Manchester United travelled to London earlier today for an FA Cup Semifinal matchup with Brighton & Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium. This match was full of intrigue for a variety of reasons. Brighton and manager Roberto De Zerbi are probably having the best season in their history, and they’ve been extremely successful with their scouting and recruiting of players who fit De Zerbi’s system. He also knows how to get the best out of his players. They play a possession-oriented style that you don’t often see from a mid-table club, and they are anchored in the center of the park by a World Cup winner in Argentine midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. United and manager Erik ten Hag were looking to right the ship after the woeful 3-0 loss to Sevilla in the Europa League. The back line was shuffled once again, with left back Luke Shaw moving into the center of defense alongside center back Victor Lindelof. The FA Cup is United’s last realistic chance of winning another trophy this season.
The first half was decidedly even. Both teams were cancelling each other out tactically, and the defenses were playing extremely well. Brighton forced an early save from keeper David De Gea on 7 minutes from a Mac Alister free kick, after which midfielder Bruno Fernandes forced a save from Seagulls keeper Robert Sanchez with a shot from just outside the box on 14 minutes. There were half chances created as the first 45 minutes wore on, but there was also a litany of fouls and injuries that really stopped the match from getting into a rhythm or flow. Neither side had a great half in terms of finishing. The final touch or shot was seemingly always just off. Winger Antony dos Santos forced a kicked save from Sanchez in stoppage time, but it was a fairly routine one at that. At halftime it was 0-0, and it was hard to give an edge to either side.
The second half was a bit more dynamic. For the first 15 minutes or so, it was all Brighton. They were dominant in possession and were winning free kicks left and right. De Gea was forced into a big reflex save on 55 minutes from Brighton forward Julio Enciso after the Red Devils failed to effectively clear a corner. United did well to weather the storm though, and they became the more dominant team as the second half carried on. The problems with finishing for both teams carried on, however. Each time someone got the ball into a promising position, it was inevitably followed by a bad touch or last-ditch challenge that ended the danger. The usual second half substitutions from both sides also slowed things down. Seagulls winger Solly March forced a low but again routine save from De Gea on 83 minutes, but that was the only goal mouth action in the latter stages of the half. As the minutes ticked down, it became clear that extra time and maybe even penalties would be needed.
The 30 minutes of extra time that ensued followed the same pattern as the previous 90. A half chance for Brighton, then a half chance for United, then Brighton, et cetera. Some very solid defensive play from both teams, coupled with more poor finishing. The best chance for United was a deflected shot from striker Marcus Rashford that sent Sanchez diving, but he got a hand to it and palmed it away. Rashford came very close again on 112 minutes after a fine pass from midfielder Casemiro found him on a run, but his curling effort from 16-17 yards went wide of Sanchez’s far post. After 120 minutes of football and stoppage time it was still 0-0, and the ominous aura of penalties loomed large.
The weather seemed to understand the importance of the moment too, as what was previously a sunny day in west London suddenly became a downpour just before the shootout began. Water on the pitch is not what a penalty taker wants, but both De Gea and Sanchez would have been pleased to see it. Mac Alister went first for Brighton and dispatched his penalty expertly, as did Casemiro for United after him. Seagulls defender Pascal Groß then converted his penalty, after which United full back Diogo Dalot dispatched his as well. That’s how it went for the first five penalties for each side – clinical finishing. Sanchez did get a hand to midfielder Marcel Sabitzer’s sixth penalty, but he couldn’t keep it out. The big break for United came when March skied penalty number 7 over the crossbar, which allowed Lindelof to step up to the spot and send Sanchez the wrong way! United won 7-6 on penalties and advanced to the FA Cup Final!
Tons of talking points from this one but I want to highlight United’s makeshift back four of Shaw, Lindelof, Dalot, and right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. All four of them were immense today, as was De Gea with some key saves. Lindelof in particular was impressive. It’s true he’s fallen down the pecking order this season due to the play of center backs Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane, but he has proven himself to be a reliable option when those two have not been available. Having Shaw next to him was a risky but ultimately correct decision as well. He doesn’t usually play centrally, but the two of them work very well together. Lindelof’s cool and steely approach to taking what was ultimately the winning spot kick is part of the reason why he’s called Iceman. I hope ETH sticks with those four players at the back until Varane is fit to return.
All of the penalties taken in this shootout though – aside from March’s – were excellent. Credit to Rashford and winger Jadon Sancho in particular. The last time those two took part in a shootout was the disastrous England match against Italy at Euro 2021 where they both badly missed, but you never would have known that judging by their confidence today. Sancho buried his penalty high and in the opposite corner, which is unstoppable if it’s executed correctly. There was a confidence about the penalties that I haven’t seen from United in a long time. March was unlucky to miss his, but sometimes that’s how these things go. Penalty shootouts are always a roll of the dice, and for Brighton today they came up snake eyes. They will rue their poor finishing today, just like United would have done had they lost. Some real nerve on display from the lads today, which was a nice contrast to the previous match where they looked like they couldn’t be bothered.
United will play in the first ever Manchester Derby FA Cup Final against fierce rivals Manchester City on June 3, 2023 at Wembley. Between now and then though are the final 8 matches of the Premier League campaign, with the first one being yet another trip to London to play Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday. United are temporarily in 4th place due to Newcastle’s victory over Tottenham today, but United have a game in hand. This match against Spurs is a big one in the race for the top-4. Win, and United will be a virtual lock for the Champions League next season.
Manchester United travelled to north London earlier today for a high-stakes matchup with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. United had already beaten Arsenal 2-1 this season, in what is the Gunners only loss. The league leaders are in scintillating form under manager Mikel Arteta, and they had revenge on their minds going into this match. They also knew that they needed a victory to maintain their 5 point lead over Manchester City in the Premier League table. United were handicapped in this match by the absence of superstar defensive midfielder Casemiro, who was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. In attendance at this match was England manager Gareth Southgate, undoubtedly on hand to scout the wealth of English talent on display for both teams.
This match was a wild one almost from the opening whistle. United struck first on 17 minutes thanks to forward Marcus Rashford, who lashed home a low and powerful shot from about 22 yards out into the left hand corner of Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale’s goal. Rashford has now scored in 10 of the last 11 games, and this one may be the best one he’s hit all season. He was in good position running centrally towards goal after beating a man on the dribble, and the Arsenal defense gave him far too much room just outside the edge of the area. His shot was hit with a swerve on it and fit into an insanely small window! The goal was somewhat against the run of play, but Arsenal gave the ball away cheaply and it was 1-0 United nevertheless!
United’s lead was short-lived however, as Arsenal were level just 4 minutes later thanks to a well-taken header by England striker Eddie Nketiah. Arsenal cycled the ball around the left side of the box well, before it was finally played out to midfielder Granit Xhaka on the left wing. He pinged a dangerous aerial cross into the box where Nketiah was able to head home largely unmarked. United’s defense let them down on that one. They either needed to stop Xhaka from getting the cross in or pick up the run of Nketiah at the back post. They did neither, and Arsenal were level at 1-1. They were good value for their goal was well, given their possession. The rest of the half was rather tame in comparison to the opening 25 minutes or so, with only some long range efforts from both sides that did not trouble either keeper. Interestingly, Arteta was yellow-carded for leaving his technical area! You don’t see a manager getting carded every day and it was actually pretty funny. 1-1 at halftime though with all to play for.
