That will be all for today’s Scotland joy / England post-mortem blog.
Hungary v France has just kicked off and Rob Smyth is bringing you all the action right here:
I’ll see you again shortly for the Portugal v Germany MBM from 3.30pm (5pm kick-off), which I assure you is going to be fun. Bye for now.
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A proud moment for Billy Gilmour and his family, as stated. Lovely stuff:
Happy Gilmours. It was lovely briefly meeting Billy Gilmour’s family tonight. They all piled to the front (including his Mum and Dad) to see him get the Man of The Match award. His Mum was crying with pride. #ENGSCO pic.twitter.com/0SIX1Vi9Di
— 📻 Colin Paterson 📺 (@ColinGPaterson) June 18, 2021
Andy Murray, the tennis player, is a biiiig fan of Billy Gilmour, the footballer, it emerged last night:
.@billygilmourrr is my idol ❤️
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) June 18, 2021
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In contrast to crisis-hit, England, Wales are feeling good!
Joe Allen believes Wales pair Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have proved the critics wrong in “special fashion” at Euro 2020. Bale and Ramsey shone as Wales beat Turkey 2-0 on Wednesday to move within touching distance of the round of 16. Ramsey opened the scoring in Baku and Bale atoned for his second-half penalty miss with two superb assists as Wales made it four points from two games.
“I think some people probably had the narrative drawn up long before that game,” Allen told Sky Sports about Wales’ star men. “When you’re world-class players like Gareth and Aaron the focus is always going to be on you. I think the pair of them were incredible the other night and certainly answered the critics in special fashion.”
Allen added that the underdog tag will suit Wales when they take on Italy at the Stadio Olimpico tomorrow. “It suits us down to the ground,” he said. “We know we can rely on being solid defensively. We know that everyone’s going to put a shift in and give absolutely everything to protect our own goal. And with the likes of Gareth and Aaron linking up, Daniel James and Kieffer Moore, we’ve got all sorts of threats. We’ve got threats off the bench as well that bring different attributes. We’ve got the ability to hurt teams.” (PA Media)
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Billy Gilmour texted his parents from Scotland’s team bus to let them know he was starting against England. A proud moment for all concerned - even more so after his shining display in Scotland’s midfield:
#Sco's Billy Gilmour reveals he texted his parents from the team bus to let them know he was playing against #Eng at #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/jVsIZtuOws
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) June 19, 2021
“Everything is rotten. The truth hurts.”
Two matches, two crushing defeats. Turkey are having a normal one:
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Scotland fans have been clearing up litter in London after their Euro 2020 party in the capital. Well done them:
“We’re all humans and we all make mistakes ... I take it on the chin, I accept all the criticism, and I continue working.”
Featuring a handy bit of English translation at the start, here’s Grzegorz Krychowiak’s press conference in the wake of his sending off against Slovakia. Poland go into battle against Spain without the former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, who is suspended, at 8pm tonight.
(Krychowiak was also quoted in Polish media as saying “I don’t want to act as a clown” - he has predictably taken a huge amount of criticism for his sending off, but as the pundit Ian Wright said on ITV at the time, his second booking was arguably on the harsh side.)
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Is England’s Luke Shaw worried about Harry Kane’s lack of form? Not a bit of it!
“No concern at all, for me personally I think he is the best striker in the world,” Shaw said following the goalless draw with Scotland. “He is a very important part of the team, in fact the most important part. I think whether he has not been at his best or not he is a massive part and a crucial player for us. We need him whether his performances are as people expected or not, but this happens in tournament football, you can score a goal at any moment and he is such a crucial player - not just on the pitch but off the pitch, he has got all of our backing and I’m not worried at all.”
England now need to beat the Czech Republic on Tuesday night to qualify as group winners, although only an unlikely sequence of results would see Gareth Southgate’s men eliminated from the competition. Shaw, who was one of two players to come into the side against Scotland, admits it was a poor evening for the Three Lions but is already looking ahead to the Czech fixture.
“There is no denying that there is a lot of disappointment,” added the Manchester United defender. We would have liked to win the game but you have to look at it in the way of another point in the right direction. If it was the other way round, we drew with Croatia and won today it would have been four points still so we have to keep positive.
