simply, the other team has zero chance of scoring if they don’t have the ball! I realize it’s impossible to do this 100% of the time in a given match, but I think the main reason England got a positive result today is that Serbia are simply not very good. Outside of their two forwards and maybe a midfielder or two, they do not possess the quality and talent that England has. We should be beating teams like Serbia by two or three goals, not grinding out nervous 1-0 wins.
Of course, if we win every match from here to the final 1-0, no England fan will complain. We still won, and we’re still top of the group. Also, you never want to play your best game in the first match of a tournament. The conventional wisdom is that there should be room for improvement after the first match. However, the opposition is going to be better next time. Denmark have some question marks in defense, but they have world-class players in Cristian Eriksen, Rasmus Højlund, Andreas Christensen, and Kasper Schmeichel. England will need to be much sharper in attack than they were today. The match is next Thursday, June 20, at 9:00 a.m. PDT. With a win, England will have a superb chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
Manchester United travelled to the northeast of England yesterday for a Premier League matchup with Newcastle United at a cold but sunny St. James’ Park. This was going to be a crucial battle in the race for the top-4 and Champions League qualification next season. The Red Devils had a chance to cement their vice-like grip on 3rd place, which is where the club has been for most of the season. Newcastle and manager Eddie Howe are looking to appease their new Middle Eastern owners who have invested heavily in the team. Newcastle are a big club with a rich history, and their supporters always expect them to be challenging at the highest level. This was a re-match of the League Cup final earlier this season, which United won 2-0.
The Magpies were the better team from the outset, aided by a thunderous atmosphere provided by the Newcastle supporters. The atmosphere and their form would continue for the majority of the match. They had better possession and were creating all the chances, while United were struggling to figure out their own tactical plan. Keeper David De Gea made a double-save about 15 minutes in to keep out striker Alexander Isak and then the follow-up from Bruno Guimarães. Midfielder Sean Longstaff also saw a longer-rage effort fly just wide of the post about 15 minutes later after a neat passing move. United’s back line – marshalled by center backs Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane – was playing well, but the midfield and forwards were incredibly disjointed. Manager Erik ten Hag employed a midfield three of Marcel Sabitzer, Scott McTominay, and Bruno Fernandes in this match, and it must be noted that United were completely overrun in midfield for most of the match. United’s best chance was striker Wout Weghorst firing into the side netting of keeper Nick Pope’s goal. More on the tactics below. Still though, after 45 minutes it was 0-0, but it was largely thanks to Newcastle being wasteful in front of the goal.
United fans would have expected ETH to make a change or for the players to respond after playing poorly in the first half, but that never materialized. Newcastle largely picked up where they left off from the first half. Better on the ball, more energetic in picking up the second balls, and had more chances going forward. Newcastle eventually did cash in on their dominance on 65 minutes via midfielder Joe Willock. A cross was played in from the right by Guimarães that overshot most of the attackers, but found winger Allan Saint-Maximin at the back post. Saint-Maximin headed the ball back across the face of goal, and Willock was able to head it in from close range. The goal had been coming, but it’s unclear why De Gea didn’t collect the header from Saint-Maximin back across. It appeared he could have disrupted the flight of the ball, but he mystifyingly just watched it in the air. The marking on Willock was also poor, with Varane not getting close enough to him. A good goal from Newcastle that was thoroughly deserved.
ETH had made changes about five minutes before the goal bringing on striker Anthony Martial and winger/midfielder Jadon Sancho, but they largely failed to inspire the United attack. Every once in a while there would be a half chance created, but Newcastle looked more likely to get a second than United did to getting an equalizer. The Magpies did indeed get their second on 88 minutes, and it was a very simple goal in the end. Right back Kieran Trippier played a free kick from the right wing near the corner flag into the box, with striker Callum Wilson being on hand to head home from five yards out. Poor marking again, and it was bad free kick to concede by Red Devils left back Luke Shaw. His foul in that area was needless and he has to know the danger of giving a player like Trippier a dead ball opportunity from that position. Well done to Wilson for being in the right place at the right time, but the marking has to be tighter on him. The final whistle blew after 3 minutes of stoppage time, and Newcastle won 2-0.