An already-simmering match came to a boil in the second half. Arsenal were dominant in the opening, pressing United well and creating chances via wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. United were having a tough time getting on the ball, and bad things tend to happen when the opposition is constantly in your half of the pitch. Saka made United pay on 53 minutes with a world class goal of his own when he cut inside from the right wing about 25 yards from goal. Midfielder Christian Eriksen was attempting to mark him, but Saka was too quick and he unleashed a spectacular curling effort that beat United keeper David De Gea at his far post. A wonder strike that really put an exclamation point on Arsenal’s spell of possession. Eriksen has to be quicker to close him down there, but the shot from Saka was sublime. 2-1 Arsenal.
But United were not done fighting. They pulled themselves up off the mat and landed a gut punch of their own on 59 minutes thanks to center back Lisandro Martinez. United’s World Cup-winning center back was on hand to stoop low and steer home a floating header after Arsenal failed to clear a United corner. Ramsdale collided with his own man attempting to clear the ball, and it fell straight to the diminutive Argentine. An Arsenal defender attempted to head the shot clear, but couldn’t keep the ball out. 2-2, and a great time for The Butcher to open his United scoring account. His bandaged head and black eye were perfect metaphors for his fighting spirit.
The final 20 minutes of this match were agonizing to watch, as the Red Devils were being completely overwhelmed by Arsenal’s passing and pressure. Saka hit the left post with another sublime shot on 70 minutes, and De Gea was forced into a diving reflex save from Nketiah on 84 minutes after United failed to clear a free kick. Frustratingly and annoyingly, Arsenal got their winner on 90 minutes from Nketiah. He steered home a pass/shot from attacking midfielder Martin Ødegaard after United failed to stop a cross in from the left side by fullback Oleksandr Zinchenko. Zinchenko’s cross was hit towards goal by Ødegaard, and he managed to awkwardly poke it home for 3-2 as the clock hit 90 minutes. There was more than a hint of offside about the goal, but VAR confirmed the decision by referee Anthony Taylor and the goal stood. Arsenal held on well through stoppage time as United’s players looked utterly spent, and the league leaders won 3-2.
It’s never fun to lose to a late goal, and this one stings because I felt that United were going to hold on and earn a point. 2-2 felt like a fair result, but Arsenal’s dominance in the final 20 minutes paid off for them. More worryingly, this is the second match in a row where United have conceded a late goal. Our players look tired towards the end of matches. I know that if Casemiro was playing then this result is probably different, but the thinness of our squad in midfield is starting to show. Without Casemiro, this team can get played off the pitch by a talented midfield. Arsenal proved that today. Good games from Rashford and Martinez, poor games from Eriksen and midfielder Scott McTominay.
There is a silver lining for England fans here. Rashford, Saka, and Nketiah were all in sensational form today and have been for good portions of the season. Ramsdale, left back Luke Shaw, Arsenal right back Ben White, and United right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka were all heavily involved today too. The English lads are playing in big matches at a very high level. That is good news for Southgate, and I imagine a call-up to the senior England squad is in the very near future for Nketiah. I was highly impressed with his positioning and finishing today, even if it was against my club.
Arsenal maintain their five point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table, while United drop down to fourth. They are level on points with Newcastle in 3rd, but have an inferior goal difference. At this point, the title is Arsenal’s to lose. They will need to beat City at least once, but they are in good position right now with just over half the season played. United still look strong to finish in the top four, as there is a six point gap between them and 5th-placed Tottenham. I was perhaps a tad premature with my “title race” proclamation two posts ago, but that’s fine. I am not expecting us to win the title this year. We need to finish top 4 and win a trophy if we can, then load up on more players in the summer.
United next travel to the East Midlands where they will take on Nottingham Forest on Wednesday in the League/Carabao/EFL Cup semifinals. United are in prime position to win a trophy for the first time since 2017, so manager Erik ten Hag is expected to field a strong side. This will be the first of a two-leg fixture, with the eventual winner going on to Wembley to play for the League Cup.
The national teams are all in action for the next week or so, with many countries still attempting to book their place for World Cup 2022. England has already qualified, so the next few matches will be centered on manager Gareth Southgate deciding who he wants to take on the plane with him. Switzerland have already qualified as well, so they were in a similar mindset. When your team qualifies from their group outright and you don’t have to worry about a tricky playoff fixture, you have the luxury of focusing on different tactical formations and player lineups. Today’s match at Wembley was an example of both sides trying to figure out what works best for them.
England had some injury issues at the back coming into the match, which forced Southgate to play a back three of Connor Coady, Ben White, and Marc Guéhi (on his England debut). After this match, I don’t think Southgate will be eager to go back to that formation with those specific players. The Swiss aren’t known as a dominant attacking side, but they were very strong in the first half and found a lot of space on the wings behind the wingbacks. Indeed, it was Swiss legend Xerdan Shaqiri who found a bit of room on the right-hand edge of the box for a cross that led to the opening goal for the Swiss. Shaqiri wasn’t closed down properly, and he was able to get in a left-footed aerial cross that found the head of striker Breel Embolo. Embolo redirected the ball back across goal, and England keeper Jordan Pickford had no chance to get to it. Shaqiri should have been closed down on the edge of the box, and White was too far away from Embolo to get to the cross first. 1-0 to the Swiss and England couldn’t really complain about it.
England were lucky to not be down 2-0 shortly after that, after a shot from Shaqiri struck the hand of Pickford and rebounded off the underside of the cross bar. The Three Lions woke up a bit after that though, and finally started making some runs forward consistently and causing problems for the Swiss at the back. England and Crystal Palace right back Kyle Walker-Peters (not to be confused with Kyle Walker, it’s two different guys!) was causing problems down the right hand side. He was combining well with Chelsea loaned-Crystal Palace winger Connor Gallagher, and the Swiss weren’t sure how to mark them properly. Their pressing led to a giveaway from Swiss defender Fabian Frei, as Walker-Peters was able to block his poor clearance straight into the path of Gallagher. Gallagher played the ball along the ground, with midfielder Mason Mount letting the ball roll across his path. England and Manchester United left back Luke Shaw was on hand to strike the ball directly at the goal, and it was a sumptuous strike into the left side of the goal that gave deputy Swiss keeper Jonas Omlin no chance. Shaw doesn’t score many, but he did well to be in the right place at the right time. The Swiss hadn’t made many mistakes up to that point, but England punished them nonetheless.
The second half was nowhere near as fluid as the first, likely due to the litany of changes brought by both managers right around the hour mark. Both sides were defending well, but neither side was creating many dangerous chances. England had shifted to a back-4 with White moving out to right back, a change which seemed to suit him well. The Swiss could maintain possession, but they couldn’t find that final dangerous pass.
England got their second goal and eventual winner from talisman striker Harry Kane on 78 minutes from the penalty spot. A cross came in from the right wing that England headed towards goal, only to see it blocked by the raised arm by Swiss midfielder Steven Zuber. The ref did not award a penalty at first, but after a lengthy VAR check it was decided that a penalty was to be given. By the letter of the law it probably was a handball, although in the past under different iterations of the rule, it may not have been. Zuber had his back to the ball and knew nothing about where it was, but he had his right arm extended out from his body when the ball made contact. Any time an arm is in an “unnatural position” that helps the defender cover more space, there is always a chance a penalty will be awarded.