“I think there should always be expectation, the team we have, the talent is very strong. Of course we can take the expectation but maybe it [the Scotland result] brought us back down to earth to make us realise it is not going to be easy. Our aim is to be here for seven games. We will sit down and watch the game back and analyse what we want to do better because there are things we could have done better as a team. Maybe in this game we weren’t at our best and that shows, but it is another clean sheet. We still have another big game on Tuesday and we have to forget about this one and be ready.” (PA Media)
An email arrives from Charles Antaki: “History may come to England’s aid - in the notoriously awful 1990 World Cup group F, their performances were 1-1 v Rep. of Ireland, 0-0 v Netherlands, and a bare 1-0 v Egypt. They still came top of the group, beat Belgium (just), beat Cameroon (only just) and then as is perhaps vaguely remembered, lost out to Germany in the semis. Along the way they managed less than a goal a game, on average. So it all augurs well. Sort of.”
Yes indeed. You don’t want to peak too early, do you? There have been mutterings this week that the likes of Italy may have shot their bolt, and cannot possibly maintain such a high level of performance throughout the tournament. That rather ignores the fact, however, that Roberto Mancini’s team are now unbeaten in 29 matches, and haven’t even conceded a single goal in their past 10.
As for England, they were decent against Croatia, and rather less decent last night. One thing’s for sure: the pressure has been ratcheted up on Southgate and his men before the final group match on Tuesday, and his management is going to be tested in a new way in the coming days.
Thinking back to a tournament such as the 2010 World Cup: England were awful before that tournament, awful during it, and were deservedly thrashed by Germany in a match that featured their centre-backs failing to deal with an opposition goal kick.
This version of England are a lot better than that, and it seems like much of the doom and gloom is rather OTT. If the worst should come to pass, and England fail to get out of their group ... well, that’s tournament football for you. And we can always support Wales and Scotland in the last 16.
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It’s now under an hour until Hungary kick off against France, with a full house in Budapest. Rob Smyth will be live-blogging the hell out of that one here:
Steve McClaren speaks Sky Sports News, on Harry Kane and England’s lack of attacking threat at Wembley: “You’ve got to put the ball in the box. You’ve got to put the ball into his feet, and get runners around him. They never did that last night.”
Transfer news: Manchester United have apparently lodged an improved £75million bid for Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho.
Please, can Dortmund just accept the bid, and bring this ludicrously protracted saga to a close? Here’s one from the archive:
Perhaps it’s being forgotten, in all this teeth-gnashing, that Jack Grealish came off the bench last night, and tried to lay off a pass to an England substitute who was warming up on the touchline. It’s good to stretch your opponents by giving the game a bit of width, but isn’t that taking it a little far?
A dose of perspective from the reporter Jessica Creighton, currently talking England on Sky Sports News: “Portugal won this tournament last time, and they didn’t win a single group game ... There is no need, quite yet, for a national meltdown, perhaps ...”
Reading between the lines, we are definitely going to require a national meltdown should England lose to Czech Republic on Tuesday.
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Via the magic of Twitter ... England training ... LIVE!
We're live from @SpursOfficial's training ground, where the #ThreeLions are beginning preparations for Tuesday's game against the Czech Republic: https://t.co/Bq6y8gH3iV
— England (@England) June 19, 2021
More from PA Media below in the wake of Scotland hammering England 0-0 at Wembley. This time, quotes from the England gaffer Gareth Southgate:
“In the end, not enough to win but this is a tournament and it’s critical when you can’t win not to lose,” Southgate said. “That of course feels difficult in the last 15 minute of a game like tonight where fans are desperate for you to go forward and abandon all shape because of course it’s Scotland, it feels like a unique occasion. But we have to still approach it in the context that a point is still an important step towards qualification and ultimately qualification is the first objective for us.”
Southgate said 0-0 was “probably a fair scoreline” on the balance of a game in which they may have been below par but that was not going to see him throw caution to the wind. “I think in those moments if we had to chase to win with no consequence for conceding, then you might approach it differently or if we were behind in the game and we were chasing,” he said of his substitutions. “But it was a night where it was a bit frantic, it wasn’t a game where there was a huge amount of control and you’ve got to make sure that, sitting on three points as we did, we manage the tournament as well as the game.
“It’s easy to gamble towards the end and lose shape and then end up losing the game in the last five minutes and then you’re kicking yourself for not managing the tournament. I understand we’re at Wembley, it’s a game against Scotland where everybody wants us to win. We wanted to win but it is in the context of a tournament and qualification is the first and most important thing.”
“ ...I said before, just because you’re at home doesn’t mean that you win. You have to win. On Sunday we played well and we got the result we deserved. Tonight we didn’t play as well but we have to accept that. I accept that as the manager. We learn from the experience and we have a different sort of challenge now against the Czechs.”
“We know where we sit in the group,” he added. “We know we have a lot of work to do to improve our performances. But also we know in the context of qualification that four points from two matches, we’re in a strong position so we have to make sure we get the third game right and make the right decisions around that. Of course there’s always fallout from any England performance that isn’t at the level you want or doesn’t get the result you want. But we are in the middle of a tournament, we are in the middle of a qualification group. We totally understand the reaction tonight but our first objective is to qualify and we’re still on track to do that.”
