30th June

Gonna try and talk cricket and tennis over the next few days, but for now, here's my previews of the Euro 2016 Quarter Finals

Euros Hot Up

Poland v Portugal (8pm)

This is a very tricky fixture to choose. Poland have been incredibly solid all tournament, conceding just the one goal, a Shaqiri wonder goal, but simultaneously struggling to score goals, with only Blaszczykowski looking like a potent attacking threat. On the other hand, Portugal were woeful for the majority of the group stages, but then managed to turnover a potent Croatia side by showing up defensively and riding the storm. So overall, we're looking at two sides that will probably be reasonably evenly matched. I think that the winner of this game is the one that produces a moment of magic and both teams have players capable of doing that in Ronaldo and Lewandowski. But overall, I just fancy Poland. I think that they're a stronger, better rounded team and if Portugal go at them, then Poland will hurt them on the counter. 

Prediction: Poland 1-0 or on penalties

Wales v Belgium (8pm Friday)

This is another close game to call. Belgium finally showed us what they're capable of in this tournament against Hungary, leaving them as the top goal scorers left in the tournament with eight goals. However, Wales are not Hungary. In construction, Wales are much, much closer to Italy, in that they will play five at the back, sit very deep, soak up the pressure and hit Belgium hard on the counter. Not only have Wales showed that they have the propensity to really hurt teams on the counter in this tournament, with seven goals already notched and Belgium's defence looking slightly shaky, but they've also showed that they're a very strong defensive side, and won't roll over as Hungary did. I'm backing Wales for this one, but there's no denying Belgium have the firepower to surprise the Welsh. 

Prediction: 2-1 Wales

Germany v Italy (8pm Saturday)

When you reach the quarter final stage of any major tournament, games become difficult to call. But arguably none are harder to call than this one. Italy have proven themselves adept at just this type of fixture, defeating both Spain and Belgium 2-0, both of whom are set up similarly to the Germans. But then the Germans have proven themselves to be adept at breaking down teams, with only Poland holding a Germany team that have looked significantly better balanced since that game. It's also worth noting that the Germans have the best defensive record in the competition, and are yet to concede a single goal. 

However, it's no secret that the Germans have my backing, and have done all tournament. Before the Euros began I said that I thought the Germans would win it. They have the best team, the best attack and the best midfield and arguably the best defence (although Italy would disagree). I was surprised that Spain didn't break down Italy, but Germany are a significantly better side than either Spain or Belgium and I think that they'll score early and blow the Italians away. 

Prediction: 3-0 Germany 

France v Iceland (8pm Sunday)

Depressingly, I can see this game going very, very similarly to the Republic of Ireland game. Overall, I really like Iceland and I definitely think that they'll make a game of it, especially as the French are there for the taking, but ultimately, as much as I would love to see Iceland knock out France, I just don't think that they have enough in them. France are a stronger attacking team than England and we saw how they wore down and eventually broke the Irish. However, there is every chance that France might not turn up, although I can't imagine it being possible for them to play as badly as England did. The thing about France is that they have a never say die attitude. They have scored late winners in two of their four games, and turned out a deficit in another. They have a winning mentality, even if their talent hasn't always shown (or really shown much at all). What their second half against Ireland demonstrated was that if they are able to get two or three of their phenomenal front line firing, then they are very dangerous. But they are vulnerable, and I do see Iceland causing them real problems. 

Prediction: 2-1 France

The Hard and Fast Section

• Jason Roy is an absolute monster.
• Marcus Willis is a hero. Federer is a class act. 
• Konta through, Watson out. 
• And Dan Evans is also through...to face Federer.

28th June

Ohhhh boy. Here we go.

England Crash Out

You know, after my last blogpost on England, in which I lamented the state of the English game, Roy Hodgson's hapless managerial ability, and lambasted our chances of doing anything at this tournament, even I still wasn't convinced that we couldn't make a semi-decent run at this tournament. Iceland were, after all, nothing special and the French were there for the taking (I'll give Iceland their proper dues for this when I come to preview their game against the French but for now let's just say that they were utterly phenomenal against England and thoroughly deserved to beat them). Nevertheless, the cynical part of me still firmly believed that there was a very, very solid possibility that Iceland would completely and utterly outmaneuver us. And here we are. 

Once the anger, the white hot rage that must have filled every England fan finally dissipated, I woke up this morning feeling...relieved. Relieved that this horrific, disgraceful, unacceptable mess of a tournament is finally over, and even more relieved that Roy Hodgson had the good grace to step down, having finally stopped driving the future of our national team into the dirt. 

Now I recognise that I shouldn't feel that way. I shouldn't be able to wake up the morning after one of the lowest points in English football's history and be glad that it's over, but honestly watching England in this tournament, and watching England under Hodgson in general has been so utterly, utterly turgid. Shambolic. Bluntly: I'm out of adjectives to describe it. And the Iceland performance was the cherry on the sundae, the perfect epitome of every single lifeless, listless, utterly pathetic display that Hodgson has inflicted on us, magnified to beyond the point of parody, where England genuinely couldn't have played this badly if they'd been trying to. 

So focusing on the positive first. Because for two minutes out of the ninety we looked semi-competent. A lovely pass from Sturridge, a good run from Sterling, and a coolly dispatched penalty from Rooney. And that's it. That's all the positive I have to say. So, the negative. Oh boy. 

As I've made abundantly clear over the last few weeks, England's problems begin and end with Roy Hodgson. The team selection, the squad selection, the motivation, the tactics, the strategy, the set-pieces. Every single little thing that Roy could have gotten wrong, he has. The man is a tactically inept, big-name choosing, clueless, hopeless chancer who should never have been anywhere near the England job to begin with. He utterly bottled the only previous big job he'd been handed and we gifted him the biggest job of all, even when it was staggeringly clear from the off that he was totally incapable of handling it. 

To come into an international tournament with no clue what your best formation was, your best team was, or even who your best corner taker was is an absolute disgrace. It was painfully obvious even before the Russia game that Roy was totally out of his depth and that England had no cohesion or creativity, with a defence littered with liabilities. Kyle Walker was a defensive error waiting to happen, and when he shambolically let a central defender sprint past him unchallenged to score Iceland's first goal, the level of surprise was somewhere between non-existent and negligibly small. The formation was baffling, the individuals selected in the squad to play in said formation made the formation even more baffling, and then the team selection to fit that formation somehow more baffling than that. The fact that Roy didn't change the formation after it clearly wasn't working is staggering. To suggest that England had no Plan B would be incredibly kind, since they quite clearly didn't even have a Plan A. Roy's idea of taking the game to Iceland was throwing on all his strikers, and looking confused when none of them had any chances to score, since he'd left nobody on the pitch capable of creating the chances for his numerous plethora of goalscorers. Jack Wilshere for Eric Dier at half time, when Wilshere was totally woeful and unfit against Slovakia, and Dier has been England's best player in this tournament, not that that's saying much, was blindingly poor. 

I could go on, such are the depths of Roy's limitless ineptitude. The man couldn't manage an Under-7s team based on the performance that he gave at this Euros. And what baffles me the most, more than any of Roy's own complete and utter incompetence, is that there are professional pundits, people paid to understand the game, who are acting surprised. As if we should have swept aside Iceland, as if they hadn't been watching the tournament, which suggested time and time again that there was a very, very good chance that this was exactly what was going to happen. It sounds hollow when Alan Shearer says England have been useless all tournament, given that the BBC and ITV have been saying how decent England were during the group stage (spoiler alert: they weren't). To be quite honest, I'm not even surprised that England managed to find even lower depths to fall to, but they somehow managed it. 

Oh and the players. If it sounds like up until this point I've been giving them a free ride, then don't worry. Because every single player needs to hang their head in shame. Not a single England player showed any ounce of skill, strength or talent. Rooney gave somewhere close to the worst performance of his career second half, Joe Hart, England's No.1, wouldn't have made it into a Sunday League team based on this game. Smalling and Cahill were weak, Dele Alli anonymous, Kane as awful as he was in the previous two games he played and Sturridge and Sterling, arguably the only two players who were anywhere close to okay in the opening twenty minutes or so, completely and utterly lost their heads. 

But make no mistake where the blame lies. It lies with the manager. Not a single one of England's front five understood their position. Rooney isn't a central midfielder, he doesn't understand the position. Dele Alli, isn't a central midfielder, he didn't understand his role. Daniel Sturridge is not even close to a right winger. He didn't understand the position. Harry Kane was forced to adjust to not having anyone play in behind him, passing to him. He didn't understand his role in the team. And Sterling? Well Sterling doesn't really understand football, but even so. 