Kane stepped up to the spot and buried the ball in the left side of the net. Omlin actually guessed correctly and went to his right to save it, but the power and placement of the shot made the ball very difficult to save. Kane now has an astonishing 49 goals for England on just 48 caps, and he is now level second with the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton on England’s all-time scoring list. Kane is simply world-class. Ok yes this was a friendly and yes he would be expected to score from the penalty spot, but to be only 28 and a scant 4 goals behind Wayne Rooney’s all-time record is absolutely staggering. No doubts about his place in the squad when it is time to travel to the World Cup. If he carries on like he is doing and wins a trophy with England, it is very likely he goes down as the best English player of all time.
The rest of the match was mostly drama-free, with England’s talented subs creating a few half chances before the final whistle went. England won the match 2-1, and it’s always good to win in any situation. Southgate will have plenty of food for thought going into Tuesday’s match against Ivory Coast. Rotational players like Gallagher, Walker-Peters, Guéhi, and late sub Tyrick Mitchell all did well; but as alluded to it would be surprising if England played a back-3 again any time soon. If they do, it will be with different players in the line-up. The Swiss took advantage of the space on the wings far too often today, so the experiment there today probably won’t be attempted again. This wasn’t a classic or clinical performance by any standard, bur England got over the line in the end. Room for improvement for sure, but you’re never going to see the best football in a friendly.
Ivory Coast presents a different set of challenges, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Southgate switched things up again for that match. At tournament time, you need to be able to win as many different ways as possible, and you have to be ready to defend against many different styles of play. I would like to see Gallagher and Walker-Peters given more opportunities to shine.
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Quick note: spare a moment to laugh at Italy. The reigning European champions were eliminated from World Cup 2022 qualification by minnows North Macedonia earlier in the week. A huge upset, and it means a second consecutive World Cup without Italy in it. Couldn’t have happened to a better set of fans and players 😉
The Red Devils traveled down to west London earlier today to take on Premier League leaders and reigning European champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. United were underdogs going into this match given their horrendous recent form in the Prem, and caretaker manager Michael Carrick knew that it would be his last match in charge thanks to the appointment of interim manager Ralf Rangnick on Thursday.
Carrick made the bold decision to drop Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench and play without a true central striker. Technically the line-up was a 4-3-1-2 with Bruno Fernandes playing behind Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, and it seemed like Carrick wanted to accomplish two things – 1) keep it at 0-0 for as long as possible, and 2) flood Chelsea out of midfield so they can’t as easily keep possession and create chances through the middle of the pitch.
One of those objectives was largely achieved, and the other was largely not. Thanks to some heroics from United’s time and time again savior David De Gea, Chelsea were not able to score in the first 45 minutes. However, they were dominating the match in every other possible statistic. They had an overwhelming amount of possession, more attempts, more shots on target, and more corner kicks. It was serious pressure almost from the opening whistle. United were without usual starting defenders Harry Maguire (suspension) and Luke Shaw (injury), but their replacements Eric Bailly and Alex Telles weren’t really having too many issues. It was United’s right hand side of the defense however, in particular Aaron Wan-Bissaka, that had the worst time of it. He was beaten for shots on target at least twice and generally did not play well. To compound matters, United habitually gave the ball away and invited pressure that Chelsea were only too happy to apply. While De Gea did make several key saves, it must be said that Chelsea’s finishing was generally poor as well.
The second half got underway with more Chelsea pressure, but United were the ones to break the deadlock on 50 minutes via Sancho. Bruno cleared the ball about 50 yards through the air up the pitch, and it fell directly to Chelsea midfielder Jorginho. The usually sure-footed Italian unintentionally controlled the ball with a very heavy touch and the ball was pounced on by an onrushing Sancho with Rashford along side him. Jorginho was taken out of the play by being off-balance, and United found themselves with two forwards clean through on Edouard Mendy’s goal. Rashford stayed wide of Sancho in case he wanted to pass, but Sancho used him as a decoy while he calmly dribbled the ball forward and slotted past a stranded Mendy for 1-0. I was shocked that a player of Jorginho’s quality made such a calamitous error, but it just goes to show that even the best are still human and they can make mistakes. A real smash-and-grab goal!
For the next ten minutes or so, United were more in the ascendancy. All of a sudden the passes started stringing together more easily, and it was easier to win the ball off Chelsea. Confidence is key in this sport, and there is nothing that gives a big shot of confidence like a goal. However, all of that came to a screeching halt when Wan-Bissaka was adjudged to have fouled Chelsea defender Thiago Silva in the United penalty box. He was attempting to clear a bouncing ball but he kicked the back of Silva’s ankle instead. Referee Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty, which Jorginho dispatched fairly easily from the spot. He got to redeem himself for his earlier error, and at 1-1 on 60 minutes I was concerned that United were in danger of surrendering completely. For me the foul itself was a penalty, but there were questions about whether or not Chelsea should have been awarded the corner from which the foul resulted. Chelsea may have gotten their equalizer anyway, but messing up the decision of corner vs. goal kick is inexcusable in today’s game. If we can have VAR for fouls and offside calls, why can’t we have it for everything else?
Chelsea resumed their dominant display of possession and attempts after they scored, but again did not manage to create many dangerous chances or force De Gea into difficult saves. United couldn’t forge anything despite the introduction of Ronaldo on 64 minutes, and some questions will be asked about his performance today in particular. He was isolated for most of his time on the pitch and I don’t think he had many meaningful contributions. How he fits into the counter-pressing system of Rangnick will be interesting to see. United did create one half-chance on 80 minutes or so when midfielder Fred won the ball high up the pitch, but he couldn’t find the proper pass and ended up lobbing the ball straight to Mendy. Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger had a dangerous chance to win it in stoppage time, but again the finish was wanting and he skied it over De Gea’s bar. The match ended 1-1, with it feeling like more of a positive for United than it did for Chelsea.
If you had offered United fans a draw beforehand, they’d have taken it happily. But it is always disappointing to score first and then give away a lead, even against a superior side. The plan by Carrick almost worked, and he would argue that it worked well enough. Carrick can pat himself on the back for these past two matches. A satisfactory job, in the end. The win over Villarreal in Spain was massive and spoiling Chelsea’s day at Stamford Bridge provides some confidence in the lads for Rangnick to build upon and work with. There is a lot of talent in this team, and even more players will be available once they recover from injury.
Rangnick is expected to be on the touchline next Thursday evening at Old Trafford when United take on Arsenal in another Premier League match. It will take a few matches to fully implement his ideal first team, formation, and tactics, but I am excited to see how we are different from whatever it was we were doing previously. United have 4 matches in 10 days, so he will be getting a baptism by fire in the English game. Whatever he decides, I’d like to see Wan-Bissaka and Bruno given a rest if possible. I think a match on the bench will help them recover and get them back into better form.
United now sit 8th in the Premier League table, 12 points back of leaders Chelsea and 5 points adrift of the top 4.
England took on Hungary today at Wembley Stadium in London, in what was the 8th match out of 10 in World Cup 2022 qualification. England had already beaten Hungary 4-0 away in Budapest earlier this year, but they’re a more talented side than they appear at first and have gotten some famous results earlier this season.