ETH got his tactics and substitutions wrong in this match. Plain and simple. It’s true that we are without our two best midfielders in Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, but that’s no excuse for the tactics being so poor. Sabitzer and McTominay were largely invisible for most of the match, and it was unclear what United were trying to do in terms of the overall game plan. It seemed like some of them were trying to play the counter-press and win the ball high up the pitch, while other ones were trying to play possession and keep the ball. The result was Newcastle domination. The substitutions didn’t make sense, either. McTominay and Weghorst should have been off at half-time, yet they were left out there an additional 15 minutes. Martial is clearly not fully match fit yet, and Sancho’s decision making was (not for the first time) poor. I also didn’t understand taking off Martinez and Varane, given that they had been two of our better players on the day. The second goal was almost a direct result of the shuffling of the back line. Also, it’s becoming more and more clear that De Gea is not the best keeper for ETH’s system. His distribution is simply not good enough for a manager that wants his team to build from the back. There was an interview conducted with Newcastle winger Jacob Murphy after the match, and he said that he and his teammates noticed De Gea’s indecision with goal-kicks early on. Newcastle’s high press kept United penned into their own half for most of the game, with De Gea consistently unable to find an outlet. Either ETH must change his overall philosophy, or United need a new goalkeeper in the summer. I don’t see the former happening.
The tactics in this match were one problem, but a much bigger problem was the lack of energy and motivation on display from most of the team. This team’s mentality was a big issue last season under former managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, and it seems those old issues reared their ugly heads yet again. I saw a lot of the players quit trying in this match towards the end, and that is frankly unacceptable. Shaw said as much in his post-match interview. The opportunity to take something from this match was there until the 88th minute, but United acted like they were 4-0 down for most of the second half. ETH must fix this issue first and foremost. Our away form against the big teams this season has been dismal as well. He has to get in his players’ faces as a collective and hold them accountable for such a crap result. He has done that before, and the team usually improves as a result.
But this loss puts the cat amongst the pigeons in the race for the top-4. Arsenal and Manchester City have the top two spots almost guaranteed, but now we have United, Newcastle, and Tottenham Hotspur all jockeying for spots 3 and 4. All three teams are currently level on 50 points, but United’s goal difference is vastly inferior to the other two. Tottenham have two games in hand so there is that advantage for the Red Devils, but United are definitely in a dog fight now. The next match is also against a dangerous Brentford side on Wednesday April 5, and they have already beaten United earlier this season. United are temporarily down to fifth, although they could finish the match week in 4th if Tottenham lose today. In any event, there was a big chance in this match for United to gain some breathing room over those rivals, but that opportunity was squandered. Fifth place is not acceptable for a team of this caliber.
The Three Lions of England kicked off their qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 earlier today when they travelled to Naples, Italy for a match with the reigning European Champions at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. These two nations are easily the two best ones in Group C, so this match was a massive one as the winner would firmly be in the driver’s seat to win the group. England manager Gareth Southgate selected a similar team from England’s last match at World Cup 2022, which raised some eyebrows from the pundits. It could be argued that Italy and manager Roberto Mancini were under more pressure to get a good result today, given that they were at home and (rather hilariously) failed to qualify for last fall’s World Cup.
While Italy created the first two half-chances from set pieces in the opening minutes, it was England who were in the ascendancy for the majority of the first half. Midfielder Jude Bellingham tested Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from distance after an excellent run, but the big keeper was able to palm the shot over his crossbar. England won a corner a few minutes later though, and they found themselves ahead thanks to a scrambled finish from midfielder Declan Rice on 13 minutes. Winger/forward Bukayo Saka played a high and looping cross towards the back post, which was controlled well by striker Harry Kane. Kane got a shot away, but it was blocked by the Italian defense only for it to rebound straight to Rice. Rice took a touch to steady the ball, but then showed good instincts to knock it into the goal from about 6-7 yards out. Well done to England for converting a set piece, but Italy were at sixes and sevens. They had three men covering England center back Harry Maguire, and as a result their defenders were out of position when the rebound fell to Rice. Maguire is a big threat in the air, but it’s farcical to use three men to mark him when Kane is also in the box. Poor marking, but England were nevertheless up 1-0 and good value for their lead.
As noted, England had a ton of possession in the first half, and they could have had a second goal if not for a poor decision made by England midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Italy gave the ball away in a bad position straight to Phillips, but Phillips elected to shoot from distance. The shot was powerful but it went wide, and he probably should have opted to play in Kane on a run just ahead of him. If he played the ball in to Kane, Kane likely scores.
Kane did get the opportunity to write his name in the history books when England were awarded a penalty on 44 minutes. Another corner from Saka hit an Italian defender’s arm as it was played towards the back post. Initially the referee only gave a corner, but VAR was consulted and Serbian referee Srđan Jovanović pointed to the spot. After a slight delay, Kane stepped up and calmly put the ball into the right side of the goal. This goal was historic because it meant that Kane is now England’s all-time leading scorer, having surpassed former England forward Wayne Rooney. More on Kane below, but England were 2-0 up and looked to be in cruise control. They really should have had 3 just before halftime though, when Kane found winger Jack Grealish with a low cross. Grealish was only about 5 yards out and in acres of space to shoot with Donnarumma out of position, but he shanked the ball wide of the far post. He really should have scored! But if you told me England would be 2-0 up against the Italians in Italy at half time, I would have happily taken it.
