Right, enough of this foreplay; it’s almost time for the actual football to begin. I’ll be covering Switzerland v Germany, and Scott Murray is on the big one: Scotland v Hungary. One way or another, he’ll be greetin’ at 10pm. Let’s hope they’re tears of joy.
A bit of news from Nick Ames in Leipzig: Albania’s Mirlind Daku has been suspended for two games as punishment for wielding a megaphone to very dubious effect.
Updated
“I actually got quite emotional listening to that commentary from John Motson in 1984,” says Simon McMahon. “Maybe I should stop drinking now. God knows what I’ll be like come 8 o’clock. Oh, and has there ever been a more stylish footballer than Platini? That France strip, that Juventus strip.”
It’s such a joy when commentators who never lose it, lose it. Two other examples come to mind: Barry Davies when Dennis Bergkamp scored against Argentina in 1998, and Martin Tyler during the epic title decider between Inter and Sampdoria in 1990-91. “Grown men, hardened football-watchers, are scarcely able to turn their eyes to this…”
“The rise of that old England favourite, rancour,” writes Larry David Charles Antaki. “Seems early. Time was the team had to lose to Iceland or draw against Morocco before it made its appearance. Is it really true that the evidence is now conclusive that the England players are complete shower, and the manager an utter fraud, or has late capitalism just made things seem to get worse more quickly?”
My admittedly simplistic theory is that the internet has turned most people – and I very much include myself in this – into complete morons.
“Rob, I really struggle to understand the mentality of English football fans,” says Sören Sorgenfri. “Yes, it has been a slow start but now is not the time to peak. England have four points for two difficult games, will most likely score 3-4 goals against Slovenia and in style secure the top spot in the group and still English fans is about to implode. What is wrong with you guys?”
The clue might be in the word ‘English’.
Another plug for this charming piece on Kobbie Mainoo
In terms of gauging one five-year-old against another; Kobbie stood out by an absolute mile. You don’t ever know, but clearly with Kobbie effort, time, commitment and obviously ability are why he’s the player he is today. As a five-year-old, he was an exceptional and outstanding player.
On this day in 1314…
“Has anyone yet said that today is the 710th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn?” writes Garry Smith. “Should be a great rendition of ‘Flower of Scotland’ tonight. Bannockburn was unusual for a medieval battle in that it lasted two days. Let’s hope the Scots can do the needful tonight and don’t have to spend a few days waiting for a result!”
Don’t worry, the English officials aren’t on VAR.
Updated
“How come the discussion is about whether or not Foden should be dropped?” wonders Jeremy Boyce. “He has been outstanding for his club, hence the selection, and it is surely more about dropping the plan to play him wide left. Given the absence of Maddison and Grealish we need someone nearer the centre of the action who can pick holes in defences, as Foden has done all season at City. I have stuck with Mr Agree That’s Tough for a long time, but there is surely something Fawlty in his plan if he can’t get a tune out of the best player available?”
Isn’t that Jude Bellingham? It’s also about balance – Foden has had some very good games for City playing from the left, but they have a different set-up and a very different centre-forward. There isn't enough pace in England’s front six in my aggressively humble opinion.
On this day in 1984…
John Motson loses the plot like never before – and with very good reason.
Updated
On this day in 1996…
The last two quarter-finals produced a couple of delicious goals from Davor Suker and Karel Poborsky.
“After Harry Kane said ‘it is tough’,” begins Krishnamoorthy V, “my crossword mind realised that the coach’s name is an anagram of ‘Agree that’s tough’.
That’s outstanding.
“I agree with Leo Potts about the weirdness of putting Saka at left wing-back – and moving to a 5-2-1-2 formation, which has been suggested, seems a bit drastic at short notice,” writes John Culley. “I don’t think drastic surgery is wise and would prefer a couple of obvious issues (mainly around the base of the midfield and possibly Foden’s role) to be tackled rather than a wholesale panicky change.
“This isn’t Mexico 1986 (one point and no goals after two games), we have four points and are about to go up against Slovenia (world ranking 57) for our final game. There are calls for Foden to be dropped for Gordon. I get that – he is quicker and a more natural winger, but Foden had a decent game against Denmark compared to some other players, so it’s a close call for me.
“I would though drop Trent and bring in Gallagher (or Wharton/Mainoo) and make clear that when we are in possession it is a 4-3-3 formation with rampaging wingers rather than a game plan based entirely around getting the ball to Bellingham – wonderful though he is.”