The match ended 1-1, with both goals coming in the first half. Hungary took a surprising lead from the penalty spot via forward Rolland Sallai, who sent England keeper Jordan Pickford the wrong way as he slotted home. The actual penalty was earned by right back Loïc Négo, who collided with a high boot from England left back Luke Shaw just inside the box. The contact on Négo’s head was minimal, but the problem was Shaw having his boot that high up in the first place. It’s a long-established rule in football that your foot can’t be up high near the head and neck of other players, and Shaw has to know better there. He is asking for trouble with his foot that high up, and he wouldn’t have even needed to fly in like that if he was quicker to the ball. But he was lackadaisical in getting over to the bouncing loose ball, and Négo put him under pressure to make a clearance. Unfortunately, he did not clear the ball effectively.
England did get an equalizer 13 minutes later, having put their foot fully down on the gas pedal after the Hungary goal. The tying goal was courtesy of three Manchester City players – Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and John Stones. Grealish was probably England’s best attacking player the whole match, and he won a foul in the right channel after some of his trademark nifty dribbling. Foden stood over the dead ball and delivered a very dangerous diagonal cross into the box. It was met at the far post by Stones, who simply stuck his foot out and the ball bounced off him and into the net. Wembley erupted in celebration, and it was great to see England scoring from a set piece.
The Three Lions had the better of the chances and the majority of the possession for the rest of the half and indeed the rest of the game, but they could not put the ball past Hungarian keeper Péter Gulácsi. He made several fine saves on Raheem Sterling, but overall the credit must go to Hungary manager Marco Rossi for his tactical set-up. They were in a 5-3-2 and set up very compact, making it hard to break them down. They also pressed England at precisely the right times, and England admittedly lacked ideas in terms of creating chances. I applaud Gareth Southgate for realizing that his initial tactical set-up was wrong and actually making substitutions, but today the problem was that he made the wrong substitution. Bringing on Bukayo Saka for Grealish was mystifying when both Sterling and Harry Kane were far more ineffective. Saka needed to come on, but not for Grealish. He was the only one really running at the Hungary back line, so to take him off almost did them a favor. It was just an overall disappointing performance on the pitch, but credit to the Hungarians for playing well and forcing England to stumble slightly on their path to World Cup 2022.
England are still atop Group I, but their lead has narrowed to 3 points after Poland’s victory over Albania. England have a massive game against Albania in a month, and the last one is against minnows San Marino. Win either of those, England are virtually in. Ideally they would take 3 points in both games, and they will indeed need to be better than they were today against a highly-motivated Albanian team.
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Unfortunately, the first 10-15 minutes of this match were marred by clashes between the London Metropolitan Police and some of the Hungarian supporters inside the stadium. I normally am not one to defend the police, but there is a section of the Hungarian supporters that are absolute knobheads. They held up a banner protesting the England players kneeling before the opening whistle, and were jeering loudly when one of England’s Black players touched the ball. Absolute racist bastards and the images of them throwing punches at the police were disgusting to watch. It seems the police eventually got the situation under control and at least one arrest was made, but I couldn’t believe just how brazen the actions were of those few dozen supporters. I know for a fact that not all Hungarians are racist hooligans, but that loud minority of them is very loud indeed.
Which begs the question: where is UEFA on this? Why has the Hungarian FA even been allotted tickets for their supporters at this match? There is supposed to be a ban on fan attendance at their home matches for this exact sort of behavior the lasttime England played Hungary, so why are they allowed in our stadium? It’s this sort of thing that makes the whole “Say No to Racism” campaign feel hollow and frankly fake. When actual racist incidents happen, UEFA does nothing about them and leaves it up to the local authorities to sort out the shitheads. Hey UEFA, fucking punish this kind of conduct! Lifetime bans for fans who engage in racist conduct. Points deductions from teams if fans engage in racist conduct. I understand that England is not free from sin in this department, so these rules would apply to our fans as well. The fans also must self-police more effectively and call out racist conduct when they see it! I’m fed up with this behavior and it needs to stop.
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.
Network: ESPN for Americans (unfortunate as ESPN has been sub-par with their coverage for me)
Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s dive into this epic match and try to glean some sense of what could happen. I am happy that this is the final matchup, as Italy an England have been inarguably the two best teams this tournament. Both are defensively very sturdy and both have a generous amount of attacking talent as well. England have conceded only one goal so far this tournament, and the Italians have only conceded three. Italy has had England’s number at tournaments in recent years, knocking us out in 2012 and beating us in the World Cup group stage in 2014. England will be looking to buck that trend and win their first major trophy in 55 years. Italy have won the Euros before but not recently, with their best result in the last 20 years or so coming in 2012 when they lost in the final to Spain.
I think that overall this is going to be a very tense match and I don’t anticipate a lot of goals being scored. The final match of a major tournament is almost always a very defensive affair anyway, and that will continue this time around due to the defensive structure of both teams. Both teams are built on not losing first and foremost. I think both managers Gareth Southgate and Roberto Mancini would be happy sacrificing some attacking play if it means there is more security in front of their respective nets.
Italy
This squad is talented and has a very deep bench. Italy will be the toughest team that England has played so far this tournament, but that’s how tournament football is supposed to be played. It is not supposed to be easier as it goes along. That being said, while this Italian team is very good, they are not invincible. There are ways to get at them.
I have spent some time in the past few days looking at portions of replays from Italy’s matches so far this tournament, and the main thing I noticed is that this team punishes mistakes. If you misplace a pass or spend too long on the ball, Italy will be on you and looking to win the ball. Several of their goals in the group stage and in the knockouts came from simply being opportunistic and jumping on other teams when they spent too much inside their own half. They hunt the ball like a frenzied sharks who can smell blood. I think they will spend at least some time pressing England if/when we decide to try and play it out from the back.
But that’s not the only way they can win. Like any good side, this Italy team can beat you in a number of different ways. They have also looked incredibly proficient on the counter-attack when needed, and they can also do the traditional possession-based tactics when looking to break down a stubborn defense. Marco Veratti is the traditional midfield “general” who has that magic ability to find the right pass at the right time. Under Mancini that possession-based approach has dwindled somewhat though, as he seems to favor more aggressive and direct tactics. Their match against Spain proved that they are capable of winning without a lot of possession. Typically, when on the ball, Italy are doing their best to run at you. When off the ball, they are doing their damnedest to get the ball back. Mancini’s deft application of the 4-3-3 allows Italy to be aggressive in that manner and the 4-3-3 is expected again from them tomorrow.
Winger/forwards Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Chiesa are going to be the main goal scoring threats for Italy tomorrow. Insigne has dazzled at the tournament with his dribbling, and he scored an absolute stunner that ended up being the winner against Belgium. He cannot be allowed any space on the edge of the box, as he is capable of scoring from distance or finding a deadly pass that unlocks the defense. That goes for every Italian forward or midfielder, as they can all shoot from the edge of the box. Much like Raheem Sterling, Insigne’s runs at defense tends to pull defenders out of position, which creates openings for other attackers (usually from midfield) to run into. I do not know if England will double mark him, but it should at least be considered.
Chiesa is slightly different in that he is not really known for long bursts of pace and dribbling. Unlike Insigne, he is not going to run 40 yards with the ball and then try to get a shot off. Where Chiesa excels is in tight spaces at short distances with the ball at his feet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player with his ability to get shots off from seemingly-impossible angles and create a goal from nothing. His goal against Spain was just such a goal. He spent a few seconds in the Spanish box wriggling and turning around, so much so that you thought the chance for a goal was gone. But his coordination and balance are such that he was able to get a shot off with not a lot net to aim at, and he still found the far corner. He also cannot be allowed to operate undeterred on the right side of the Italian attack. If he and Insigne are finding time and space on the ball, it’s going to be a long night for England.