The second half was much different though. I am not sure what Mancini said to his men in the locker room, but clearly it had great effect as the Italians were suddenly filled with energy. While England had been bossing the midfield and winning all the second balls in the first half, that very much switched to the Azzuri in the second. While England defended fairly well for the first 10 minutes or so of the second half, the Italians pulled them apart on 56 minutes to tally a response. Italy had the ball in the final third and it was at the feet of midfielder Nicolò Barella. Maguire stepped up to challenge Barella, but his tackle was poorly timed and Barella was able to get a pass to attacking midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini just outside the box. Striker (and debutante) Mateo Retegui had slipped himself in behind Maguire in space, and Pellegrini found him with a sublime reverse pass through the legs of Rice. Retegui took a touch to steady the ball and fired home with a splendid shot high into the opposite corner from 12 yards out. The whole goal was the result of Maguire being out of position and England losing the ball in midfield as well. Rice could have done better to intercept the pass as well, but credit to the Italians for taking advantage of England’s sloppy passage of play.
The final 30 minutes and stoppage time of this match were nervy ones for both sets of supporters in the stadium. The Italians continued their dominance, with England struggling to get out of their own half. Every time England cleared the ball up the pitch, it came right back at them. Southgate needed to change things, but he seemed content to leave his original 11 on while Mancini was rolling the dice with subs like he was at a craps table. Italian substitute winger Wilfried Gnoto was a particularly troublesome threat for England. His bouncing cross into the area on 77 minutes was inches away from meeting the head of a fellow attacker, and he was constantly making runs at England right back Kyle Walker.
Things really kicked off just moments after that though, when it appeared that an Italian defender handled the ball in his own box while under pressure from Kane. This time there wasn’t even a stoppage or a VAR review though, so Italy got the ball back up the pitch quickly. They were in a very promising position in their attacking third when England left back Luke Shaw delivered a challenge on Retegui. Jovanović stopped play to award a foul, and was immediately surrounded by both sets of players. Jovanović had been having trouble maintaining control of the match in the second half, with several questionable calls against England (and probably against Italy too). England were furious that VAR hadn’t stopped play to check the handball, while the Italians were screaming for Shaw to be booked and thus sent off. Shaw had been booked just minutes earlier for time wasting, but that was one of the aforementioned questionable decisions by Jovanović. After a what was almost 30 seconds of indecision, Jovanović did indeed show Shaw a second yellow and sent him off. England would have to play the final 10 minutes and stoppage time with ten men. Southgate sent on left back Kieran Trippier to replace show, replacing winger Phil Foden who had just come on about five minutes before that.
England defended the ensuing free kick well, and Southgate quickly sent on further defensive reinforcements with the introductions of right back Reece James and midfielder Conor Gallagher. It must be said that even though they were down to ten men, England somehow improved in the final moments of the match. They were getting blocks and tackles in, and Kane had started winning the ball high up the pitch again. They didn’t create any scoring chances, but they didn’t need to. They just needed to win throw-ins and fouls as often as possible, because each one would take precious time off the clock. After a less-than-expected five minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle went and England were victorious on Italian soil for the first time since 1961!
So while it was a game of two halves in which England nearly choked it away, the most important thing is that they held on to win. England under Southgate have a history of scoring first in big games, only to choke away a victory later on. They did that against these very same Italians in the summer of 2021 at Wembley when they lost in the Euros final. But that was vitally not what happened today. Despite going down to ten men after some chaotic and one-sided refereeing, they held their effing nerve and didn’t concede again! This team can score goals and they play some beautiful football at times, but they need to learn to be ruthless at the end of big matches. The players showed real grit and determination today, and that is refreshing in a big match such as this one. Interestingly, it could be argued that England should have had this match put away at halftime. If Grealish scores his big chance, it’s 3-0 to England the second half is very different. Credit to the players, and credit to Southgate for making the right subs.
Special commendations to one Mr. Harry Kane. As mentioned above, the 29 year-old Tottenham Hotspur striker became England’s all-time leading goal scorer with his spot-kick goal today! He now has 54 England goals to his name, and he is far from being done. While it’s true that his trophy cabinet is a little on the empty side, there is no questioning his dominance as a center forward. The statistics speak for themselves – Kane is the best pure goal-scorer to ever put on an England shirt. Not only does he have the record for most goals scored, he also has the record for most goals scored in competitive matches. He scores important goals. He came close to breaking the record last fall against France in that now-infamous quarterfinal, but he missed his penalty over the bar. Finessing it past Donnarumma today was a bit of redemption, though. A big penalty scored with relative ease in a very important match. He will look to extend his record over this qualifying campaign and help England qualify for Germany in 2024.