I think England need Gordon’s pace and also his width, especially while they have a right-footed left-back. Foden may have to play Stuart MacGill to Bellingham’s Shane Warne. I guess Foden could also replace Saka, but Saka surely has too much credit in the bank.
The other thing is that modern football is about 16 players, not 11. A fresh Foden, coming on after around 70 minutes for Saka, could be devastating.
Simon McMahon speaks for a nation
As has been said on here once or twice before, Rob, it’s not the despair, it’s, well, you know. And it’s about expectations too. Scotland have one point from six and are buzzing ahead of tonight’s match. England have four from six, and the post mortems have already begun. If Scotland get out of their group, the celebrations will go on and on. If England don’t win the thing, the recriminations will be swift. Expectations < Reality = Happiness. Expectations > Reality = Misery. I know where I’d rather be.
Technology is going to kill us all, writes Paul MacInnes. Oh okay, it’s about semi-automated offsides and the like.
Updated
‘They know how tough it is’
Here’s more on Harry Kane’s polite reminder to dozens of English pundits that they also won the square root of bugger all at international level.
“Good afternoon Rob,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “A case of two Englands. The one in the Caribbean entered with low expectations, were virtually ruled out and now might well go all the way.
And here in Germany, they entered as one of the contenders, losing confidence and support increasingly and now appear certain to leave after the first round of knockout games.”
Steady on! I still fancy them to at least reach the quarter-finals. It’s easy to say as a neutral but I don’t understand the hysterical reaction to the Denmark game.
If you’re into the whole cricket thing, Adil Rashid is putting on a masterclass in Barbados. Join Jim Wallace for the latest news.
What’s at stake in tonight’s games
The winners of Group A will meet the runner-up in Group C (England, Denmark, Slovenia, Serbia) in Dortmund on Saturday evening.
The runners-up will play the second team in Group B (Italy, Croatia, Albania) in Berlin on Saturday afternoon (5pm).
The third-placed team, if they go through, will face either Spain, Portugal or the winner of Group E (Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, Ukraine), venue and date tbc.
From the archive
If this doesn’t get you in the mood for tonight’s big game, then nothing will.
Thanks Taha, hello everyone. Let’s start with this email from Leo Pitt.
Quite a bit of talk about playing Saka as a left wing-back (see Karen Carney and other correspondents). Seems like quite an indictment of Southgate’s decision not to take any other left-back than Shaw, if we’ve got to floating the idea of our most consistent right-winger playing left wing-back. I feel that not taking Tyrick Mitchell was a big mistake.
Fundamentally I think our problem is square pegs and round holes. Foden is not a left-winger and naturally wants to be playing in the same position as Bellingham. Trippier is not a left-back. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the bad old Lampard/Scholes/Gerrard days. I think Southgate needs to put players in the positions they naturally master, which may mean omitting a big name or two.
I’d play Wharton alongside Rice. Bellingham at no 10. Gordon on the left. Foden on the bench (sorry). Would even consider starting with Watkins instead of Kane. Rice can then get forward from time to time as he likes. Wharton fits the holding midfield role like a glove. If Bellingham blows himself out after 45 minutes / fails to meet expectations, then Foden can come on.
Even by England standards, the idea of playing Saka at left wing-back is odd. The solution to a problem of square pegs and round holes surely isn’t to put somebody on the other side of the pitch and in a different position to the one they’ve been playing for the last four years.
Pretty much agree with everything Leo says. The key, I think, is that Gordon or Watkins should start. Gordon is a more natural fit, but you could play Watkins, let Kane be the No10 and play Bellingham from the left.
That’s enough from me. Rob Smyth is here to take over and get you through to the proper action. Go well!
Here’s the full story on the excellent news regarding Alan Hansen.
Sid Lowe takes in the remarkable endurance of Pepe, 41 years young and still serving his nation.
And back to the Euros: some helpful insight from Lajos Tizenhatodik ahead of Hungary’s game tonight. They’re bottom of Group A, still pointless in the tournament.
I am from Hungary and I believe the Hungarian team’s problem is that their former captain Adam Szalai has retired since the last Euros. He wasn’t a great player himself but he was a real captain who could rouse and inspire the team, make them achieve 150%. Now he’s gone, the team only achieve 100% and, given that most of them are not even Championship level, this is simply not enough. So if they can find some of the old fire inside, they can still beat the Scots, but if they don’t, it’s just an easy win for McGinn & Co.
A brief aside from the Euros: some transfer activity, with Lewis Dobbin leaving Everton for Aston Villa.
Updated
Harry Kane’s been speaking to the media.