Was Mason Mount of England surprised by the quality of the performance that Billy Gilmour produced in the heart of Scotland’s midfield last night? No, he was not:
“He didn’t surprise me, I know what he is like as a player,” Mount said. “We had a good battle and every time he plays he seems to get man of the match - he has done it the few times he played at Chelsea. He gets chucked in at the deep end sometimes and he is always swimming. I always watched his development and he is going to keep getting better and better and that is good for him personally, for the club and also at international level.”
While Scotland were praised for their performance, England were jeered off the pitch by a small minority of supporters. Mount says the England players cannot be distracted by the negative reaction as the Three Lions now need to beat the Czech Republic on Tuesday night to top the group.
He added: “I have had a lot of boos in my short career, that is obviously from away fans or home fans! We just try to focus on ourselves and how we can improve, what areas of our game we can do better in. I think obviously we know how big the game was but the way we played, we tried to break them down and score goals. The way they set up, with five at the back, made it tough for us but we got the point and we move on now. Hopefully we win the next game and we are through. I think there is pressure on every game, we are England and are always looking to win every game and the performances we look to put in have to be top quality.” (PA Media)
Spain v Poland is the final match on the lineup today - which I suspect could be a tasty affair. Poland will be desperate for a result, just as Robert Lewandowski will be desperate to make some kind of mark on an international tournament. He was anonymous in their opening 2-1 defeat by Slovakia. Piotr Zieliński, the Napoli playmaker, also failed to make an impact in that match, while the defensive midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak will be absent tonight after his sending off.
If Poland lose again, they will be going home, while Luis Enrique’s Spain have a little more margin for error after an opening 0-0 draw against Sweden. Check out Sid Lowe’s excellent interview with Thiago Alcântara below:
“The figure of the No 10 has almost disappeared. We see less magic, less fantasy. Footballers do more but faster. There’s no need to dribble because you run. Players are more developed in every sense. You lose that player who’s different, who ‘breathes’; the playmaker who was slower even if he had sublime technique doesn’t get the opportunity to turn.”
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Will Joachim Löw and Germany hit the right notes against Portugal later? Will they play three at the back, or a back four? Will Leroy Sané start? Nick Ames takes a look -
“Germany have the raw materials to live with the more cohesive-looking sides over the next three weeks but, like Leroy Sané, they need to find some momentum quickly.”
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“Ask Italy’s players for their magic formula, and you might be disappointed in the reply. “This team has no secret,” insisted the midfielder Nicolò Barella after Wednesday’s demolition of Switzerland. “There’s just enthusiasm, on and off the pitch. This is a compact group.””
Nicky Bandini (quite rightly) lavishes praise on how Italy have started this tournament:
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Are France going to win this thing? The world champions are favourites, it would seem with very good reason. Here is some analysis of their opening win against Germany from Eric Devin:
“As familiar as we are with Paul Pogba’s exquisite passing, he also got through a mountain of work, stifling Thomas Müller and his teammates in the centre of the park and forcing the Germans to the flanks.”
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While you are here, gorging yourself on our Euro 2020 coverage, please take a moment to read Jonathan Liew’s piece about how all of this comes together - and how you can help:
Can everyone just stop banging on about England v Scotland please? No, it would appear not. Here’s a thoughtful email from David Wall on how the match unfolded:
“Can I be the heretic and say that I didn’t think England were that dire, nor Scotland that good last night. Some of the analysis on ITV afterwards was ridiculous on both ends of the scale. After all, both Stones and Mount missed absolute sitters for England in the first half, and those were better chances that any Scotland produced. What Scotland did well was they turned the match into a high tempo / low control match, similar to club matches in England and Scotland. And rather than rising to match that, England tried (and failed) to lower the pace to the slower, more patient approach that had worked against Croatia. Unfortunately England aren’t yet good enough at that style to impose it on another team that don’t adopt it naturally.
“And paradoxically, it might actually do England good not to try to change back to the high tempo style for the rest of the tournament. International football is generally played with lower overall tempo, high control, and then bursts of urgency that overwhelm and break through the opposition. They did that well against Croatia, and it is what they will need to do in subsequent rounds (assuming they do qualify). Getting better at that style (and good enough so they would be able to impose it in a game like last night’s) is what is more likely to lead to a tournament win. Unfortunately it might also mean that Scotland don’t qualify. Croatia are good enough at that style to impose it. Although they’ve been underwhelming so far, I’d still not be surprised to see them dominate Scotland in their final group game.”