England will fly home after this match and prepare for their next qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. This was a fantastic start to the 2024 qualifying campaign, and Ukraine will provide another tough test. They are probably the 3rd-best team in Group C talent-wise, and the players will want to give their war-torn home nation something to be happy about. Shaw will be unavailable for selection due to a red card suspension, but that’s actually fine by me. Shaw has played for Manchester United a lot this season, and he needs some mandated rest.
The Red Devils played host to Newcastle United yesterday at Old Trafford in the Premier League. This was the beginning of a tough run of fixtures for United, as they have three matches in seven days against some very good teams. One of those teams was today’s opponent, colloquially known the Magpies. They are challenging for European spots this year thanks to a hefty spend in the summer transfer window, funded by their new Saudi owners in that country’s latest act of sportswashing. I have a deep respect and admiration for Newcastle United as a club and for it’s history, but that respect to does not extend to their new ownership group.
The match got underway and both sides seemed content to feel each other out gradually. I was hoping United would be more on the attack from the get-go, but that was not really the case. Winger Jadon Sancho had a shot go wide of the target from distance, but that was United’s only action in the opening 20 minutes. Newcastle came closer to a goal on 23 minutes after midfielder Joelinton struck the crossbar with a header and then struck the post off the rebound with a follow-up header. The woodwork was the hero twice, as United keeper David De Gea would not have gotten to either effort. There was no major action again until 37 minutes, when United winger Antony dos Santos was denied from close range at a tight angle by the legs of Newcastle and England keeper Nick Pope. Bruno Fernandes then saw his header go wide in first half stoppage time, and the half ended 0-0. Newcastle had the best chance to score, but United had more chances to score. A fairly even half with maybe a slight edge to United.
The second half got off to an odd start when striker Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to steal the ball away from the feet of Pope and slot home for 1-0, but the referee mysteriously disallowed the goal. He had previously awarded Newcastle a free kick which Pope was set to take, and it appeared to have been touched by a Newcastle defender as Pope was readying himself for a long kick. Ronaldo elected to take the ball around Pope and slot home in an empty net, but the referee Craig Pawson called the goal back and booked Ronaldo instead! A very confusing sequence of events. I don’t think Pawson saw the Newcastle defender touch the ball because he wasn’t paying attention. Terrible, really. Ronaldo caught them napping and was punished for it.
Another poor decision from Pawson happened on 53 minutes, when Ronaldo was collided with by Newcastle and England fullback Kieran Trippier. Replays showed Tripper clearly stepping on Ronaldo’s foot without getting contact on the ball, yet neither Pawson nor VAR intervened to correct the decision. Pawson was repeatedly in the negative spotlight as the half wore on. Newcastle’s primary tactic became to foul United players any time they were on the ball in attack, and Pawson repeatedly failed to appropriately punish the fouls or he missed them altogether.
United got two fantastic chances late on, the first of which was squandered by poor finishing from midfielder Fred after an excellent run and cross from winger/forward Marcus Rashford that pulled Pope way off his line. Fred had the goal open in front of him, but he couldn’t get enough control on the ball due to the pace of the cross and he flashed it wide left. Rashford was then guilty of a bad miss himself in stoppage time when his header off a sublime cross by midfielder Casemiro over the top in from the left also went wide of the post. Rashford had space and you could tell he was trying to guide it back across the face of goal, but he couldn’t find the back of the net. The final whistle blew a few minutes later and the match ended 0-0.
It is fair to partially blame the referee and the cynical tactics from Newcastle for this result, but just as much blame (if not more) needs to be placed on United’s poor finishing, particularly in the second half. For most of this match, in particular the second half, United were the better side. They had the possession advantage, they were creating more chances, and generally keeping a decent Newcastle side penned in their own half. The two chances at the end of the match in particular were glaringly bad. This is the second match in a row where finishing has been the principal and primary issue as well. They got away with it in midweek against Omonia Nicosia, but squandering chances and hoping for a miracle in the final minutes is not a reliable formula for winning matches. A striker is required in January. This club cannot rely on an injury-prone Anthony Martial and an aging Ronaldo to be the primary goal threats. Rashford is not a natural center-forward, either. He can play there if needed, but he’s much more effective down the left and right wings and then cutting inside to create a shooting chance.