The Italians also have the size to be dangerous from set pieces, but they also have conceded from a set piece too. Austria’s only goal against them was a simple header from a corner. They were just switched off at the back and the first Austrian player the ball came to simply headed it down and low. I don’t think the Italians will be that switched off again on Sunday, but all it takes is a moment of carelessness. You can expect stalwart center backs Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini to make a big impact from set pieces, whether it be attacking or defending. Those two have been rock-solid this tournament at the back and they will again be charged with organizing everything in defense.
The absence of left back Leonardo Spinazzola will once again be sorely missed for Italy. He was having an electrifying tournament before succumbing to an ACL tear, and in several of their matches he was the main attacking threat. His combination play with Insigne was borderline unstoppable at times, and while Emerson has been a solid deputy in his absence, Emerson’s decision making in the box leaves a lot to be desired. He can dribble and cross like Spinazzola, but he doesn’t always know when to do one versus the other. England’s right back and right winger will be happy that Spinazzola will not be playing.
Unmentioned Notable Players: Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Barella, and (Olympic gold medalist in diving) Ciro Immobile
England
Southgate deployed England in a 4-2-3-1 against Denmark, which was perhaps a tad conservative but obviously nonetheless effective. Aside from a 20 or so minute spell in the first half, Denmark had little attacking play and did not create many chances. The best thing about the Denmark match from a tactical perspective was England’s response to going a goal down. Up until the semifinal England had not been behind in the entire tournament, but very importantly they were only down for a grand total of 9 minutes before equalizing. I wanted to see how this team would respond to going a goal down, and I am happy we don’t have to run that experiment against the Italians. When they have a lead, they rarely give it up.
I think the 4-2-3-1 will be used again in an effort to neutralize the midfield against Italy. Declan Rice will be charged with getting himself in the middle of the passing lanes, and if I was Southgate I would utilize Kalvin Phillips to man-mark Veratti. Spain provided somewhat of a blueprint on how to slow down Italy, and a big part of it was using Koke to constantly harass and harangue Veratti so that he has no time on the ball. When he as time to play a pass, he can hurt you. When he doesn’t, he becomes largely anonymous and ineffective. Phillips looked a little leggy at times against Denmark, but I think he will find some success in sticking to Veratti. He is a tenacious midfielder and is proficient at closing down the player on the ball. If we make Veratti consistently pass it backwards, that is a victory.
In attack, I think almost everything is going to go through Sterling and Harry Kane. Those two are on fire for England right now and in excellent form. Actually, Sterling only plays well after I insult him repeatedly, so I am going to get that out of the way now. Sterling makes poor decisions, he loses the ball too much, and he can’t consistently finish to save his life. Now that I’ve said that, he’ll go and score a hat-trick just to prove me wrong.
There is a degree of mystery as to who will play on the right wing for England, and also who will be in the “number 10” attacking midfield role behind Kane. As for the right wing, both Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho have had good tournaments playing there. Saka created England’s first goal against Denmark and Sancho was a key player in the win over Ukraine. Both offer pace, dribbling, and attacking intent. Whoever is played, they need to be eager to make diagonal runs between the left back and left center back. I’d generally like to see England’s forwards making runs in behind and also being quick to get the ball into the box. As good as Bonucci and Chiellini are, they have a combined age of 70 and as a result they are not fast players. We may not be able to out-position them or out-muscle them, but we can certainly out-pace them. For that reason, the counter-attack may be an effective tool against them as well.
Kane’s role in attack will also be interesting. He’s a natural goal-scorer of course, but against Denmark he was also the principle playmaker. Mason Mount was the designated number 10 attacking mid against Denmark, but Kane was in his spot so often it seemed like Mount was playing a different position. Kane has been known to drop back off the forward line into the space in front of the center backs when he plays for Tottenham, and because he can shoot from distance the center backs are required to run out at him and close him down. This pulls the defenders out of position and makes it even easier for speedy wingers to get in behind. I expect Italy to deploy defensive midfielder Jorginho to try and keep Kane from receiving the ball, or at the least to prevent him from turning and running with it. Kane is deadly in the box of course, but it seems he is just as deadly with the ball at his feet and other attackers running ahead of him. I doubt he starts as the number 10 tomorrow but he will undoubtedly make his way to that position if he is not seeing enough of the ball.
Another tactic England should take from Spain’s playbook is using the press against Italy. It’s true they’re incredible at pressing others, but they looked a little shaky when Spain pressed them, particularly when Italy were trying to build from the back. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is an excellent shot-stopper and he commands the penalty area well, but he looked shaky (at the least) when asked to hoof the ball up the pitch towards his forwards. Like many modern keepers, he likes to play short passes to his defenders which enables his team to build up attacks through possession more easily. Blasting the ball 60 yards gets it away from your goal, but it has the risk of being more easily collected by the opposition. That’s exactly what the Spanish made him do. When Donnarumma was on the ball, Spain’s forwards got right up on the defenders he would normally pass to. That made it too risky to pass to them, and left him with the option of clearing it long, which he did rather unconvincingly at times. I counted at least two average-to-good chances created that way for Spain. Hopefully England are more clinical in their finishing.
England rode their luck to a degree against Denmark, but you cannot rely on luck to win a final. Maybe you get some and hey it’s great when you do, but it cannot be relied upon. England will need to be very focused defensively and clinical when their opportunities to score arrive. It is almost certain that England will have at least 1-2 good chances to score, and they must take them. The Italians have proven to be very opportunistic this tournament, and England will have to be the same way. England themselves have been fairly mistake-free so far, one or two questionable clearances from keeper Jordan Pickford aside. We cannot afford to make a wary pass in midfield or under-hit a back pass from defense, because if we do the Italians will make us pay. England do not have to be perfect to win this match, but we do have to be damn well close to perfect.
Unmentioned Notable Players: Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish. Phil Foden is unfortunately a doubt to play after suffering a foot injury in training. He would be a loss, but not as big a loss as Spinazzola is for Italy.
Referee/Shithousery
Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers will be holding the whistle tomorrow and he will have to be on his toes indeed. The referee should ideally be a non-factor in every match, but I have a feeling that he will be called into action repeatedly tomorrow. England won a penalty off a “dive” in their last match, while the Italians have spent generations perfecting the art of selling fouls to win free kicks/penalties. If the Italians get a lead in the second half they will certainly employ that element of gamesmanship to get them over the line. VAR will also have an influence on the match, even though ideally it should not. Prepare yourself for shithousery on a level never seen before and the resulting controversy, because it’s going to happen. There will be cries for a penalty if either team’s defense even so much as breathes on the attacking player.
Final Thoughts
Too close to call this one, and even if it wasn’t I still wouldn’t venture to guess. It seems that overall most neutrals are rooting for Italy, and for a wide variety of reasons. A lot of people didn’t like that England beat Denmark on a soft penalty, a lot of people think our supporters are arrogant, and some even go as far as to root against England due to its bloody colonial history. All of that is mostly nonsense. Denmark got at least two decisions in their favor against us, our supporters have no foundation to be arrogant given that we’ve won naff-all in 50+ years, and if you’re going to be mad at England’s colonialism you should also be pretty mad about Italy’s. My point is that all this hatred towards England is largely unfounded and frankly I don’t get it.