“There is no despondency inside Hungary, it would appear, despite the misfortune to be drawn in a group alongside three heavyweights, in the role of supporting punchbag.”
Andy Hunter looks ahead to Hungary’s meeting with the world champions, France, which is coming up in a couple of hours:
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Actually, before we preview today’s matches, my thoughts on last night at Wembley: I thought it was more a case of Scotland being excellent than England being poor. It hardly needs to be said that England had no automatic right to win the match. Their performance against a past-their-best Croatia was widely over-praised and last night, Gareth Southgate looked like a man under a bit of pressure in his post-match interview. The most impressive thing about Scotland, I thought, was that Steve Clark had clearly succeeded in getting his players to channel their passion into a top performance rather than letting things boil over on what was a hugely hyped occasion. Aside from one unnecessary foul by John McGinn, they simply went about their business, and made it very hard for England all night.
I thought it was a good match to watch, too, played at a good tempo, although that was possibly influenced by the dirge we’d had to endure earlier in the day, notably with Sweden v Slovakia. As goalless draws go, last night was significantly better than Sweden’s stalemate with Spain ...
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Thank you, Tom. There are plenty of smiling Scots milling around in King’s Cross at the moment - and why shouldn’t they smile? Their team performed admirably against England, they have a point on the board, and Steve Clark’s men can dream of the last 16 ... I’ll start looking ahead to today’s matches, beginning with Hungary v France, which kicks off in Budapest in under three hours.
With that, I will be leaving you. The charming Luke McLaughlin is taking over the reins.
ITV have also been in touch. They also seem quite smug. Essentially lots of people were watching last night’s game. Viewership peaked with 20 million viewers and 79 percent share across ITV and STV, making the 0-0 the most-watched match of Euro 2020 so far. Poor fools.
While it is not quite the 27.5 million of us who sobbed into our pints during England’s World Cup semi-final against Croatia in 2018, ITV’s coverage from Wembley last night was also the most-watched football match since, averaging 18.4 million viewers for a 74 per cent audience share across ITV and STV.
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Jared Evans has emailed in. He seems quite smug:
Just wondering if you’ve heard from Nick Ames, Paul Doyle, Andy Hunter, Jamie Jackson, Jonathan Liew and Louise Taylor? They all predicted Wales would be out in the group stages and of course that England would be in the semi-finals. Wondering if any of them would like to revise their predictions.
Given it is virtually impossible to not qualify for the last 16 of this tournament it probably was not wise to back Wales to fall so early. As for England, the less said the better.
Ben Fisher has written some nice things about Aaron Ramsey though.
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If you prefer your your regular dose of Euros in audio form then Football Daily has you covered. Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jim Burke and John Brewin, with reaction from both Ewan Murray and Jonathan Liew at Wembley
I cannot go on bemoaning England’s failures. Not only is not good for my wellbeing but it is grossly unfair to Scotland. Fortunately the Guardian employ Ewan Murray, who is not only an excellent writer but is great at not being grossly unfair to Scotland.
Here is his take on the emergence of Billy Gilmour as a Scotland star.
There has always been a danger that Scottish excitement over Gilmour comes without detailed knowledge of his capabilities, given that Chelsea use him so sparingly. Only via nights such as this can a body of evidence be compiled. So far, so good. The ease with which he has transitioned into international football implies that he possesses some very special skills.
More than theme from Jonathan Liew. Who asks some questions in this piece that not many will like the answers to.
Here comes the bit where we knock down arguably England’s only legitimate world class player. It gets dark, but all will be forgiven when he scores a hat-trick on Tuesday night to set up a last 16 tie against Portugal. Sigh.
I am going to keep this coming. So here is a frank assessment of how both sides played from Jacob Steinberg:
For those of you who want to relive it, here is David Hytner’s report from Wembley last night:
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As you might be able to tell I am absolutely refusing to acknowledge that England flop at Wembley. Well done Scotland, you came, you saw, you ran around London naked and returned home with a point.
Preamble
Good morning everyone. Was there a game last night? Must have missed it. Still, England are looking good to qualify for the last 16. A nice draw against those Czechs and Gareth Southgate can start scheming for last 16 game against one of those inviting looking Group E teams. The England manager has played a blinder here, it is like 2018 all over again. Scotland? Still bottom of the group, I think.
Anyway, we move on. Today is real treat, we have each of the last three World Cup winners in action, plus the reigning Euros champions, the team they beat in the final of that tournament and the side that lifted the trophy in 2012 (some of those may be the same thing). Poland and Hungary are very much the ugly stepsister in this Saturday football feast, but they are no mugs either.
John McGinn, never heard heard of him?
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