All that said, United had a goal wrongly disallowed and were denied at least one, maybe two clear penalties in this match. Pawson was terrible and the Newcastle players knew they could get away with fouling United players because he wasn’t going to card anyone. VAR was also mysteriously not called into action several times when perhaps it should have been, so the VAR official had a bit of a shocker as well.
At the end of the day, one point is better than zero points. It is also the first Premier League draw of manager Erik ten Hag’s tenure, interestingly. United sit 5th in the table still, now three points off Chelsea in 4th instead of just one. United host in-form Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday at Old Trafford. If United don’t sort out their scoring issues, that could be a very bad match. Spurs are scoring for fun right now and United will probably need at least 1-2 goals for a realistic chance at a good result.
I apologize for the tardiness of this blog but it’s been a very emotional 24-48 hours since the final penalty was taken in the match. The loss of course is one thing, but then there was the resulting fallout from it as well. I think it’s probably best to discuss the match itself first and then go over the shitstorm that happened afterwards.
The atmosphere at Wembley on Sunday pre-match was electric, and it must be said that the overall vibe was a positive one. There had been some skirmishes with some idiot England fans trying to get into Wembley without tickets, but again those were minor when compared with the overwhelming majority of fans who were there to have a good time. Choruses of “Sweet Caroline” rung out around the ground in the lead up to kick off, as England fans celebrated their first men’s final in 55 years.
And things went from a reserved frenzy to a raucous celebration just 2 minutes into the match when left wingback Luke Shaw was found in the box by a cross from fellow wingback Kieran Trippier the right hand side. He hit it towards the Italian goal and keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could not get to it as it crept in just inside the left-hand post. It was clear from the outset that Italy’s initial tactical set up was all wrong. They had come out in their usual 4-3-3, while England manager Gareth Southgate had changed his formation again and set up England in a 3-4-3. Shaw and Trippier were overwhelming them in the space on the wings, and the Italians could not figure out how to mark them with a back 4. Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips were also dictating the possession and tempo in the middle of the park, and for the entire rest of the first half Italy looked rather toothless. Italy forward Federico Chiesa put a shot just wide of Jordan Pickford’s goal after a long run with the ball, but that was Italy’s best chance. The one negative from the first half is that England did not score a second goal, but the way the match was going you figured there would be an opportunity for another one.
But Italy manager Roberto Mancini is no stranger to adversity, and he made some key changes that really swung things back in Italy’s favor. He took off ineffective striker Ciro Immobile and brought on attacking midfielder Federico Bernadeschi, which immediately gave the Italians more fluidity in attack. Along with the urgency of knowing they needed a goal and fresher legs in midfield, Italy really pressed England for about a 10-15 minute spell in the early second half. They were unfortunately rewarded for their efforts after they won a corner, which was tapped in to the back of the England net by center back Leonardo Bonucci after a mad scramble in the box. England failed to clear the ball and Bonucci was in the right place at the right time to make England pay. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
Italy continued their dominant spell for another 10 minutes or so but could not find a second goal. England had a little more possession in the final 10-15 minutes, but solid Italian defending and closing down in midfield prevented England from mounting a serious attack. Southgate had indeed brought on help in the forms of Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, and Bukayo Saka, but I felt that those subs were too little and too late (more on that below). In the end no more goals were scored and extra time would be needed.
Extra time in a major final is nothing new of course, but I was worried about our fatigue levels given the lack of substitutions. I thought that Mancini had done a better job of getting his tired players off the field, even if one or two of them were necessary changes due to injury. I was more than relieved to see Chiesa go off injured late in the second half. I don’t wish injury on any player, but he had been tormenting England all match and was Italy’s best attacking player on the day.
Italy dominated the first 15 minutes of extra time, but England fought back a little in the second 15 minutes with some better possession and movement around the box. Center back John Stones barely missed getting his head on a cross from Shaw, but there were no serious attempts on the goal. There was a moment where I thought defender Giorgio Chiellini would be sent off for a foul on Saka, but the referee only showed a yellow. I felt it probably should have been a red given the egregious manner in which Chiellini grabbed Saka’s shirt color and yanked it back, but I am not sure how much of a difference it would have made that late on in the match anyway. The referee definitely let a lot of contact go in this match and generally tried to let both teams play. That is fine when it helps your team and it’s what the neutrals would be happy to see, but it’s maddening when it cuts against your team.
Forwards Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were indeed subbed on, but only with about two minutes to go in extra time. I was happy to see those two come on, but it was far too late for them to get involved in the match. Penalties loomed and a nation held it’s breath. Once penalties were confirmed, I was trying to be optimistic. This group of players beat Colombia in a World Cup elimination game on penalties in 2018, so they knew how to win one this way. Higher stakes this time of course and England do have a long history of penalty failures before that, but there was reason for a degree of optimism going into the pens.