Two incidents I will not stand for however is the harassment of opposition fans/players on social media, and the use of a laser pointer on the face of Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel in the run-up to Kane’s penalty. The first of those is immoral and the latter is outright dangerous. I want to win, but I don’t want to win because the fans are enabling cheating.
Everything else is fair game though. Boo the Italian national anthem. Sing songs about how they dive more frequently than submarines. Show them what true gamesmanship is by crying for fouls and waste time by rolling around on the ground. Take forever to do substitutions if we have the lead, etc. I don’t care anymore. You don’t beat Italy or win finals by being gentlemanly about the rules. It’s time to give them a taste of their own shithousing medicine. If the occasion calls for us to be villains, then villains we shall be.
I did pick Italy to win yesterday, but I did not think it would be as close as it was. Indeed, Spain did an excellent job today against the Italians in terms of disrupting their normal tactics, but Italy showed a real resiliency as the match wore on.
The first half was goalless but based on possession and chances created, you would say that Spain were the better side. They took a page out of Italy’s book and decided to incorporate more pressing into their normal possession-based tactics. Spain played the same as they always do when they were on the ball, which is to spring some passes together in midfield and eventually move the ball up to the edge of the box. They tried to work several openings free in the first half, with attacking midfielder Dani Olmo looking very lively. His dribbling and passing was causing the Italians problems, but they always managed to get a final block in.
The most notable aspect of their press though was when they went at Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. He normally likes to play it short to one of his defenders when it comes to clearing the ball or taking a goal kick, but he could not do that today due to Spain’s forwards playing tight to the defenders. That forced Donnarumma into longer passes up the pitch, something he clearly was not comfortable doing today. Spain fashioned several half-chances using this method of pressing, but while they did not score this also prevented Italy from growing into the game and creating their own chances.
I have to say that in the first half, the epic battle in the midfield was won by Spain. Sergio Busquets and Pedri were dominating the middle, and Spain manager Luis Enrique deployed midfielder Koke (CO-kay) to man- mark Italian midfield general Marco Veratti. When Veratti is allowed time on the ball he can play some devastating passes to his teammates, but with Koke constantly harassing him, he never really found time on the ball to makes those passes. The same could be said for Italy’s defensive midfielder Jorginho. When he was on the ball, Busquets and others were always on him quickly so he could not find an outlet pass. This resulted in Spain winning possession much more frequently than Italy would have liked.
Despite Spain being the better team, the Italians went ahead on the hour mark after a now-familiar error in the Spanish defense. Italy hit them on a counter-attack, and a slick backheel from striker Ciro Immobile found Federico Chiesa on the left-sided edge of the penalty box. Spain didn’t have many men back and failed to clear the pass. Chiesa launched a shot at goal, and it found the top corner of the net. The positioning of the defenders and the angle of the shot did not give Chiesa a lot to aim for, but he put the ball probably in the one place it stood a chance of going in. Misery for Spain as they had been the better team. With a 1-0 lead fairly late on in the game, I figured the Italians would shithouse the rest of the match and escape with the win.
All credit to Spain though, as they kept fighting and created several good chances in an effort to equalize. Mikel Oyarzabal was guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance when he missed making contact with a cross by a matter of centimeters. Spain were rewarded for their efforts though 20 minutes later when Olmo found himself in a good position with the ball on the edge of the Italian penalty box. He played a lovely 1-2 with substitute striker Alvaro Morata, who exorcised some of his earlier tournament demons by finishing along the ground from close range. No chance for Donnarumma, and we had ourselves a semifinal.
There weren’t many further chances in normal time, and it ended 1-1 after 90 minutes. The same pattern of play continued in extra time, with Spain probably being the better of the two sides but stalwart Italian defending kept them out. It was just incredibly crowded in the box every time Spain got close, and that made it very difficult to have time for a shot. Italy sometimes broke out and attempted to hit Spain on the counter, but some tired legs and timely challenges from Spain kept it 1-1. Penalties were needed.
Football is such a fickle sport, and penalties are the most fickle part. Both sides missed their first respective penalty, with Olmo and substitute Manuel Locatelli both missing. That would be the last penalty the Italians would miss though. It stayed tied until Morata stepped up on the 3rd penalty for Spain and hit a rather tame effort low and to Donnarumma’s left. Donnarumma made the correct choice with his dive, and he saved Morata’s effort. Jorginho then took the decisive fourth penalty, and he showed some real ice in his veins by calmly sending Spain keeper Unai Simon the wrong way with his shot. The Italians stormed the field having won, and Spain were left to wonder what could have been.
Commiserations to Spain. They were the better team on the day, but Italy has been the best team this tournament. Italy showed an ability to adapt today that only elite-level teams have. They completely changed their usual tactics and still managed to execute the game plan almost to perfection. That’s very difficult to do in the middle of a tournament. They deserve a lot of credit, with manager Roberto Mancini deserving in particular. You have to feel also that a lack of finishing, both today and throughout the tournament, was a major problem for the Spanish. Morata did well to finish his chance, but they had several other opportunities to score today that they did not cash-in on. I do hope that the idiots on social media do not blame Morata for this loss. It’s not on him, at least not solely. Yes he should have done better with his penalty, but this is a team sport. Spain could have helped him out a lot more today by scoring other chances, and had they done so penalties might not have even been necessary.
Italy will play in the Euro 2020(1) final at Wembley next Sunday, July 11. They await the winner of England/Denmark. Whoever they play, it will be very difficult to beat them. They don’t quit, they have a lot of talent, and they know how to manage different scenarios well.
England vs. Denmark – Preview
Noon (PDT) at Wembley tomorrow. 60,000 fans are expected to fill Wembley to 3/4 capacity and the atmosphere should be electric.
Denmark
Denmark came into the semis as the lowest-ranked remaining team, but they don’t care about that. Not at all. England have played against more talented teams this tournament, but I am not sure we have played a team quite like Denmark so far. That is not to say they are without talent – indeed they have players who ply their trades in the top divisions across Europe, including the Premier League. What I mean is that this is a team that truly believes it is a team of destiny, and it’s hard to argue against that point. Yes they lost their two opening group games, but they have shown a resilience and team spirit in this tournament that vastly makes up for their lack of superstar talent. This is a team on a “Cinderella run” in every sense of the phrase. They are playing for Christian Eriksen, and that kind of motivation is impossible to duplicate. Denmark actually won the Euros back in 1992 and they were a “Cinderella” team back then as well, but they haven’t really come close to winning it again since then. This is the most unified and determined team left at this tournament, and that unity and determination gives them a strong sense of confidence in themselves.
It could be argued that the Danes have had an “easy” path so far, seeing off Wales in the Round of 16 and then the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. That take is slightly disrespectful to those two other countries, but when you consider that the Swiss had to beat France and England had to beat Germany, you get the sense that the draw has been kinder to them than to other teams. The last time the Danes lost was to Belgium in the group stage, a team with an actual degree of quality about them. Yes the Danes scored first but they conceded two after that as they were not capable of dealing with the technical abilities of Kevin De Bruyne. Sometimes, an overwhelming amount of talent is really the only thing that can beat a stubborn defensive unit.