We can be honest with ourselves we haven’t played the way we wanted to play. I think the good sign is that we’ve still picked up results while doing that but I think Tuesday is important just for the feeling of the group, we want to finish top as well and take that momentum into the knockout stages.
Leading up to the tournament there were situations with fitness towards the back-end of the season for quite a lot of players. Even in the selection the manager had to choose between players who were injured and not quite fit. So maybe leading up there’s been a bit of a difference [to previous tournaments].
I don’t think we played well in the Denmark game. We dropped below what we know we can [do] but overall we are calm, we have been here before, we’ve got a lot of experience. So it’s not a time to panic, it’s a time to try and improve.
The first game, I felt as fit as I have all season.
From my point of view I’m fit. I’m getting better and better each game, fitter each game … As always time will tell, if we get knocked out then of course there’ll be a lot of questions asked.
Both games, playing against the back three just maybe caused us a little bit of confusion on the pitch. There were certain things we couldn’t get the pressure where we wanted, we weren’t 100% sure of when to go and it’s hard; when you’re playing against good teams, sometimes when the momentum goes against you, you struggle to get it back. We weren’t great with the ball which led to feeling like you’re just running, just constantly running, so it was tough to turn that momentum around.
Away from the Euros, some good news: Alan Hansen has been discharged from hospital.
Here’s a statement from Liverpool:
Alan has been discharged from hospital today to continue his recovery at home.
Alan, Janet, Adam, Lucy and family would like to thank everybody for their wonderful messages of love and support. It has been overwhelming and has helped enormously.
We also hugely appreciate the ongoing respect that has been shown for our privacy as Alan continues his recovery. Thank you.
Mbappé: tick. Upcoming political vote: tick. Listening to a very relaxed Aurélien Tchouaméni earlier, there was a pleasant moment of respite from the big questions surrounding France when a journalist asked after Ocho, the Real Madrid midfielder’s Malinois. “I haven’t talked to my dog because he doesn’t answer me,” he said. “I hope I’ll see him as late as possible.”
In other words, France are here to go the distance. Didier Deschamps’s side, widely regarded as tournament favourites at the outset, find themselves in a peculiar position; they are second in Group D behind the Netherlands and are yet to score, their only goal courtesy of the Austria defender Max Wöber.
“I understand some people want to see a game with lots of goals but we see our team most often in the final four,” Tchouaméni said. “If we couldn’t create [chances] there would be problems, but we have been. It is not just about the forwards, it is a collective effort and there is room for progress.”
Updated
Uefa has said it will “deploy additional safety measures” after pitch invasions disrupted Portugal’s victory over Turkey on Saturday. Sky Sports received this statement from the governing body:
Safety and security in the stadium, on the pitch and at team facilities are the ultimate priority for Uefa, the German FA [DFB] and Euro 2024 organisers. To this end, additional safety measures will be deployed in the stadiums to further meet the requirements of the tournament, and to prevent such incidents. For reasons of security, we cannot comment further on specific measures.
Any incursion on to the pitch constitutes a breach of the stadium rules and will result in expulsion from the stadium, a ban from all tournament matches and the filing of a formal criminal complaint of trespass.
Stuttgart has turned Scottish. They’re having a grand time out in Germany.
The swell of optimism has been swift to materialise: according to the pollster Civey, 35% of German fans believe Julian Nagelsmann’s team will win Euro 2024, as opposed to 15% before the opening game against Scotland.
An interesting bit from Jonathan Liew’s preview of Germany’s final group game against Switzerland. Also worth reading this fascinating column, offering an alternative view to the supposed romanticism of the 2006 World Cup:
Updated
Just been looking over Scotland’s record at the big time. If they do beat Hungary tonight, it’ll be their first victory at a major tournament since Euro 96, when Ally McCoist scored the only goal to beat Switzerland at Villa Park. It wasn’t enough to get to the quarter-finals, however; they finished level with the Netherlands on points and goal difference, but the Dutch went through having scored more.
Here, for a bit of random enjoyment, Wayne Rooney’s mastery at Euro 2004.
Just caught up on Karen Carney’s plan for England … I’m all in.
“Suddenly I saw him on the roof of the substitutes’ bench and then he started running,” said Cetin, father of Berat, the 10-year-old boy who’d told his old man he was just going to the toilet. In reality, he had other plans: getting a picture with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hello, hello, hello and afternoon all. Please enlighten me with your predictions for tonight, general thoughts, queries and musings on the tournament so far.
And with that, my watch is over, so here’s Taha Hashim to hang with you through the next bit. Ta-ra!