I won’t go through it kick by kick because most people saw what happened and it’s too painful to type out anyway, but Italy won 3-2 after a save from Donnarumma on Saka with the fifth and final penalty. Rashford and Sancho missed penalties as well, with Harrys Kane and Maguire converting theirs. Pickford produced two fine saves to keep England in it, but Saka’s penalty was too low and lacked power. Donarumma was the hero on the day, and Italy were crowned European Champions. I turned the stream off and walked away for a bit. I was absolutely crushed, and you could tell Saka, Rashford, and Sancho all felt horribly too. I think it is fair to say that having a 19 year old take the fifth penalty, which is often a decisive one, was an error in judgment from Southgate.
But that was not his biggest error on the day. Saka and Sancho hitting a weak penalties and Rashford missing altogether were also not the main reasons for the loss. Penalties are a crap shoot and anything can happen when the match gets to that point. The principle reasons for the loss were not killing off Italy when we had them on the ropes in the first half, and then failing to respond quickly enough to their tactical changes in the second half. Mancini did not play a perfect match tactically, but his adaptability and willingness to take risks was what won his side their first European title since 1968. He saw that what he set out with wasn’t working, so he took a gamble or two and it paid off. Of course, it does become easier to gamble when you have the defense that Italy has. The center back pairing of Bonucci and Chiellini is world class, simple as. They were excellent at keeping Kane and Raheem Sterling at bay for all 120 minutes. Those two have been England’s best attacking players all tournament, but they were largely anonymous for most of the match.
If England are to win a trophy with this current crop of players, Southgate must be willing to be more adventurous when the time is right. Yes, the conservative approach got us through the first six games, but in a final sometimes you have to take risks and go for the goal. I do not trust England on penalties and we should never try to play for penalties. We were not explicitly doing that in the final, but Southgate was unwilling to change things despite conceding a goal that looked like it was coming for at least 7 or 8 minutes. Sancho and Rashford should have been brought on in normal time, not 2 minutes before penalties. Grealish should have been brought on before the 70th minute. There should have been some kind of tactical plan for more outlet passes from the back to relieve the pressure the Italians were pouring on the back line in the lead up to their goal. The goal may have still come anyway, but England would have been much more suited to getting a second one if he had been less rigid in his approach.
So yes, to lose a major final at home like that is heartbreaking. It’s not an enjoyable experience in any way. But what was even more heartbreaking was the response to it from fans, the media, and even the British government.
Within minutes of England being eliminated, hate speech and vile racist attacks came pouring in from supposed England “supporters” on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I won’t repeat what was said but suffice it to say that it was just some of the nastiest things one could say to another person. Rashford, Sancho, and Saka got most of the attacks and many (false) correlations were made between the race of those players and their ability to take penalties. There was even an Australian newspaper that ran a later-retracted headline about England’s Black players missing while the white players scored. A mural of Rashford in south Manchester was also defaced with racist language and symbols.
It’s fucking disgusting. That’s all there is to it. You would have thought that by the year 2021 we would be done with the farcical concept of racism, but the reality is that it has only gotten worse in recent years. It definitely seems to be worse at the least, due to the fact that every idiot with a pair of thumbs can express his/her asinine opinion and share it with the world instantaneously. Social media platforms claim they are trying to fight back against hate speech online, but that’s a hydra that is difficult to slay. As soon as you shut down one idiot, two more pop up elsewhere. It should be no wonder why England players took a knee before the kickoff of every match at this tournament to protest against racism. It is clearly still needed.
England fans already had a reputation before this tournament as being rowdy and block-headed, and we’ve done ourselves no favors with all this idiocy. Immediately after the wave of racist nonsense came in, another of wave of hatred pervaded the internet in response. This time though it was a different set of people calling out the racism of our supporters and generally lampooning England as a nation. It was hard to see that as an anti-racist England supporter, but a lot of it was justified. This country does have a problem with racism and it must be addressed. If it takes national embarrassment to get that done, then so be it.
I am no sociologist and I do not know how to fix the problem entirely, but one thing that would help immensely is if UK politicians like Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel stopped stoking the fires of discrimination among their constituents. Politicians like those two were elected on nationalist/exclusionist principles, and in the past they frequently targeted dark-skinned immigrants as being the source of many of the UK’s problems when pushing for Brexit. Both Johnson and Patel were quick to condemn the racism from social media, but that was a very hypocritical position to take when it’s primarily those two and their party responsible for a good portion of the racism in the first place. England center back Tyrone Mings was correct to point that out, and his tweet response to Patel went viral almost instantly. You cannot claim to be against racism when you’ve spent the last several years subversively promoting it!