The Danes do have some talented attacking players, and I think tomorrow they will use their speedier players to try and break out quickly and hit England on the counter-attack. I don’t think they have the talent in midfield to hold possession against England for long spells, so the counter and opportunities from set pieces will be key. They scored four in a knockout match earlier this tournament in the Round of 16 against Wales, so they are capable of getting goals when they need to.
Players to Watch: Youseff Poulsen, Mikkel Damsgaard, Joakim Mæhle, Kasper Dolberg, Simon Kjær, Kasper Schmeichel
Side note on Schmeichel: he is a Premier League winning goalkeeper with Leicester City and is the son of one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time: Peter Schmeichel. It was Peter who helped the Danes to glory in 1992, and now his son is trying to do the same thing! It’s a great story, and while Kasper is probably not quite as good as his father, he definitely has the ability to morph into a brick wall on a given day. Harry Maguire and probably a few other England players will be fully aware of his talents, having played both with and against him. Kasper perhaps was a tad braggadocios today by making jokes about the phrase “it’s coming home” in his media interview, and I hope England players saw that. People in the media or online coming with banter is one thing, but it’s completely different when an opposition player is saying something. Perhaps could serve as a motivation to England’s forwards. Speaking of!
England
England, both the team and that nation, are positively rocking right now. The match against Ukraine was the best I have seen this team play in a tournament probably ever. We hadn’t scored 4 goals in a tournament knockout match since 1966, and we will have a distinct home advantage at Wembley. 95+% of the fans in attendance will be supporting England, and I expect every single one of them to be in full throat for all 90 minutes.
Given that the best way to beat Denmark appears to be to overwhelm them with attacking talent, I suggest England does that very thing. Manager Gareth Southgate doesn’t need to change the lineup much or if at all, as the most important thing will be an aggressive approach. The entire game plan can be summed up in one two words: aggression, ruthlessness. We need to come out and be ruthless from the get-go, and if we can score another early goal it will get us a long way to the final. The longer it stays 0-0, the more confident Denmark will feel. We need to be on the ball, dribbling with the ball, and making forward runs. When we are not on the ball, I would like to see England constantly haranguing the Danes and trying to win the ball high up the pitch. No matter who is on the pitch for us, they need to be playing with unrelenting aggression and ruthlessness. Even if the Danes can withstand it for the first 45 minutes, they will eventually tire. Once again, you can expect England’s depth of talent on the bench to factor in heavily if things are not going our way.
Denmark’s defense has been “good enough” this whole tournament. They’re doing enough to win matches, but I do not think Denmark will be able to keep England at bay for 90 minutes. They have conceded at least 1 goal in every match they’ve played in so far except for one. England were dangerous from both set pieces and open play in the match against Ukraine, and we have proven to be exceptionally efficient at crossing the ball over the top. Most of our goals this tournament have come from crosses over the top. The wingers and full backs, in particular Luke Shaw, have been nothing short of incredible.
We are the first team in the history of the Euros not to concede a goal in their first five matches. Jordan Pickford looks locked to win the Golden Gloves for fewest goals conceded. The back line communicates well with each other and we have the athleticism at the back to keep up with anyone. As good as we are at heading the ball in for goals, we are equally as good at heading them away from goal when defending. Denmark’s best chances for a goal will probably come from set pieces, so alertness and concentration will be vital when those inevitably happen.
This match is England’s to lose. Having said that, it would be very English of us to come this far and do this well only to falter in the semis. I must say though, it feels different this time. I hope that line doesn’t come back to bit me in the ass, but it really does. The draw has been somewhat kind to us as well after beating Germany, and we must take advantage. The stars will not align like this for England again.
Players to Watch: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Shaw, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount
No prediction because of course not, I’m not stupid.
England played their final group match of Euro 2020(1) today at Wembley against Czech Republic. The Czechs came into the match as group leaders, so England knew this team would not roll over for them. Their side featured co-top scorer at the Euros in Patrik Schick, and they have a good amount of experience in the side. England and Czech Republic were both already through to the Round of 16 due to Belgium defeating Finland yesterday, so while there wasn’t that much importance behind the match it was important for seeding purposes going forward. An England group win also meant that the next match would be at Wembley and England would not need to travel to Copenhagen for the next match.
England made a few changes from the side that sputtered to a rather dismal draw with Scotland on Friday. Bukayo Saka and Jack Grealish were included from the outset, with Phil Foden dropped to the bench on a yellow card. Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were not included either due to being in COVID protocols. So while some of the changes were made out of necessity, I was in strong support of Saka and Grealish being on from the start. Still not sure what Jadon Sancho has to do to get into this team, but we’ll come back to him later.
Just like in the past two matches, England got off to a very fast start and had the Czechs under pressure from the get-go. Grealish was excellent in possession, and Saka was making all kinds of runs forward that the Czechs didn’t know how to deal with. The only goal came in the 12th minute via Raheem Sterling, who had just missed a very good chance off the post early on. The ball was retrieved by Grealish on the left wing and he clipped a looping cross over the top back towards the goal. The ball was too high for Saka but Sterling was in an excellent position behind him, and he nodded in for 1-0. I was calling for Sterling’s head after his lackluster performance in the Scotland match, but he rewarded England manager Gareth Southgate’s faith in him today by scoring his second of the tournament. Harry Kane then forced a very fine save from Czech keeper Tomas Vaclik after wriggling his way into the box. Kane was frustrated by the save, but he was much better today than he was against Scotland as well.
The Czechs grew into the game a little bit after the early England dominance though and created a few chances via set pieces and some haphazard (if ultimately effective) England defending. West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek went closest for the Czechs, just barely missing the left post with a shot from about 13 yards out. England have been defensively sound so far but there were some nerves present today, especially in the first half. A better side may have cashed in on those nerves and lack of decision making, but the Czechs did not. I was happy to see Manchester United captain Harry Maguire back in the team today after a long injury layoff, and while Tyrone Mings has been more than capable of deputizing in his absence, Maguire is probably England’s best defensive player and you want his leadership on the pitch. I think the defense will only improve as Maguire settles in.
The second half was nowhere near as entertaining as the first, as England seemed content to defend and didn’t really create much until late on. Jordan Henderson came on for Declan Rice at the start of the second, and the Czechs made some attack-minded changes as well. Despite not scoring again, England never really looked threatened. The Czechs weren’t as effective in the second half from set pieces, and they do not have the talent to consistently create chances against England from open play. I remember England keeper Jordan Pickford not really being tested, aside from some routine catches and clearances. Henderson was somewhat unlucky to not get his second after his short-range effort was deemed to be offside after some good work in the box from fellow substitute Marcus Rashford to create the chance. This one wasn’t close though – Henderson was at least a yard offside when he poked it home. England then managed the game out and were able to secure all 3 points without too much ado.
So what’s next? Unclear right now, as the final group matches will all be played tomorrow. England play next Tuesday night at Wembley, but that’s all we know for sure at this point. Usually, winning your group is supposed to result in an easier matchup in the next round. That is the proverbial carrot at the end of the stick that theoretically motivates teams to go out and win their group. This time though, England will face the runners-up from Group F, which unfortunately contains the likes of France, Portugal, and Germany. All three of those teams are football powerhouses and will present a major challenge to England. The big teams usually don’t meet at tournaments like these until the quarterfinals or later, but this time around it’s worked out that they will. Some have complained about the tournament format as a result, but I don’t really agree with that too much. You’ll have to play a tough team at some point in any major tournament, and if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. No point in shying away from it just because it’s in an earlier round than we may have wanted.
