Euro 2020: Quarter Final Thoughts

I'm going to write down my thoughts as I watch the England-Ukraine game.

- Straight up, let's face it our national anthem sucks.  It's not inspiring in the same way that say the Italians is, which is why they might be playing so well.  I assume we'll have to change it when the Queen finally dies - hopefully to something much more passionate.

- An early prediction - we should win.  We should win comfortably, but I don't think it will work out that way.  I think we will have a lot of possession in this game - so the key is going to be how effective we are at breaking down Ukraine.  Which is why I think we should have played one more attacking midfielder instead of 2 defensive midfielders.

- Wow, goal.  Nice start.  I'm still not convinced by Harry Kane, but at least he's scoring now.  Let's hope we don't just sit on our lead for 85 minutes now.

- Hmmm, England didn't defend that set play very well.  That's probably going to be Ukraine's best opportunity to score, so that's a bit worrying.

- Ir's still early, but I don't like how slowly England are playing the ball about.  Very little movement.  Giving away possession easily.  This is a worrying trend for England - I already feel like we're going to be holding on for most of the rest of the game (and only 15 minutes have gone).

- The game has got a bit messy, so some quick thoughts on the other quarter finals.  Italy were surprisingly impressive against Belgium (or were Belgium surprisingly disappointing?), and have set up a tasty semi-final with Spain.  Somehow Spain continue to progress despite lacking a clinical edge.  And Denmark looked good.  Again.  They might indeed be the most dangerous team left. 

- About 30 minutes gone now.  You can see these glimpses of how good England could be if they inject some pace and movement into their game.  But they so rarely show it - which is what makes them so frustrating to support.  Ukraine haven't really shown much real threat yet - but I still feel they will have their chances (probably from set plays).  Even the commentators are talking about how England look as though they're stuck in second gear.  As they have been for most of the tournament.

- Another half-chance for England.  We could really do with the security of a 2nd goal - Ukraine have opened up England a few times on our right.

- Half time.  A good score, a less than convincing performance.  This should come as absolutely no surprise.  We need Jack Grealish in the 2nd half.

- My god, ESPN's studio coverage before the game and at halftime is absolutely abysmal.  Again.  Just for information, the "studio experts" for this particular game are Steve McManaman and Nedum Onuoha (who I had never heard of and don't recognize at all, even though he apparently played for Man City/Sunderland/QPR in the Premier League), and the host is one of the bland American presenters typical to ESPN, who I don't think had watched a single minute of "soccer" before this tournament begun.

- Wow, goal.  A good start to the 1st half and now a good start to the 2nd half.  Nice.  Just what we needed to settle some nerves.

- It's quite surprising, and quite lucky, that England haven't really faced any real adversity yet.  Not conceded a goal, no extra time, no injuries, no suspensions.  Maybe this conservative way of playing isn't a bad thing - even though it makes our games so less enjoyable than everybody else.

- And another one.  Surely we can't blow a 3 goal lead now.  That was too easy.

- Time to bring in some of the squad players.  Give them a run out - every outfield player should see at least some playing time.  Good for team spirit.  What a luxury to even be able to consider that.

- That's 4 now.  And very lazy defending from Ukraine - I think they've given up.  I think we should play more of our games in Rome.

- 20 minutes to go - let's keep our clean sheet.  No stupid mistakes.

- Let's look ahead - Denmark is going to be a good test.  They are playing well, they are motivated, but they are beatable.  And I think we have the better players.  And we're at home.  But this will be a tighter game.

- I shall not be taking off my England top this afternoon.

- And that's the final whistle.  I feel surprisingly deflated.  Perhaps because I was geared up to lay into England in this post, but the result hasn't necessitated it - especially in this very one-sided and frankly quite boring 2nd half.