My watch is almost over, so let’s do a prediction or two: I think Switzerland will make it hard for Germany but eventually lose, while Scotland will do enough to get the win. I can’t believe I’m typing that, the sun must be getting to me, but they’ve got a bit of confidence now so should be solid enough for one goal to do it.
Love this!
Heres my colleague, Philipp Lahm. I enjoyed typing that sentence.
I really like Andros Townsend too, likewise Pien Meulensteen who’s not on this list, but confess to preferring Steve Wilson to Guy Mowbray.
This sounds like fun!
Bit of transfer news from Jacob Steinberg.
“I read Karen Carney’s article yesterday suggesting a change to the formation England have so far preferred and also the starting XI,” says Rick Harris. “While I totally agree with her 3-5-2 as there is no left-back available, but also no need to defend deep to cover Harry Maguire’s lack of pace, and Walker–Stones-Guehi picks itself, I would pick Anthony Gordon as left wing back not Saka, as he in my eyes would give us pace, courage and energy as well as a genuine left-flank threat.
Inside him I would have Foden–Rice–Mainoo and then keep Saka on the right flank. Upfront I would tell Kane to stop dropping back to get in the way of our midfield and play on the shoulder of the centre back, with Jude Bellingham in the advanced position as second striker where he has ben so effective for Real Madrid.
To my eyes that then gives us both balance and a way to include both Foden and Mainoo – our two best close control, on-the-half-turn, attacking midfielders. It was pointed out that with five subs allowed the game has evolved into a 60–70 minute one for the forward players with fresh legs injected around the hour mark and the team I have suggested allows natural changes to be made: Eze for Gordon; Palmer for Foden; Gallagher for Mainoo; Wharton for Rice; TAA or Bowen or Trippier for Saka; and Toney and Watkins for Kane and/or Bellingham. I fear that Southgate lacks the ability to see what is so obvious to many of the rest of us.”
I think that midfield might still struggle to get the ball up the pitch. I’d be playing Wharton, I think, because he’s the only player in the squad who specialises at taking the ball off the defence, though Mainoo can do it too; Mainoo would probably be my first midfield change.
Switzerland, meanwhile: how are they so good at reaching the knockouts? Well, in Xherdan Shaqiri they have the first player ever to score in six straight tournaments – that’s an incredible achievement – and their muscular, technical style seems a good fit for these kinds of competitions.
Of course, the most Scotland thing Scotland could do would be to beat Hungary, only for results elsewhere to conspire against them. That looks so unlikely, and yet would, in its way, be entirely unsurprising.
So what do Scotland need to make the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time?
If they lose to Hungary they go out.
If they draw, they might qualify with two points as a best third-placed side, but that seems unlikely.
If they win, they’ll probably go through. Should Switzerland take a point against Germany, Scotland will finish third and four points should be enough for progression; if Scotland win and Switzerland lose, because their head-to-head was a draw, goal difference, goal scored, disciplinary points and ranking in European qualifiers is the order of tiebreaker with Scotland’s heavy defeat against Germany likely to be decisive.
Thinking further about Scotland, they may change formation in the absence of Kieran Tierney, given longer have two left-backs neither of whom can be omitted. Where they can win the game, though, is in midfield. If Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Billy Gilmour and Callum McGregor are it, Hungary will have a problem – though they expect captain Dominic Szoboszlai to be fit.
Also going on for you…
🏴 scotland vs hungary 🇭🇺
— christopher macarthur-boyd - SCARY TIMES '24 TOUR (@macarthurboyd) June 23, 2024
(live at the edinburgh fringe in 2019) pic.twitter.com/UMRrwrAacc
Email! “Completely agree with Karen Carney,” writes Ally Berry. “England need a formation change and forcing them into something new should breed some creativity. I think the blueprint lies with what Sarina Wiegman did for the Lionesses in their last World Cup, shifting into a sort of 3-5-2 and turning from two frustrating (undeserved?) 1-0 wins into a 6-1 washout of China as they caught them off guard. TAA would probably look a lot more comfortable in that right wing-back position than the midfield role he’s been trying to fill, but the questions remain over the left-hand side. Would Saka or Foden be comfortable with the defensive duties on that side? A fit Shaw could solve a lot of problems.”
Saka is a very useful left-back so could definitely do the necessary on that side. I do, though, think England need at least one player running in behind for Harry Kane and others to hit, so if I was going to two up front, whoever the other was would need pace. For that reason, I’m not sure Cole Palmer would be my choice – much as I think he brings something different to the team.