The objective today was to gain some momentum back going into the knockout stages. Positive performances lift the fans, the players, and the manager; and I think we achieved that to an extent today. The second half was mostly dull but England can build on their good play from the first half. It was important to restore a bit of excitement around the team for the fans, and the dynamic attacking play today in the first half helped to do that.
But, I still don’t think England have played their best game yet at this tournament. This is partly due to the fact that we still haven’t figured out our best attacking formation. Kane was better today, but still hasn’t scored. Sterling has scored (and is our only scorer so far), but he goes missing for big portions of games. Rashford did ok today but he’s looked off the pace for awhile now due to injury and fatigue. Sancho finally got on the pitch at the end, but didn’t really have time to impact the game. Indeed, England’s best attackers today were not forwards, as Grealish is an attacking midfielder and Saka is a winger. It doesn’t matter who scores of course as long as someone does, but the lack of goals is a concern going forward. It is still unknown how we will do against better opposition. Southgate has a selection headache or three coming up, as several players have put in good performances thus far. But as the old saying goes, a selection problem is a “good problem” to have.
All of the questions present now will be answered next Tuesday, though. England will watch the Group F matches tomorrow with great interest and will have a week to prepare for whoever ends up 2nd in that group. There is the added bonus of not having to fly to another city to play. Yes we will have to play a tough team, but the circumstances could not be much better for England to do so.
The Premier League returned from its winter break this weekend, and Manchester United were given the challenge of facing Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge in London for a marquee Monday evening (England time) match-up. United have consistently had Chelsea’s number this season, beating them 4-0 on opening day and also knocking them out of the League Cup. I expected us to compete with them especially after 2 weeks off and with new signings Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo having some proper training time with the rest of the squad. That unfortunately didn’t happen for Ighalo due to him being on quarantine for the coronavirus (of all things!), but he was able to train on his own and appears to be fine after leaving China.
The first half of the match was uneventful in terms of goals until the very end, but that does it not mean it lacked drama. United center back and captain Harry Maguire got himself into serious trouble when he went down out of bounds and left his leg in the air. His studs made contact with the unmentionables department of Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi. Maguire was given a yellow and VAR reviewed the incident for a possible red card, but ultimately Maguire was allowed to stay on. It would not be the last incident of grievance for Chelsea concerning VAR on the evening. As a United supporter I will never advocate for our players being sent off unless someone straight up punches somebody, but in this instance had Maguire been sent off I would have been much more upset with his conduct than the referee’s. Can’t leave those studs in the air like that, man.
The Red Devils broke the deadlock near half-time and somewhat against the run of play, thanks to good work from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He was playing as a right wing back in United’s interesting 3-5-2 formation employed today by manager Ole Gunnar Solskajaer. He got down the right side and pulled off some neat footwork to create space for a cross between him and his marker, Chelsea winger Willian. Anthony Martial had made an incisive run into the box and got his head towards probably the best cross I’ve ever seen from AWB. He’s certainly getting better at it and I am so excited to once again have a United right back who is good both in attack and defense. Martial’s header was quality as well; he put just enough of a deflection on it to ensure it flew into the far corner and beyond the reach of Chelsea keeper Willy Caballero. Martial hadn’t done anything all game until that point, but the moment you sleep on him is the moment he punishes you.
United had all the momentum going into halftime after the goal and came out in the second half playing even better than in the first half. Several half-chances were created but conversely it was Chelsea who ended up having the ball in the back of the net next. They won a corner that was well-taken and after a few deflections the ball fell to center back Kurt Zouma, who struck the ball with some excellent pace and power from the edge of the area and under United keeper David De Gea. I thought Chelsea had their equalizer, but there were protests from United players who were down on the ground. Once again, VAR was called in for a review. Chelsea right back Cesar Azpilicueta crashed into united wing back Brandon Williams as the cross from the corner came in, and a foul was called for the push by referee Anthony Taylor. However, the video also showed that there was contact by United midfielder Fred on Azpilicueta before he crashed into Williams. That further complicated the matter. Should a foul have even been called there by VAR? I’m not sure. A very close call. Yes there was contact, but was it enough to cause Azpilicueta to literally dive into Williams? Whatever the truth is, Chelsea fans were left feeling aggrieved once again with the referee and the VAR referee.
United carried on with their lead and got a second goal from A FREAKING SET PIECE OF ALL THINGS thanks to a lovely ball from a Fernandes corner kick that found Maguire’s massive head on the edge of the 12 yard box. Maguire buried his header (to ad insult to injury for Chelsea fans) and doubled United’s advantage. I suddenly felt much more secure about the result. Yes there was 28+ minutes left but Chelsea hadn’t been able to finish a chance all day, and I felt that United would be able to ride their luck from there on out.
And I was right about them riding their luck! Chelsea substitute striker Olivier Giroud managed to put the ball in the back of the net about 8 minutes later, but a VAR review spotted Giroud’s foot (yes, his foot) was offside when the ball was played to him. I couldn’t believe how close it was, but if the red and blue line graphics are to be believed, Giroud was slightly off just before he scored. The goal was disallowed and Chelsea were once again back down to 2-0. That’s two goals and and a red card that could have been given the other way with different refs on the ground and behind the VAR screen. Chelsea never managed another serious chance, and United substitute Ighalo was unfortunate to not finish a guilt-edged chance in the dying seconds of added time.
Yes United got lucky to a certain extent this match, but we took advantage of our chances when given them and Chelsea did not. For that, we deserve the points. We move up to 7th, normally nothing to be excited about but we are only 1 point of 6th, 2 points of 5th, and 3 points off the Blues themselves in 4th. The race for that 4th spot (and also that 5th spot which could later turn into a Champions League spot) is wide open. Good to see the lads back and in decent form. Fernandes needs to take all corners and free kicks if he is on the pitch from here on out. He’s a different class of footballer and I am so excited to have someone of his quality in the team. Good match for the defense and keeper, especially by Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw. First time “doing the double” (sweeping) Chelsea since 1988!
Next match is against Club Brugge away in Belgium for the first leg of the Europa League 2nd Round on Thursday 2/20/20. Let’s get some vital away goals and set up an easy home fixture at Old Trafford!
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Man United FC and all of English football were saddened by the loss of former United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Harry Gregg, OBE on Sunday. He was not only a top class keeper for United in the late 1950s and 1960s, but he was a hero of a man as well. Gregg was one of the survivors of the Munich Air Disaster, a plane crash that killed 23 of the 44 people aboard in February 1958. The death toll would have been higher if not for Gregg. He emerged from the crash relatively unscathed, and decided to go back into the burning wreckage to save 4 more people, including small children. He was the second to last surviving member of a group of men known as the Busby Babes (after the manager Sir Matt Busby), a group of the most naturally talented English players the nation had ever seen. Only Sir Bobby Charlton remains now as the lone survivor of the plane crash.
Gregg had 247 appearances for United and was crucial in helping to rebuild the club under Sir Matt. He also had a successful coaching career at various clubs after retiring as as a player. He will always be remembered in Manchester and across the UK not only for the caliber of player he was but also the caliber of man that he was.
4-4-2 