I could go on, I want to go on. I'm curious to see how many colourful metaphors I can come up with for how dreadful a manager I think Hodgson is. And if you think I'm being too hard on him or England then think again. Hodgson has now been England manager for four, long and painful years, guided us through three international tournaments, and in that time, we have failed to win a single game of knockout football, failed to even get out of our group at the World Cup, and in this tournament, turned in four of the worst performances I've ever seen from any football team, let alone an England team. I've had to sit through four years of the worst England team I think I've ever seen, with a squad of staggering talent. I genuinely think they've played one good game under Roy, a 3-2 win over Germany in a pointless friendly, against a Germany side who if we met them now, could quite easily put double digits past us. So no, I'm not being harsh. The apathy is gone, replaced by the sort of blinding rage that I didn't even realise I had for a football manager. 

Goodbye Roy. You will not be missed. 

Spain Crash Out

And England weren't the only side to crash out of the Euros, as Italy turned over Spain 2-0 in the other last 16 game on Monday. I confess, I didn't see this coming. I mean yes, I probably should have seen it coming, Spain have struggled to score against teams that weren't Turkey and Italy have been rock solid against Belgium (who I'm starting to think I may have underestimated based on how good Italy were against Spain). But I genuinely thought that Spain would have enough against Italy. I didn't think any of Italy's group stages games were comparable to the level of attacking threat that Spain would offer. But no, Italy were utterly magnificent, and 2-0 flatters the Spanish. It was a nigh on perfect performance from Italy, whereas an increasingly frustrated Spain side were let down by their goalkeeper, who despite making a string of reasonably standard saves, managed to do the one thing I genuinely didn't think he'd do, which was make another howler. And Italy carved Spain open time and again, as Spain displayed that they really haven't improved as much in the last two years since the World Cup as I thought they had.

Okay so specific analysis. Italy dominated the first half, sucking up Spain's possession based football and hitting hard and fast on the counter attack, looking very dangerous without forcing De Gea into a save that you wouldn't have expected him to make. And when De Gea spilled a free kick, it was very telling that it was an Italian, Chiellini who showed the willingness and desire to power home the goal. 

And in the second half, Spain were much better. I really did think, even as the game wore on, that unless Italy killed the game that Spain would score, but in truth the Spanish didn't look like scoring. Pique came closest, before a wonderful Italian break gave Pelle a comfortable volleyed finish to end the match in stoppage time: the 10th goal scored after 90 minutes at this tournament. 

Are Italy genuine contenders? Well it's hard to say. Given the way that they outclassed Belgium and Spain, two of the biggest names at the tournament, you would have to say so. I can't see the French beating them, or Wales beating them, and I definitely can't see the Belgians beating them. But, and there is a big but, they aren't playing France or Belgium or Wales. They're playing Germany. And I can very much see Germany beating them.

But who knows? I also thought Spain would beat them. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Mane confirmed. Overall I think this is a good signing. 
• Williams, Murray and Konta in action today. 
• Djokovic won easily yesterday, as did Federer. 
• And so did Marcus Willis. Wow. Just incredible. 
• Speaking of easy wins: England's women are incredible.

27th June

Now that's more like it. Saturday saw only three goals in normal time over three games. Yesterday saw ten in the same period of time, as three of the tournament's big names turned up for the party.

Euro 2016 - Last 16 Continued

France 2-1 Republic of Ireland

We saw as many goals in 90 minutes in this game as we did in 90 minutes in all of Saturday's games put together. This was definitely the closest game of the three, but it was also, paradoxically, over quicker than the Belgium game. The second that Antoine Griezmann ran in on goal and finished for his second goal of the game, it was over. Ireland's pain was only confirmed a few minutes later, when Griezmann got in again and Shane Duffy was forced to see red to stop him killing the game entirely. 

Make no mistake, Griezmann was the difference. Once he was allowed to stop playing on the right hand side, and tucked in close to partner Olivier Giroud in the central role that he loves to play for Athletico Madrid, he was entirely different player, danger personified and scoring two wonderful goals, a fantastic bullet header and a clinical low finish, to turn this game on its head. Yes, France created a lot of chances after Griezmann's double, but it was Griezmann who had the cool head and finishing capacity to score both goals, and the movement to get Duffy sent off and kill Ireland as a force in this game. After that, everything was academic,  France could have gone on to score four or five, Ireland never looked like getting into the game, and even if they could have snatched an equaliser that never looked likely to come, there was a sense of painfully inevitability that France would have scored again. 

And it's a shame, a real shame, because Ireland were easily the better side in the opening half, looking incredibly comfortable, with France barely able to test them. All of France's good play, led by Pogba and Payet, was in front of Ireland, who were getting stuck in, defended tremendously and counter attacked with pace and threat. I was worried that Ireland would be tactically naive in this game, but any chance of that happening was gone after two minutes, when Ireland went 1-0 up and ensured that this game would probably end up being attack against defence.

So what changed in the second half? A number of things. Partly, Ireland just couldn't keep up the intensity of their play in the first half, and after Duffy's red card they quickly looked exhausted and out of ideas. France scoring early in the half also deflated them, shifting the momentum quickly onto France who never looked back. But actually, Deschamps deserves a lot of credit for his changes. Throwing on Coman down the right hand side gave Ireland something new to think about, but more importantly it freed up Griezmann to play the more central role he so craved, and by putting undeniably France's best goalscorer in the position where he likes to score goals had the effect of...well him scoring goals. It sounds simple, but France simply haven't done that enough in this tournament. 

France were awful in the first half and very, very good in the second. But it remains to be seen whether they'll have what it takes to throw off, no disrespect to Ireland, a genuinely good side. As for Ireland, they absolutely worked their socks off and poured their hearts into it, but in the second half they just ran out of steam, ran into a brick wall and were battered and bruised. They've done well to reach the last 16 and put in a good performance in this tournament, but like their Irish neighbours, it's over. 

Germany 3-0 Slovakia

If France were largely unconvincing, then the Germans were nothing but convincing. The second that Jerome Boateng thundered a sumptuous volley into the bottom corner with less than ten minutes gone, the game was already over. And the Germans threatened to get somewhere close to top gear at times in this game, as Julian Draxler turned up to the party with a wonderful run before finding Mario Gomez two yards out for an easy finish, before scoring himself with a clever hooked volley into the roof of the net off a set piece. And it could so easily have been even more for Germany, as Ozil missed a penalty,  Kroos missed a sitter, and even more chances were carved out. 

The thing that made this performance so completely ominous was how utterly effortless it was. The Germans never looked under any pressure, never looked like they were breaking sweat. Even when Slovakia came forward (and looked dangerous when they came forward), Germany never looked like conceding, with Neuer forced into one half-decent save which he made look easy. Germany didn't look as if they were trying that hard. They never really seemed to hit top gear, this was not their best work. And that's the most terrifying thing for other teams. Germany never seemed to be quite at full throttle and yet won in such an accomplished, simple, easy fashion, as to make football itself seem effortless.

Toni Kroos in the middle of the park was phenomenal, Ozil was busy, Muller is a class footballer, the full backs played excellently again, Boateng and Hummels were faultless at the back, and Julian Draxler was the best player on the pitch. And all of this without ever quite clicking. 

Yes, Slovakia were not great defensively, but I wouldn't say that on paper this Slovakia side are significantly worse than Ireland, it's just that Germany wiped them away. I don't mean to sound hyperbolic but if Germany meet France in the semi-finals, it's going to be a massacre. The idea that France can compete with this German side to me is genuinely laughable, and I'm prepared to nail my flag to the mast on this point. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, come at me, but the idea that France are the favourites for this tournament is genuinely baffling to me. Can I see Germany slipping up in their quarter final against possibly the Spanish? Yes. I think Spain are the only side in the tournament capable of stopping them. But then I equally think either Iceland or England stand a good chance against the French, so I suppose we'll see. For now, let's just say that for me, Germany will walk this tournament if they turn up from here on out. They should be scared of nobody and everybody should be scared of them.

Hungary 0-4 Belgium 

On paper, I should be waxing lyrical about Belgium. A convincing 4-0 win against a Hungary side that topped their group should dispel any notions that this Belgium side aren't as good as people think they are. And yet. And yet. 