But in the darkest hour for England, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Kane, a white man and England’s captain, posted a condemnation of racism on his social media that provided me a sense of relief in it’s strongly-worded tone. Kane is normally somewhat tepid and lukewarm on issues that don’t directly involve football, but the message of “we don’t want you” re: racist supporters was unequivocal and it was the exact message needed. I echo his words now: if you are racist, you are not an England supporter and we don’t want you.
I was further emboldened by the response of Rashford and the support for him on social media. As toxic as some people were, the real England fans showed up to support the lad when he was being attacked. Rashford admitted his penalty wasn’t good enough, but he refused to apologize for being a Black man and of course he shouldn’t have to. Rashford is 1000x the man any of the racists are. He’s spent the past 1-2 years feeding schoolchildren and funding literacy programs. He even went toe-to-toe with PM Johnson himself when it came to school meals during the pandemic. He has donated roughly £20m to charities in the past year, which is more than his entire net worth. He was recognized for his services by the Crown as well, who awarded him an MBE. Rashford is the shining example, but many England players have made great contributions to the communities they grew up in.
The support for the statements of Rashford and Kane was overwhelmingly positive. For every idiot racist sounding off, there was 10 more people in full support of everything these lads have done and are doing for this country. It was absolutely vital that they got some support from English people, as that has not always been the case in the past, even for extremely popular (white) players like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. Becks was hung in effigy outside pubs in London after his red card against Argentina in 1998, and Rooney was the target of threats and personal attacks after his own red card against Portugal in 2006. Yes England lost in disappointing fashion, but the cycle of attacking our players when they don’t perform for England seems to be breaking. We need to be encouraging these players and helping them remain positive. Having them terrified of playing for England will not result in success. Toxicity only breeds more toxicity.
This team’s run to the final captivated and united the nation, for the most part. We played well for long stretches in the final as well, and for 60+ minutes we were European Champions. I could not be more proud of them and the manager, and that sentiment is shared by many. In many ways, this whole incident showed both the very best and very worst of social media. You had the vile racism at first, but the swift condemnation in response to all of it was nothing short of positive. Even the normally-alarmist British tabloids were mostly supportive of the lads post-match.
The damage to Rashford’s mural was covered with messages of support written on bits of paper and England flags, and earlier today the street artist who initially did the mural was out there repairing it.
If we want England to have any degree of success over the next 10-15 years, we have to continue showing support like this. If the players are able to put their club tribalism aside and play for one another, then so can the average fan. This tournament and the subsequent fallout I think created a strong bond among these England players; a brotherhood of sorts. They know they’re good and they know they can do well at tournaments, and if they can get through this level of fallout they can get through anything. All we need to do as England fans is keep supporting them and they will eventually bring us another trophy. Getting to the final was a huge step in the right direction and I think there will only be more growth as the team grows and matures. Many of our players this tournament were still very young, including Rashford, Sancho, Saka, and Jude Bellingham. They are only going to get better. If they know England fans are going to be behind them even if they lose a close match, that will only make success more likely.
This England team under Southgate might be the one to bring us success on the pitch, which is why I titled this post as “It’s Not Coming Home (This Time)”. We will have more chances to win with this group, as we have shown that we can play with anybody. Reaching the semis in 2018 and a final in 2020(1) is already the best I have seen England do in my lifetime. At this tournament we beat the Germans, scored four in a knockout match, and went to our first major final in 55 years. More importantly, their efforts off the pitch may end up being a catalyst for real societal change in the UK as well. Mark my words – these players will make history one way or another.
Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who read these blog posts during the Euros. My readers are of the utmost importance to me and I hope it was informative and entertaining for you all. It truly was a great tournament marred only by the actions of a small amount of knuckle-draggers.
I shall now be taking a few weeks off from the blog as there is a lull in competitive football matches in late July/early August. United’s pre-season gets underway soon, but I’ll do a full season preview for that once the Premier League is closer to returning.
It’s been six days and I feel like I am slowly coming to peace with England’s exit from Russia. It’s been a negative week though, especially after seeing France win the whole thing. France (along with Germany) are England’s bitter rivals and I have to admit seeing Croatia win the whole thing would have been preferable. Then England could have claimed that they lost to the eventual champions. France of course were the better team (see previous post), but it just sucks that a tournament so full of excitement for England ended in such a bitter way.