Croatia, meanwhile, might just have run out of road, and if they have, what a trip it’s been for Zlatko Dalic’s men. They’ve not quite managed to snaffle a trophy, but they’ve given us plenty of pleasure in the process of repeatedly coming close, their ability to finagle results as impressive as their midfield artistry.
Nick Bandini shares some thoughts on Italy, who were given a 1-0 tousing by Spain last week. I can’t see a way the holders can successfully defend their title, but we’ve said similar of the Azzurri
Potentially bad news for Mexico and Edson Álvarez.
And while we’re looking at football beyond European borders…
How amazing was this?
#OnThisDay in 1990, Roger Milla made the pitch his dancefloor. 🇨🇲🕺#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/nkb6FYNg0T
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 23, 2024
It’s also worth reupping this important piece that Morgan Ofori wrote after England’s Iceland defeat.
I’d like to have seen more of Kobbie Mainoo than we have so far. In both games, Gareth Southgate has turned to Conor Gallagher first, but England’s principal issue is – to me at least – a lack of control not a lack of energy, though Mainoo brings the latter as well as the former.
Like a lot of us, I imagine, I was shocked by N’Golo Kanté’s performance against Austria in the first game – I didn’t think he could still get about the park like that. The problem France have, though, is that their strategy seems based around solidity, with Kylian Mbappé doing the rest, and now who knows?
Tagentially, it’s been apparent, I think, that the less fancied sides are really fit, perhaps because more of their players are peaking now, for this, whereas it’s possible that players who were challenging for titles and such at the end of last season are hanging on a little.
Not many understand these issues better than Nick Ames.
I’ve been wondering to myself if it might work to move Bukayo Saka to left-back, assuming Luke Shaw won’t be available until the knockouts. England need to open up that the side of the pitch, and Saka was excellent in that role when he first broke into the Arsenal side. Sticking him there would also allow for the inclusion of another wide attacker – Cole Palmer, say, whose ability to change the pace of attacks could be very useful.
Karen Carney has some thoughts on how England should line up, and she’s gone for a back three. That happened in 1990 after a poor start, and though I’m not crazy about that way of playing, it might just cover weaknesses and accentuate strengths.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jun/22/palmer-in-trippier-right-saka-left-england-slovenia-change-formation
I really like Jarrod Bowen as a player, but I’m not totally certain why he’s come in both England games. He just doesn’t seem the best option to change things – there are others in the squad with far greater game-breaking ability.
Wharton is, I think, the player England need – or at least one of them. His ability to take the ball on the half-turn and then pass it forward is one they’ve been lacking so far – but I do still have questions about Rice’s quality on the ball when deployed further forward.
This is such a shame. Tierney is a good player and seems a good character too; his frustration must be very taxing to assimilate.
Looking at the bracket, though, if both sides win their groups, that couldn’t happen until the final (I don’t think). But Spain might (I think) have to beat Portugal to get there – what a semi that could be.
Fabián is a player and Spain might just be the hardest team to beat. They lack a bit of firepower, but their ability to retain possession and work gaps, though not quite what once it was, is still better than anyone else’s. In particular, I think they’d be a dreadful matchup for England.
I actually think the reffing – and varring – has been pretty good so far.
Tremendous.
They might eventually find their lack of an elite-level centre-forward does for them, but Germany look decent don’t they? A midfield of Toni Kroos, Robert Andrich, Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan is absolutely not to be messed with, and it’ll take something significant to stop them.
What a joy Georgia have been so far. They’ll need to beat Portugal now to stay involved and that seems unlikely – though perhaps Martínez, with his team qualified, will rotate – but even if they go home, they’ve enriched our lives over the last week.
If Roberto Martínez gets his Portugal side right, they’ll take some stopping. Bruno Fernandes ended the club season in rare form and looks right in the mood at this tournament, while Bernardo Silva is also at it. Behind them, João Palhinha and Vitinha supply ballast – and quality – while alongside them, Rafael Leão gives cutting edge and on the bench, a panoply of options mean no match-situation should faze them.
We’ll also have a look back at yesterday’s action. Belgium got themselves going, Kevin de Bruyne to the fore as they dealt with Turkey. They seemed to have better cohesion with Your Tielemans in the side – I was surprised he didn’t come on sooner against Slovakia – and Amadou Onana looked much better next to him.
Preamble
Hello there! And welcome to today’s blog, which’ll take you from now up until this evening’s games which conclude Group A. We’ll bring you Scotland v Hungary and Switzerland v Germany, but prior to then we’l have all the chat and news from what’s shaping up to be a classic tournament. Off we go