Okay let's start with the good stuff, because any team that wins 4-0 must have done a lot of things right. Hazard and De Bruyne were phenomenal. They were next level class, as they ripped holes in this Hungary side. Hazard scored a wonderful solo goal, and both men grabbed assists of pure class, balls into the penalty area that were almost undefendable. Frankly, the two of them are absolutely lightyears ahead of the rest of this Belgium team, apart from Toby Alderweireld at the back who had another good game, managing to get on the scoresheet. Late goals from the young and talented Batshuayi and Athleti man Carrasco were the icing on the cake. 

But make no mistake, this was far from a perfect performance from Belgium, and 4-0 is a flattering scoreline, as they added three late goals to pile misery on a Hungary side who deserved much better. Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens in particular were as utterly dreadful as Hazard and De Bruyne were excellent, they lack any semblance in solidity in their central midfield and their back four looked shaky. Despite scoring early, and dominating the first half against an alarmingly open Hungary side who kept going for it, Belgium were only 1-0 up at HT. And from there, Hungary will question how on earth they didn't equalise as for large swathes of the second half they bombed forward, leaving themselves increasingly vulnerable at the back, as they tested Belgium's defence time and again, only for Belgium to eventually take advantage on the break.

So here's the crux of it. Wales will not be that open. Wales will simply not make it so very, very easy for Belgium to rip them apart, and with maybe a quarter of the chances that they had in this game, I can't see Belgium scoring more than one goal, two at a push. And Wales also have Gareth Bale, who will be itching to get at this Belgium defence. Give Bale or Ramsey the same kind of space and time as Szalai and Dszudszak had and Wales will score. 

However, Belgium remain one of the most dangerous teams at the tournament, and despite their poor record against Wales, and their alarming weaknesses in this game, they still managed to put four goals in the back of the net, Hazard was in frighteningly good form and they sent out one hell of a message in this game, that should not be underestimated. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• ODI washout. England 1-0 up with two to play. 
• £36m for Mane including clauses. Give me strength.
• Sterling set to start for England. Give me strength. 
• Messi quits international football. Give Argentina strength. 

26th June

So the football yesterday was dire...

Euro 2016 - The Last 16 - Review

So I wanted to spend a little bit of time in this blog dissecting each of yesterday's three games. And then it turned out that actually all three games were dull as ditchwater. Nevertheless, we got three results so there's still some space to talk about what the heck happened. 

Switzerland 1-1 Poland (Poland win 5-4 on pens)

If you'd told me at 5pm on Saturday that the first game of the day would also be the most interesting I'd have laughed you out of the room. And yet here we are. Poland started the game really well and created some decent chances, but the longer the game went on, the more Switzerland came into it. That's unsurprising, particularly as Poland took a deserved lead through the once again excellent Blaszczykowski, with a wonderful move. I was once again impressed by Milik, but he needs to improve his finishing if he's to become a top striker. And speaking of top strikers, Robert Lewandowski had yet another quiet game, but sooner or later he has to start firing. 

As for Switzerland, when they were on top they looked good, but they were always going to need a moment of magic, which simply didn't look like coming until Xherdan Shaqiri scored an absolute wondergoal, arguably one of the best goals ever at an international tournament and definitely the best goal at this tournament, with a staggering scissor kick from the edge of the box. The technique was flawless as he had to adjust his body in midair in a fraction of a second. Utterly special goal. 

And after that it came down to penalties, which was a tense affair. But Poland came out trumps, with five flawless penalties, as new Arsenal Granit Xhaka midfielder was the man to miss the decisive penalty. *Insert Arsenal joke here* So it's Poland into the last 16 to face Portugal (coming to them). 

Wales 1-0 Northern Ireland

This game was set up very tense and very tight, much as the other two were. Essentially, this was two teams with very similar strengths and weaknesses, both very well set up to defend well and hit hard on the counter, and as such, Wales, being the team with more quality, had to settle into the role of controlling the ball in the first half and struggled to break down NI. The game played perfectly into the hands of the men in green and white, but as the game wore on, it became more open and desperate and as such, it played into Wales' hands. Northern Ireland didn't offer enough in terms of attacking threat, and all it took was one excellent ball into the NI box by Gareth Bale and the GAWA were toast, as McAuley put into his own net. Wales probably deserved it overall, but neither team really gave it their all and NI will be disappointed to have been knocked out by a team that was there for the taking. 

Croatia 0-1 Portugal AET

This was somehow the worst game of the lot. And for that Portugal deserve a lot of credit, as they managed to completely and utterly neuter a Croatia that up until this point in the tournament had played a lot of fluid and attacking football. I'm genuinely disappointed to see Croatia go home, as they were one of the most exciting teams at this tournament, but they came up against an experienced side with a good set up, and lots of decent defensive players. 

And it took 115 minutes for basically anything to happen as a result, although I was only half-watching this turgid, painful game of boring football. But when things happened, boy did they happen, as Vida, Croatia's central defender, missed two clear openings off set pieces, the awesome Pjaca wreaked havoc off the bench, having been left on it for far too long and Croatia hit the post. But it was Quaresma who nicked the game for Portugal after Nani's mishit shot landed at the feet of Ronaldo, whose shot was well saved. So Portugal are through, and I would expect them to try the same tactic against Poland. That said, I would back Poland in that game. But then, I also backed Croatia. 

Euro 2016 - The Last 16 - Preview

France v Republic of Ireland (2pm)

This is a game that France are thoroughly expected to win and understandably so. Despite looking unconvincing throughout the group stage, they won both of their opening games and secured a 0-0 draw with the Swiss. And to be frank, France are a better team. They have more talent, more quality in every area of the pitch and on paper, this is a home banker. But on paper in international tournaments doesn't take everything into account. The French are there to be beaten, they look uncertain, there's pressure on their shoulders as home nations and they can't seem to work as a cohesive unit. And then there's Ireland, who played okay during the group stage, but against a team that are very similar to France in many respects Belgium, they were tactically naive and inept. If Ireland can learn from the mistakes of the Belgium game then they stand a chance, but you would have to still say France should win this game. 

Germany v Slovakia (5pm)

This is another home banker. Germany were excellent during the group stages, and although they never hit top gear, and struggled at times during their opening two fixtures, they still haven't conceded a goal and when they switched to playing Mario Gomez up front against the Northern Irish, they were exceptional. On another day they'd have scored 4 or 5 as they eviscerated the GAWA. And you would imagine that Slovakia will set up similarly, to frustrate the Germans. But Germany have shown already in this tournament that they are well equipped to break down teams that will sit deep. And although Slovakia have some real quality on the counter attack, it remains to be seen whether or not they will have the opportunity to utilize their dangermen. Personally I would be surprised if Slovakia made a game of it. 

Hungary v Belgium (8pm)

This one should be very interesting. On paper, Belgium have a far superior team to Hungary, with the likes of Lukaku, De Bruyne and Hazard and should win easily. But they were really poor in the group stage because their manager is completely hapless, they've missed Dembele and they don't look like a cohesive unit. On the other hand, Hungary should have finished bottom of Group F on paper but exceeded all expectations, beating Austria and drawing their other two games, scoring a joint high of six goals in the group stages. But how they set up against Belgium will be crucial. Up until now they've gone at teams, unsettled them, and hit them hard. As a result, they've often looked open at the back and this might, might play into Belgium's hands. So we'll see how it plays out, but I would be backing Hungary to cause an upset. 

Spain v Italy (5pm Monday)

This one is tasty. The set up is easy to predict. Spain will dominate possession, dominate the play, create chances, look to break down Italy. Italy will be tough to break down, sit behind the ball and look to counter. The big area of interest is the full backs. Alba and Juanfran have got forward quite a lot for Spain and Italy's wing backs will definitely have their work cut out for them. Nevertheless, the big question is whether Spain will have the cutting edge to break Italy down, and I think that they will. Between Iniesta and Silva, I think that Spain have too much quality not to score at least once in this game, And then the question is how early they score. If Spain can get a goal early, then they'll win easily, but the longer Italy can frustrate them, the more it plays into their hands. Personally, I think Italy will be unable to counter punch, and Spain will win, but it could easily go either way. 

England v Iceland (8pm Monday)

Ah England. This game will shape up pretty much identically to all three of England's group games. They'll dominate possession, control the ball, whilst the opposition will sit deep and look to hit them on the counter. The difference is that Iceland have proved very very good on the counter, and won't necessarily play for the draw, in the way that the other three teams did. As such, that makes Iceland arguably more dangerous than Wales and definitely more dangerous than Slovakia and Russia. And if I'm being honest, I've seen nothing in the group stages to indicate that England have what it takes to break Iceland down. so it's all down to how Iceland play. If they turn up, then they'll cause England a lot of problems. I could see this one going all the way to penalties. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• England are better than Sri Lanka at ODIs. Simple.
• Whitewash down under. Magnificent rugby.
• Argentina v Chile tonight. Money on Argentina. 
• Antony Joshua. What a man. 