I say it was bitter because I truly felt England had the opportunity to beat Croatia. Anytime you get a goal in the opening ten minutes, you immediately put pressure on the opposition. Excellent free kick by Kieran Trippier. But like what happened against Tunisia and Colombia, England surrendered their 1 goal lead. This time though they couldn’t recover and it bit them in the ass. I do have a major gripe with the referee’s decision to award Croatia’s first goal. The Croatian attacker swung his leg so high that it went over England center-back Kyle Walker’s head! For those who don’t know, you can’t stick your boot in the air that high in order to win the ball. It’s unsafe because the player raising his boot could kick someone in the head. I think it was a clear high-boot and a foul should have been awarded the other way. No goal.
What makes me the most mad though is that this very same referee, Turkey’s Cuneyt Cakir, issued a red card to Manchester United winger Nani during a quarterfinal of the Champions League in 2013 against Real Madrid for the same conduct! Nani had his boot in the air around midfield and it likely was a foul, but at most Cakir should have given a yellow. But no, he issues a red. United lost to Madrid since we couldn’t contain them with 10 men. Then this hypocrite and/or blind idiot fails to even award a foul against Croatia for much more dangerous play. Easily could have taken Walker’s head off.
That being said, that goal doesn’t matter nearly as much had England converted some the excellent chances they created in the first half. Most notably, Harry Kane seemed to miss from roughly 1 foot out, something I still don’t understand. Upon further review it seems Danijel Subasic did get back to get a slight touch on the ball, but Kane has to score from there. He went somewhat quiet in the knockout stage compared to the group stage, but losing the game can hardly be blamed solely on him. England stopped going forward in the early part of the 2nd half, and Croatia grew into the game because of it.
Once extra time came around I felt it was going to go to penalties, but then England switched off at the back and Mario Mandzukic took advantage in extra time. I can’t complain really about their second goal, other than it never should have happened cuz England should have won 1-0. England were less than 30 minutes from the World Cup final, only to throw it all away. So depressing. We’ll never know what could have been, a phrase that probably sums up WC 2018 for England.
But all of that being said, if you told me England would make the semifinals before the tournament started, I would have asked you what you were smoking. I had them maybe going to the Round of 16…maybe. England have been so dismal at past tournaments that anything beyond that could have been considered a success. And I must say, this tournament has been great for England in many ways:
Harry Kane wins the Golden Boot for top-scorer (6 goals)
Kane scores a hat-trick in a match, first time for England since 1986
England win a World Cup penalty shoot-out for the first time EVER
England score 6 goals in a game, the most they’ve ever scored at a World Cup
12 goals scored total, most England have ever scored at a World Cup
England win a knock-out match for the first time since 2006
England reach the semifinals of the World Cup for the first time since 1990
Most importantly though, the nation fell in love with the national team again. Everything’s been so terrible for so long that even this modicum of success has made everyone feel great. All the scenes of fans celebrating every goal from Newcastle to south London was fantastic. So happy that our fans got something to enjoy this tournament. It’s usually nothing but negativity during the summer every four years in England.
I think the foundation of something good has been laid down here, and I think Gareth Southgate has done very well to instill the proper tactics and mentality in this team. They’re one of the youngest teams at this tournament, and I feel they will continue to do well at Euro 2020 and also in Qatar in 2022. They’ll be older and wiser in 2 and 4 years. Not sure I want England to partake in the Qatar tournament, but that’s another post for another time.
I sincerely hope this isn’t a false-dawn, but you have to feel that the system and the players work well with each other, and the players play for one another instead of themselves. Club rivalries get swept aside and they play for the Three Lions. England’s quarterfinal win over Sweden was easily the most complete match I have ever seen England play. Good goals, good midfield play, mostly-good defending, and excellent goalkeeping. If they can keep their strong mentality and add some decent bench players in the coming years, they will continue to do well. We still have a ways to go to catch the elites, but for the first time in a long time, it feels the team is headed in the right direction.
Player of the tournament for England: right wing-back Kieran Trippier. Yes Kane did well with his goals, and yes Jordan Pickford is an excellent keeper, but Trippier played splendidly in every game he played in. His deliveries into the box from the right wing were consistently excellent and usually led to England creating chances and scoring. His free kick was the cherry on top of a fantastic tournament for him. Tireless work-rate as well. Ran his legs off every match. Tottenham have themselves a fantastic couple of players and I think they will do big things in the coming season. Special mention for Pickford as well. Goalkeeping blunders have always been a trademark of England at World Cups, but not this time. Consistently good and even excellent throughout.
Where do England go from here? No one knows for sure, but all the signs point upwards. Fans have to believe in the team while realizing that there is still work to be done!
4-4-2 