24th June

Britain might have left Europe, but the European Championships are still very much on like Donkey Kong, so let's finish off summarizing what's almost certainly the more interesting half of the group stages: Groups D-F

GROUP D 

Croatia

Croatia are very much shaping up to be the surprise package of this tournament. A terrific win against Spain despite missing one or two key individuals meant that they secured the crucial position on the top of Group D to secure a last 16 game with Portugal and a spot in the easier half of the draw. And what a result it was, without key man Luka Modric in the midfield, and with Kalinic starting ahead of Mandzukic up top, for Croatia to nick the crucial winning goal. What's more, the decision to play Kalinic absolutely paid off, as he scored one and created one more. 

I cannot rate Croatia highly enough so far. They have a genuinely world class midfield with Modric, Rakitic and Perisic needing no introduction, and they've all been excellent at this stage. But the underrated Brozovic and Badelj have both been absolutely terrific as well and Vedran Corluka deserves huge credit, both for his stoic defensive performances, and the sheer number of head wounds he's accumulated. Other than a shocking last ten minutes or so against the Czechs (and they were clearly thrown by Modric's injury and the flares incident), we would be saying that Croatia had a nigh flawless group stages, even if there were question marks over their goalscoring ability after Game 1. Croatia are major contenders in this tournament, there's no two ways about it. 

Spain

Spain are a curious case. On the one hand, they've looked very good for large swathes of this tournament. But on the other, they blew it against Croatia, looked inept up front against the Czechs and as a result face a run in of Italy, then Germany and then France, just to reach the final. I personally really like this Spain team. They have a rock solid defence (getting to that), arguably the best midfield in the tournament in Iniesta, Silva, Busquets and Fabregas and some genuine quality, if slightly inconsistent quality, in Morata and Nolito. And given the way that they swept aside Turkey, I'm tempted to put their struggles against the Czech Republic down to just not quite being warmed up yet, especially Morata. 

And on another day, they would have beaten Croatia and topped the group, In fact they should have. Sergio Ramos shouldn't be taking their penalties when they have so much quality in their team, and if they'd scored that spot kick (admittedly one that shouldn't have been given and should have been retaken), they'd have won the match. And yes, they lost that match because of glaring defensive errors, but how often is David De Gea going to lose you a game of football rather than win it? I would say not very often. Do Spain have what it takes to win the tournament? Still tough to say, especially with their run in, but I'd back them against Italy for sure. 

Turkey

Turkey will consider themselves unfortunate to crash out of the Euros on goal difference to Portugal and Northern Ireland, given that it didn't look like the Republic of Ireland would beat Italy to get the four points they needed to qualify. But Turkey only have themselves to blame. Yes, they turned up against the Czechs and won easily when they needed to, scoring a couple of really good goals in the process, and yes if Northern Ireland had taken the hammering at the hands of the Germans that Turkey might have expected then they would have gotten through, but if they'd wanted to go through, then they shouldn't have been so utterly woeful in their first two games. 

Yes, they were utterly outclassed by two sides that are genuine tournament contenders in Croatia and Spain, but Turkey were so open defensively, so toothless up front and so utterly useless in midfield that it was no surprise that Croatia and Spain tore strips off of them. Ultimately, when sitting back and playing deep at 1-0 down against Spain would have given them a good chance of getting through on GD, Turkey gambled and got taken down. 

Czech Republic

The Czechs deserve a lot of credit, much like Romania, for the way that they approached this tournament. Against Spain they sat deep, defended exceptionally and were ultimately unlucky to lose that game. But when they did lose, they went on to their next game and did the same thing. Yes, they were taken apart by Croatia but when they had some semblance of momentum after the flares and Croatia losing Modric, they seized it and stole a vital point, setting them up well to beat Turkey and qualify. And then they spectacularly blew it. Just like Romania, when it came to the crunch, the Czechs didn't have what it took. 

Ultimately, the problem for the Czechs was that they weren't ever able to dominate a game. They sat deep against Spain mostly successfully, did the same against Croatia unsuccessfully before managing to steal the initiative when it was offered to them, but when they were playing against a team who were probably on their level, they were never able to take control of the game, and Turkey were always able to keep them at arms length. Overall, another team who couldn't cut the mustard. 

GROUP E

Italy

Italy came into this tournament looking like a painfully average team who had a very, very good back three and goalkeeper, were extremely well organised and had arguably the best manager in the competition. Three games in and that's pretty much still the case. They were able to beat Belgium because they were extremely well set up to do so, with a very hard to penetrate side and helped out by lackluster Belgium defending and well, frankly Belgium being a bit naff (we'll get to that). But against Sweden in particular, but also against Ireland, against teams Italy were expected to beat, they faltered, and looked very average.

This is partly down to the fact that this Italy side is best set up to soak up pressure and counter attack, which is why they're probably better off playing Spain than someone like Iceland, but also partly down to the sheer lack of cutting edge in their midfield, although I am a fan of Pelle and Eder up front and they've both been very good so far. Moreover, the simple truth is that after topping the group after two games, they had nothing to play for against the Irish. 

Belgium

Belgium came into this tournament with a lot of talented players and absolutely no idea how to use them. The best comparison I can make is to how England must look from the outside, complete befuddlement as to how a team with Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku can play so very, very poorly. Well simply, mismanagement. A back four that is disjointed and jumbled up, a midfield where Dembele simply had to start but didn't (and then promptly was injured for the tournament), and overall just a lack of quality in the key area that is the center of their midfield. Witsel and Nainggolan are just not top players. That and Wilmots is a fool.

Against Italy they played right into their hands, with almost zero cohesion between their front three and Marouanne Fellaini pulling the strings in midfield, not a man known for his creativity. Bizarrely, Ireland played right into their hands, but without Dembele in midfield, they went back to looking very inept against Sweden. Hungary should give them a real game in the last 16, but on paper Belgium should still somehow walk into the semi-finals, having stumbled their way into the easy half of the draw. 

Republic of Ireland

On paper, you have to question how the Republic of Ireland made it out of their group. In reality, the answer is very simple. Sweden are a dreadful team that Ireland outplayed and should have beaten, and their game against Italy meant absolutely zero to their opposition. It may seem disingenuous to suggest that Ireland wouldn't have beaten an Italy side even slightly invested in the result of their game, but it's also probably accurate. 

Overall though, I've been reasonably impressed with Ireland. They played very well against Sweden, they were easily the better side and deserved to beat Italy, and they had their moments in the Belgium game. However, tactically speaking they do not look set up to defend properly. Against Sweden and Italy they were allowed to have a solid share of the ball and used it well, but that tactic left them horribly exposed against a Belgium side who exploited their weaknesses ruthlessly. If they're going to make a game of it against the French, they cannot be so exposed at the back, or they will play into the hands of one of the most dangerous teams at the tournament. Hopefully they've learned their lessons. 

Sweden

Honestly? Sweden were dreadful. They were absolutely dreadful. Against a good team in this group they'd have been hammered. As it was, they came up against an Italy side who didn't really know how to play against them tactically, a Belgium side that were tactically inept and an Ireland side that contained Ciaran Clark in central defence (seriously I think that's the only reason Ireland drew that game) and they still managed to come out with only one point and one goal. That's how bad Sweden were. Put them in Germany or Spain's group and they'd have taken a hammering.

We jest about Sweden just being a one man team, the same as Portugal and Wales but at least Portugal and Wales knew how to feed their best player. Zlatan FC failed to actually play to their only strength and get the ball to Zlatan in good areas of the pitch. Defensively they weren't terrible but they were nothing special and ultimately it was a lack of any semblance of creativity that sunk this Sweden side. 

GROUP F

Hungary

Oh Group F. Oh Hungary. What a story. I am more than happy to admit I thought Hungary would be one of the worst contenders in this tournament, considering that over the course of their qualifying campaign they demonstrated that both Romania and Northern Ireland had the beating of them. But lo and behold, Hungary only went and won the group, earning them a winnable last 16 game with Belgium. One of Belgium, Wales, NI and Hungary will make the semis and frankly, why not Hungary? Five points ended up being enough to top this group, and the fact that that's the least of any says volumes about this group. But Hungary deserved to top it. They were terrific in their opening game against Austria, defensively solid and possessing power and strength on the counter attack, and they dominated the game against Iceland, deservedly equalising late on. 

And the Portugal game. Wow. Up until that point Hungary had looked pretty good defensively, but everything just went crazy, as the incredible Hungarian force just kept coming forward. They arguably had the better chances to win the game as it stood. This is a well drilled, well set up Hungary outfit with smatterings of quality and a desire. More than anything else, they just look like a team who are going to do something. Let's hope that they can. 

Iceland

If Hungary topping this group is a major shock (and it is) then the Iceland fairytale deserves it's place as a real underdog story. A nation of 330,000 people not only making it to a major tournament, but turning up at it too. They played very well against Portugal, managing to frustrate them. Then they defended very well against Iceland and were unlucky to only get a point there. And when they secured a 94th minute winner against Austria to take them through in second place, there was ecstasy. 

I really rate this Iceland side, they have a touch of the Leicester City about them. They play with 28% possession, ride their luck a little bit and have the capacity to score when it counts, with real quality and a terrific, team, work ethic. Not bad for a team with a "small mentality" that apparently wouldn't go anywhere in this tournament. They are perfectly set up to cause England real problems, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go deep into this tournament. 

Portugal

Like it or not, Portugal's whole tournament has been about Cristiano Ronaldo, a man who has to make everything all about him, both in the good and bad sense. It was he who stole the limelight after a poor display at a 1-1 draw with Iceland, by insulting their team. It was he who stole the limelight against Austria after a poor display for missing a dozen chances, wasting direct free kicks and hilariously missing a penalty and having a goal ruled out for offside. 

But, it was also Ronaldo who stole the show in their final group game against Hungary, by scoring two sublime goals and answering his critics, even if he had time to throw a tantrum when they started losing. Like it or not, this Portugal team is built around Ronaldo and his ego and only he can determine how far they can go in this tournament. Croatia should run rings around them frankly, but with CR7 on the pitch, anything is possible. 

Austria

Austria's tournament really is a tale of woe. Bizarrely overhyped before the tournament started (and I'm allowed to say that since I said they were nothing special beforehand), and with the pressure of the label of "dark horses" hanging over them, they were well and truly taken apart by Hungary in what turned out to be an awful first game for the Austrians. And their tournament didn't improve from there, as it was more down to Ronaldo's awful finishing than anything else that they got a point from their second game and their own laughably bad finishing cost them dearly against Iceland. 

This Austria side simply never looked good. They didn't look like doing anything in their opening two games, and when they finally looked like doing something against Iceland the results were dire. They were overhyped, under too much pressure to perform and simply capitulated. And it was very, very enjoyable to watch. In terms of players, even David Alaba was painfully poor at times, and claims that Arnautovic was on the same level of being able to carry teams through tournaments as Ronaldo or Zlatan proved so inaccurate it's shocking. Austria were terrible. 

23rd June

So, essays are all done for now and I am back in the saddle. Did someone say football?

So the Euros have been happening and overall, I have to be honest, I've been loving it. It's been a really fascinating tournament with a lot of interesting teams, some real underdog stories and some terrific matches. So over the next two days, I'm going to review the various teams involved in the group stages. Then on Saturday I'll preview the last 16, and on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I'll review said last 16 matches. Sound good? Alright then, so...

GROUP A

France

There really is only one place to start, and that is with the hosts, who up until this point have been...well thoroughly underwhelming. With one obvious exception. There have been three running themes of this tournament, poor goalkeeping, late goals, and teams with otherwise fantastic midfields struggling to score goals. France's games have exhibited all of these right from the off, as they toiled and toiled against Romania, only to take the lead through a goalkeeping error, and eventually scoring a late winner. And struggling to score remained France's problem, as it looked as if they would draw 0-0 with Albania until Griezmann's late show, and their last game against Switzerland, albeit one France didn't need to win, was a rather tame 0-0, as France missed two or three good chances in that match too. 

But, the fact remains that this France side topped their group very comfortably with seven points, the joint most of any team, as nobody won all three of their games. Defensively, France looked fairly solid, albeit with not much to threaten them; they only conceded the one goal from a Patrice Evra horror show and they will certainly come into their element in the knockout stages. And of course, there is that exception to talk about: Dimitri Payet. Arguably the player of the tournament so far, he dominated the Romania game, putting in an all-round display of sheer class before winning the game single-handedly with a stunning goal. He turned in another good display against Albania and got on the scoresheet in that game too, and coming off the bench he looked a threat against the Swiss. Simply put, Payet is the sort of player who can win games, and considering the quality at France's disposal that is saying something. With the likes of Griezmann, Coman and Martial yet to hit top gear, and Pogba finally turning up in the Switzerland game, France have showed that despite a couple of stuttering performances, they will be real contenders at this tournament. 

Switzerland

I've been reasonably impressed with Switzerland up until this point in the tournament, but at the same time they epitomize a lot of teams at this tournament. Very solid at the back, conceding only one this tournament (like France from a Romanian penalty) and with a very creative midfield. But, like so many teams at this tournament, Switzerland have struggled when it matters: putting the ball into the back of the net. One of the problems with reviewing every team individually is that a lot of them have the same strengths and weaknesses, and Switzerland are one of those teams. Going 1-0 up early on against Albania through a goalkeeping error (sound the claxon), Switzerland struggled to make their dominance count. I've been very impressed with the likes of Schar at the back, new Arsenal signing Xhaka in midfield (despite looking like the exact same player as Ramsey, Wilshere or Cazorla good one Arsene), and Mehmedi on the wing, whose excellent volley got the Swiss level against Romania. 

Switzerland's main problem has been up front, where overall the hapless Haris Seferovic has been preferred to highly sort after youngster Embolo. Seferovic missed two or three glorious openings in both of Switzerland's opening two games, and they should have beaten Romania and Albania comfortably if he'd put them in. That said, Embolo hasn't massively impressed either, although France offer sterner defensive opposition to Albania and Romania, and hasn't missed a hat-full of good chances. But the Swiss are in decent shape, look a solid team and could cause problems in the last 16, especially being in the good half of the draw. 

Albania

Albania, it has to be said, have been desperately unlucky. They defended superbly well against France, only to be beaten at the death by two top quality goals. If they'd taken their chances against Switzerland they could have stolen a point from that game, and they ended up missing out on the last 16 only on goal difference, as their -2 wasn't as good as Northern Ireland and Portugal's 0. They played superbly against both Romania and France, and on another day, could well have made the latter stages of the tournament. 

That's the generous interpretation of Albania's tournament. The truth is they were utterly hapless against the Swiss, conceding a goal entirely of their own fault, securing a red card of limitless stupidity and on another day their goal difference would have taken an absolute hammering such that they really should be looking back at -2 and thinking that's not too bad all in all. Yes they were unlucky not to get a point against the French, but their defending for the first French goal was not good. Against Romania they held on at times and I really didn't think Romania would fail to score.

Moreover, up front, Albania were not good enough. They created one decent chance against Switzerland and failed to take it, didn't really threaten the French goal and truthfully, didn't really look like scoring against Romania until Romania handed one to them on a plate (although admittedly it was a very good ball in in fairness). Overall, Albania were not one of the best 16 teams in this tournament, with one goal scored in three group games an accurate reflection of their potency in front of goal, and three conceded an accurate reflection of their defensive ineptitude. They were certainly unlucky not to reach the last 16, but ultimately they didn't deserve to. 

Romania

Romania are a team that often threatened to turn in a good performance in this tournament, but ultimately didn't. I remember watching their opening game against the French thinking that they were desperately unlucky not to take a point from it, and that much remains true, but it was more to do with how poor the French were than how good Romania were. Likewise against the Swiss, Romania's early penalty threatened to set the cat amongst the pigeons, but Switzerland came back well and if Romania were unlucky not to take a point from their opening game, they were slightly lucky to take one from the Switzerland game. 

Romania were a hard team to judge two games in. Seemingly resolute defensively overall, yet defensive errors had cost them. Were they good at defending, or were the Swiss and French inept at scoring? Was the fact that both of their goals penalties a comment on their ability to score goals, or was it just a coincidence? Ultimately, painfully for Romania, the only accurate measure for a performance in this tournament had to come against Albania and in that game they were woefully short, poor coming forward, unable to finish chances, and a piece of truly awful goalkeeping (again), ended up knocking them out of the tournament. Unfortunate? Perhaps, but like Albania, Romania didn't have enough to get out of a group that frankly, was there for the taking after two games. 

GROUP B

Wales

Wales deserved to top this group, there's no two ways about it. They deserved to win the games that they won (just about in one case, emphatically in the other) and they didn't deserve to lose the game that they lost. Chris Coleman's plan of sitting back and absorbing pressure and hitting hard and fast on the counter worked a treat, and Wales played like a team who knew exactly what they were doing, and how to do it. Defensively they weren't as solid as I expected, with Slovakia tearing into them inside one minute, Ashley Williams in particular looking error prone, and a big error from Wayne Hennessey costing them, but that ended up not mattering, because when it mattered, this Wales side produced one thing, goals in spades. If there was a touch of fortune in the way that Bale's free kicks beat opposition keepers, it was well earned. When Hal Robson-Kanu's goal crashed into the back of Slovakia's net, the touch of fortune involved in the finish itself was irrelevant. Wales had created enough chances in the Slovakia game to deserve to win it. 

If the Russia game was where we really saw Wales let loose, their vision of defensive solidity and powerful counter-attacking football coming to fruition perfectly, then there were clear signs of it in the Slovakia game, which either side could have won, but overall Wales made less mistakes and produced more moments of quality. Ben Davies' stunning goal line clearance, Ramsey's bombastic midfield runs, Bale's goals and Joe Allen's midfield control have all been excellent moments from Wales. If I'm being honest, I'm disappointed that Wales were so defensive against England, as they lacked the ambition to produce the sort of counter attacks that tore holes in Russia and Slovakia. 

If there are question marks over Wales, it can only be in the caliber of their opposition. They lost to an England side that have struggled for cutting edge all tournament, Slovakia are not an amazing side and the Russia side that they pummeled are easily contenders for the worst team in the tournament. But Wales have done what they've needed to do, and that has been enough. And as a result, they have a very nice run to at least, whisper it, the semi-finals. 

England

I don't want to linger very long on England because I've made my feelings on the matter quite clear in my previous blog post. But from a less emotional angle, England have demonstrated that like many teams in the tournament, if you sit back and absorb pressure against them, they'll struggle to break you down. But whilst the likes France, Germany and to an extent Spain (getting to them tomorrow) demonstrated that they have the quality to score when they need to, England didn't as such. England dominated the ball in every game but never looked anywhere close to convincing. Defensively they were shaky, as Wales and Russia demonstrated to good effect and frankly it's baffling that neither Wales in the second half, nor Slovakia, didn't try harder to put pressure on our defensive midfield and back lines, as England are very vulnerable on the counter attack. 

However, there were also some real positives to take on moving forward. Eric Dier has proven that he belongs on the international stage, being not only England's best player, but one of the best holding mids at the tournament (and not even taking into account his stunning free kick), Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy demonstrated that there are real goalscorers in this team, no matter how hard Roy tries to stifle them, and we've got two right backs playing so well that either of them would get into the side of almost any defence in the tournament. Overall though? England are deficient in almost every area of the pitch and it showed in the group stages. 

Slovakia

Slovakia are overall a decent team. There's no denying that. They have some quality players, look reasonably solid defensively, and overall they deserve to be in the last 16, albeit qualifying with 4 points from arguably the worst group in the draw (although Group F runs it pretty close). I thought they were unlucky to lose against Wales, and although there's no denying Wales did enough to win that match, it would be harsh to say that Slovakia deserved to lose it. But their goalkeeper didn't shower himself in glory when dealing with Bale's free kick, nor with Hal Robson-Kanu's winning goal. 

However, they were very impressive against Russia (again, not sure how much that statement means), and the two goals they scored were right out of the top drawer regardless of opposition. What's slightly more worrying from Slovakia's perspective is that they allowed Russia to pin them back, and when Russia scored, there looked a very real danger that Slovakia would crumble under pressure. And much like Wales, I was disappointed to see Slovakia not really get at England. Granted a point was worth much more to them than a defeat, but England were there for the taking, and Slovakia had already shown that they had the players to cause England problems, and they made no attempt to. Overall, I think Slovakia are an okay team, with some good attacking quality, and a strong team ethic, but they're unlikely to cause an upset in the latter stages. 

Russia

As I've already hinted at, Russia are definitely a contender for worst team in the tournament. In a group made up of England, Slovakia and Wales, three sides that are not really anything special, they looked like they were playing France, Germany and Spain at times. Against England they defended solidly but that's not really saying much at this point. Against Slovakia and Wales? They defended suicidally badly. Slovakia's opening goal is one of the worst pieces of defending I've seen at this tournament, and after that travesty, they followed it up with the Wales game, where they completely and utterly fell apart. Admittedly Wales scored early and Russia needed to win the game but it was like watching amateur hour. They managed to pull themselves together in the second half against Slovakia, but in both that game and against England, it was mostly a shock to see them score because of how completely and utterly useless they were up until that point. 

That said, Russia did have an endearing never say die spirit, as they could easily have accepted defeat in both of their opening games, but didn't. And depsite the odds and their lack of fire power, they managed to play to their strengths and grab a couple of good late goals, that mean ultimately they don't deserve the moniker of worst of the worst. They scored a couple of goals, almost managed to nick a couple of points, and made England look very silly indeed. 

GROUP C

Germany 

Germany are in a similar boat to France I feel with regards to this tournament up until now. They looked thoroughly underwhelming in the group stages, but came out with seven points, topped their group and didn't concede a single goal in the process (although Northern Ireland didn't give Will Grigg a run at them and I'm reliably informed that he is in on fire). On another day against Northern Ireland they'd have scored five or six, on another day against Ukraine several and they did pretty well to keep a dangerous Poland side at bay. 

Germany started well, with a 2-0 win over Ukraine, but their opening goal was a defender off a set piece and their second a counter attack late on after Ukraine had decided not to take the 1-0 lying down. After that, they looked well and truly ineffective against Poland and it was only after sticking their only recognised striker in the squad, Mario Gomez, up top that they looked a force to be reckoned with against Northern Ireland and even then, they only scored once, although Muller in particular could have had a hat-trick. 

But Germany started to look imperious towards the end of the group and that is ominous signs for everyone else. Jerome Boateng showed to everyone that he's one of the best centre halves in world football, their full backs Hector and Kimmich were mightily impressive against the GAWA, Ozil is one of the best playmakers in world football, and Thomas Muller, although he hasn't scored yet in these (or any) Euros, is one hell of a player. I wouldn't want to be the poor suckers coming up against the Germans any time soon. 

Poland

I had Poland down to be the dark horses of this tournament and so far, they fall into the category of almost all the other big teams - underwhelming. Despite boasting one of the best strike forces in the tournament, Poland have only scored twice up until this point, Milik's goal against NI and Blaszczykowski's goal against Ukraine. They looked short on ideas in all three games, coming up against reasonably to very meager defences, and they haven't indicated that they'll score a hat-full against the stern Swiss defence either. 

But equally, they've still got Robert Lewandowski on the pitch, and underwhelming though he has been, he's probably the best natural goalscorer at this tournament, and you'd back him against anyone. Moreover, they were probably the better team against Germany and the very impressive Milik could have had a couple that day. Against Ukraine they played like it was the third game of the group stage and they knew they'd finished second, they were lackluster but managed to score a wonderful goal and win the game, despite not playing well. Overall, I remain convinced that this Poland side are dark horses in the nice half of the draw, and could easily reach the final if Lewa turns up. 

Northern Ireland

The GAWA have caused me to lose my voice this tournament. I, unlike many others, thought that they played very against Poland, restricting them to just the one goal (and this proved crucial), and despite not offering much coming forward, they arguably didn't need to. Northern Ireland are the chief beneficiaries of this group format and played it perfectly. Defend like hell against the bigger teams and keep the goal difference low. Take a 1-0 defeat because that's better than pushing to equalise and losing by 2 or 3 and getting knocked out. Admittedly they were very, very lucky against Germany but I suspect there isn't a single team in the tournament would have kept out Germany the way they played against NI. 

Instead, Northern Ireland played to their strengths. Defend very very well, which they did in all three games. Wait for their moment, and when it arrived, they took advantage, scoring twice against Ukraine to secure their passage into the last 16, courtesy of having a superior goal difference to Turkey and Albania. They used their set pieces well, they took their chance when it came and they didn't overreach and get caught out against either big team. Against a less dangerous attack, they could well cause someone some problems. 

Ukraine

Oh Ukraine. They tried so hard and yet ended up being perpetually rubbish. The only team not to score a single goal at the tournament. The only team not to pick up a single point at the tournament. They lost to the Germans comfortably, then to Northern Ireland and then finally to Poland. And despite actually playing not too badly in any of their games, they never looked like winning any of them either. The fact that they haven't scored a single goal in the tournament is a painful stat, but even the completely inept like Austria (more on them tomorrow) and Sweden (again, tomorrow), managed to nick a goal. And as much as I like Northern Ireland, to lose 2-0 to them is shocking. 

Simply put, Ukraine weren't good enough in any department. They failed to score, they failed to defend, they conceded too many goals chasing games, they missed lots of good chances and they earn the dubious honour of being the worst team at this tournament. And considering how poor Russia, Austria and Sweden were, that's a very, very impressive move. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Plunkett scored a last ball six to save a draw. 
• England's women won by 212 runs. Crazy. 
• England secured the series down under. Magnificent. 
• Jamie Vardy is having a party.

20th June

I wasn't going to post one of these until after I finished my essays, especially not tonight. But ah well. Here we go.

England.

So I want to be a sports journalist. It's no secret. It's the reason I started this blog after all. I want to spend my life watching and reporting on sport. Sport of all kinds, I like rugby and am hoping to go to a lot of games this season. Watching Andy Murray in the Grand Slams is always good. I really, really like cricket, and watching England's test matches whilst I read Nietzsche is going to be one of the highlights of my summer. 

However, as anyone who knows me even slightly well knows, I love football more than any other sport. Football is not only my favourite sport, but one of my favourite things period. I can probably list on one hand the amount of things that have had a bigger impact on my life, and continue to have a bigger impact on my life than football. I'm not trying to sound dramatic here, but I love football, unabashedly. So I just want to make that clear, because what I want to write tonight isn't from the head, but from the heart. 

Sack Roy Hodgson. 

It felt very good to put that in writing. You see up until this point in the tournament, my gut reaction has been cynicism. I was cynical when England were 1-0 up against Russia, confidently predicting 60 seconds before it happened that England would concede. I was cynical after the Wales game, confident that Wales would still top this group by beating Russia whilst we stuttered against Slovakia. And so they did. And fair play to them, they've deserved it, they deserved to win both of the games that they won and they deserved at least a point against us. I think my feelings on this tournament, and Roy Hodgson's management as a whole actually can boil down to two quotes.

Roy Hodgson: "I never thought I'd see an England team go to a major tournament and dominate three matches."

Slaven Bilic: "Let's not praise possession because they played against a team who didn't want possession."

Nail. Meet. Head. 

I'm not going to mince my words. I think England have been terrible in this tournament. We've dominated possession against three teams that were more than happy to let us. We've seen a lot of the ball, passed it okay in the midfield, but the second we've needed to break a team down, we failed miserably. I cannot recall a good chance in the Russia game, and it needed a wondergoal from Dier to break the deadlock that day. Against Wales, okay we actually created one good chance early on and then the two goals. Today? Vardy and Alli had glorious openings after two excellent passes from Hendo, but other than that? 

Russia, Slovakia and Wales are three teams that we should be beating. Ironically, the only one we have beaten is the only one that's actually looked like a very good team in this tournament, since Wales were sensational against Russia and Slovakia and if I'm being honest, could have beaten England if they'd gambled a bit more at 1-1. 

Now there are plenty of reasons why we've not played well. Kane and Alli look burnt out, Sterling, Wilshere and Henderson all came into this tournament out of both form and fitness, the center of our defence is mediocre, our goalkeeper error prone. Rooney is overrated. All of these are, how shall I put it, external factors. And by external, I mean things that are not directly the fault of Roy Hodgson. And not everyone has played badly, Lallana has had a very good tournament so far, Eric Dier has been excellent, Walker, Rose and Clyne have done very well. Sturridge and Vardy produced two moments of magic when their team needed them to. But here's the rub. 

Hodgson has ruined this team. The formation is terrible, he's playing the wrong players, he's playing players out of position, he doesn't know what his best team is, he's stifling our best creative players, he picked the wrong squad to begin with and frankly is out of his depth. 

Right okay, some logic is needed I suppose. Daniel Sturridge, arguably England's most potent striking force, spent the majority of tonight's game wasted out on the right wing. Dele Alli has been playing deeper than usual and looks like he doesn't really understand the position he's playing in. Sterling started two games despite not having a creative bone in his body, Kane has been isolated, the 4-3-3 clearly hasn't worked but Roy is persisting with it, shifting to a diamond towards the end of the Slovakia game when things got desperate. Simply put, England haven't looked like scoring in this tournament really. 

And we have a team of extremely talented players. We have FOUR Premier League team of the year players in there: Alli, Kane, Vardy and Smalling. All of them are top players in their position. Our full backs are amongst the best in Europe. Our keeper is error prone yes but he's also a top keeper. Eric Dier is maturing into one of the best holding midfielders in the world, let alone the Premier League. Rooney isn't as good as he used to be, but it cannot be denied that he always gives more than anyone for the team and occasionally produces moments of top quality. Lallana has had an excellent tournament. Sturridge is one of the most technically gifted strikers in the world. We have a lot of very, very good players. So why can't they form a cohesive unit? Two words: Roy Hodgson. 

Okay, so now I've justified my position on a logical level, it's time to get to the heart of the matter. When the final whistle blew today, and in fact my overwhelming feeling when England conceded against Russia was a level of smug cynicism. A feeling of: I told you so, a feeling of superiority born out of the fact that other people were surprised at how appalling England were. I wasn't angry that England had played badly, although obviously I was a little disappointed. I was expecting it. And it duly arrived. And then, driving home, it hit me. It hit me just how much I hated myself for it. 

Because I've been a football fan for as long as I can remember. And being a Liverpool fan over the past decade, as so many people will I'm sure be queueing up to remind me, has not been fun, hurtling violently from one disappointment to the next, occasionally getting close to something resembling progress, only to be kicked in the chest. But throughout that decade, stupidly, weirdly, I never became cynical. I remained a sunshiney, deluded optimist, desperately believing that Liverpool would and could turn it around. 

Now let me explain. This season has been a mixed one for LFC. The last two or three have been. I've seen a lot of world class performances, and a lot of true stinkers. I'm reasonably good at gauging whether or not I think the team that I'm supporting have done well. And I'm not for one second buying the idea that England have played well during this tournament. I've been more disappointed by England's performances than I have by most from LFC this season, and we finished eighth. 

So yeah, to bring it right back around to where we started. I love football. I love football so much I've watched almost every single game at the Euros. And actually, I've loved this tournament. England aside it's been a pretty good tournament so far, and I don't think I've cheered harder than when Northern Ireland put their second past Ukraine to put them on the brink of qualification, with surely now anything better than a 4-0 drubbing enough against the Germans tomorrow. I'm actually surprisingly happy for Wales now we're not playing them. But England?

I've hated almost every second of watching England. And that's fine. That happens. I've hated watching Liverpool a lot of times in the last few years. And actually, England have occasionally made me angry. And that's fine too. I've been angry at Liverpool quite a bit recently. But cynical? I am not a cynical person. I have never been a cynical person. And in ten plus years of following football, I've not considered myself a cynical fan of Liverpool or England at almost any point. 

But right now? Right now I've become something I'm not, and I've, and still am, reacting to a team I should theoretically be rooting for in ways that I'm not proud of. Football is at base an emotional sport, and it can be many many things. I've had seasons where I've been hating it, I've had seasons where the whole thing feels pointless and painful. 

But this? Roy has managed to almost entirely neuter me of emotion. There are very, very few points where I've come close to completely stopping watching football, funnily enough Hodgson at Liverpool was one of them. But I hadn't watched England play football in almost two years before April of this year. And you know what, I'm really tempted to stop watching. Imagine that, wanting to stop watching your national team in the middle of an international tournament. Thanks Roy. 

But ah well, at least we had more possession than Slovakia.

Oh and no Hard and Fast Section tonight, If England can't be bothered, why should I? But you can have a picture of Eric Dier winning a header because it looks good on the thumbnail. (If this sounds slightly petty and petulant then I think you missed the point of the post to be honest)

12th June

So England played last night, you might have seen...

England Falter At The First Hurdle

It's difficult to know where to begin with England. The 1-1 draw that was such a painful yet hilariously inevitable should have surprised absolutely nobody. The feeling of "here comes the equaliser" struck me all the way up until the 91st minute, and the only reason that I personally had to feel confident was when Russia's stoppage time corner failed to beat the first man. There was still time for England to throw it away, but Russia didn't look like they had a clue how to capitalise on that. But then a long punt into the box off said cleared corner and Berezutski, Russia's captain and aerial presence at central defence, managed to isolate himself against Danny Rose, and powered in the header. 

Now on the goal itself, yes Rose was beaten far too easily, and it was terrific movement from Berezutski to allow that, but it smacks of poor organisation from England's defence. Someone taller and more powerful in the eye has to be keeping an eye on Russia's main aerial presence and aware that letting him get into a one-on-one with one of the smallest players on the pitch was a mistake. 

In terms of mistakes made by Hodgson to allow the game to reach that point? Well not bringing on either Jamie Vardy or Daniel Sturridge up front was the vital one, either to support, but frankly instead of the tired, and completely ineffectual Harry Kane. Kane is England's top striker but he had a shocking game, in which bizarrely he was asked to take corners and made a mess of most of them, but worse than that was his discipline with the offside trap, as his woeful positioning caught him offside in a promising position three or four times when there was no need for it. Giving Vardy or Sturridge twenty minutes off the bench with England 1-0 up and giving them pace on the counter attack was the right decision, and I'm not entirely sure how Raheem Sterling got as long as he did on the pitch, given how useless he was. A lot of people are blaming the decision to take off Wayne Rooney for Jack Wilshire, but given that Rooney's aging legs mean I'm not sure he's capable of playing a full 90 minutes twice in one week without some sort of kickback, especially at the high tempo England will want to play with, bringing on the fresh and more energetic Wilshire was definitely a good decision, or at the least one that was wholly justified when he made it. Moreover, England still looked really comfortable until the goal and were still controlling the game. I doubt Rooney being on the pitch made any difference to the goal.

But onto the positives then, because ultimately there were lots of them, and whilst it's easy to picks holes in Hodgson's numerous tactical mistakes, he did ultimately almost get the starting eleven right. It seems strange to say that Hodgson deserves credit for playing the five Spurs players all in their correct positions, all together, since their chemistry both in attack and defence forms the core of this side, and moreover playing Adam Lallana on the right was also a smart move because Liverpool's Klopp are the closest thing in the Premier League stylistically speaking to Pochettino's high pressing style. As such, the midfield combo of Dier at the deepest, Alli in the CAM role, linking up with Kane with pressing wingers, and supported well by the full backs, worked a treat and was the main reason that England played well. And as I said, it seems odd to praise Hodgson for this, given how obvious the whole thing was. However, the main question of course, is in this team, who plays the Dembele role? And this brings us onto Wayne Rooney. 

My problem with Rooney being in the team was that fundamentally he wouldn't fit into the system, not because I don't think he's capable of playing in the Dembele role, as he showed last night he's perfectly capable (ish, I'll come to that in a moment), but because I didn't think that Hodgson would have the guts to say to Rooney, play deeper and let Dele Alli play ahead of you (mostly because he favoured Alli in a deeper role in the friendlies because I have absolutely no idea) and Rooney in a more attacking role. And also because I didn't think Rooney had the tactical discipline to actually resist the urge to charge forward and get involved in the attack at every opportunity, and in that respect he did very well, dictating the play from deep which is one of his strengths, and as such the fact that he was in the deeper role freed up Alli, Lallana and the full backs to all play very, very well. Rooney himself had a good game of course, it cannot be denied that he turned in an excellent performance, but it was the fact that his positioning freed up England's more fluent attacking players that was truly beneficial to England's performance, with Dele Alli arguably the man of the match, with the only other main contender being the man who scored the stunning 25 yard free kick to put England 1-0 up, Eric Dier (again getting to that in a moment).

However, whether or not Rooney can play the deeper role against bigger opposition remains to be seen. It was a very smart move from Hodgson to test him in that role against Russia but Russia were pretty poor opposition, sitting deep and putting no pressure on the ball or on Rooney. Dembele's biggest strength is that when you press him, he simply doesn't give the ball away, and whether or not this system can work without Dembele in it, let alone with Wayne Rooney in it, remains to be seen when we play against a team that won't let us have over 60% of the possession and put no pressure on the deep-lying playmaker. 

Moreover, as previously mentioned, the biggest problem in this game was individual performances up top. Weirdly, Kane turned in a really poor showing, but Raheem Sterling on the left was easily the worst England player on the pitch. He produced one or two decent moments in the first twenty minutes but after that he gave the ball away almost every time he had it. He always looks good when he's running at players, because he's fast and has tricky feet, but his final ball was nothing less than atrocious, always failing to pick a pass, a cross or take on the shot, and as such he produced nothing noteworthy in this performance. He simply has to be dropped for the Wales game, either to free up the attacking flair of Vardy down that flank, or the more solid option of Milner, who makes up for in creativity and defensive workrate what he makes up for in pace. If pace is Sterling's only attribute, it's also Milner's only downfall, which is why I can see Hodgson tempted by Vardy instead. 

And despite playing well, England didn't create too many clear chances, mainly because Kane's positional play was poor and Sterling's end product was non-existent. The best chance of the match fell to Rooney, ironically, whose good effort from twenty yards was well saved by Russia's keeper. But then England got a free kick twenty-five yards out and Eric Dier, bizarrely, was the man to step up. I say bizarrely because he has never once taken a direct free kick for Tottenham in his career (but then Harry Kane doesn't tend to take corners). But, unlike Kane, Dier nailed it, his free kick sending England fans into ecstasy. It's just a shame that what came after was so inevitable. 

Overall? This was a good performance, and a sign of decent things to come. I haven't changed my mind though. I still think England will top the group, win an easy game in the last 16 and be beaten by the first semi-good team we come across. Frankly, England's group is one of the easiest in the tournament, and this was a pretty poor start, against a poor Russia team.

Euros Round Up

Elsewhere in the Euros so far, Wales went to the top of Group B with a last gasp winner against Slovakia, in a game that really could have gone either way. A Gareth Bale free kick that Slovakia's goalkeeper Kozácik somehow conspired to miss put Wales 1-0 up inside ten minutes, having already survived an early scare as dangerman Hamsik beat three players and shot past keeper Ward, only for a phenomenal clearance off the line from the excellent Ben Davies saving Wales' bacon. 

But Slovakia never looked out of the game, and despite a sterling defensive display from Wales, a wonderful move from Slovakia ended with Duda slotting the ball home to equalise just after the hour mark. And from there the game could have gone either way, both teams were playing pretty well, but it was Hal Robson-Kanu who scuffed a shot to send the mediocre Kozácik the wrong way and give Wales a win that on balance you'd have to say that they deserved, despite Slovakia crashing a header against the post late on, although Wales could easily have scored a third as Slovakia opened up defensively. 

Oh and shoutout to Martin Skrtel, who is technically still a Liverpool player for a few more weeks, as he managed to elbow his way into almost conceding a penalty and two-foot his way into almost getting sent off. What a hero. 

And poor goalkeeping is looking like being a feature of this tournament, as following a goalkeeping howler from Romania's keeper to allow Giroud to head into an empty net to give France the lead on Friday night, and a pretty poor piece of penalty keeping from Lloris (although it's always difficult to blame a keeper for conceding from a pen unless he gave it away and that dubious honour goes to the utterly hapless Patrice Evra), the only goal in Switzerland's 1-0 win over ten man Albania came from another keeping error, as Albania's keeper charged out to catch a corner and failed miserably, allowing centre back Schar to head into an empty net, Giroud style.

And Lorik Cana, Albania's captain, capped off a poor performance with two yellow cards before half time, the first a reckless scything tackle and the second a deliberate handball on the edge of the area when thoroughly beaten. And Switzerland really should have scored three or four in this game, as the resulting free kick hit the post, and main striker Seferovic missed two or three glorious second half chances, with Xherdan Shaqiri also guilty of missing a clear cut opening. But despite that, Albania nearly equalised, as lone striker Sadiku was through on goal, only to be denied by Swiss keeper, the terrific Yann Sommer. 

But the final word on any Euros talk has to go to the world class Dimitri Payet, arguably the only French player to really turn in a top performance (except perhaps Kante) and unquestionably the best player on the pitch as his late wonder goal to win the game for France against Romania capped off what was an incredible display, with a goal, an assist, a staggering eight key passes and just all round general skill. 

It's been a terrific start to the Euros, hoping for more excellent games over the next few days, and today it's ze Germans and everyone's favourite plucky underdogs, Northern Ireland, plus a tasty clash between Croatia and Turkey. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Looking like rain will wash out the third test.
• But Bairstow with another phenomenal hundred.
• Big win for England in the rugby against the Aussies. 
• But Wales humbled by New Zealand.