Euro 2008 - Day Four

Europe was eagerly anticipating what Spain had to offer, and on Tuesday, Spain duely delivered with an emphatic 4-1 victory over dark horses Russia. Although a weakened Russia, missing their star players Andrei Arshavin to suspension, and Pavel Pogrebeyak to injury, many have still expected Guus Hiddink's Russia to fill the second qualification place in Group D. The severity of defeat matched with the below par performance of the Russians leaves them with an up hill climb to ascend to the Quarter-Finals. Spain however, look motivated for Tournament glory.

Very much like the Dutch, the Spanish are organised well, and concentrate on doing the simple things. However, what differentiates the pair, is that the Spanish have the better personnel in almost every position. There is a lot more confidence in Puyol leading Spain's defence than Boulahrouz in the Dutch defence, and Xavi and Senna in the Spanish midfield are much more resolute than the Dutch. The big difference however, is in the ruthlessness of the Spanish attack. Fernando Torres, as Premiership fans can vouch for, is in scintillating form, and Valencia's David Villa is a world class forward looking for a high profile transfer. His hat-trick in Tuesday's game was a perfect way to put himself in the shop window. If Europe's top clubs weren't interested before, they should be now.

Most footballing fans should be hoping that Greece go home with nothing to celebrate. A dire performance from the current Euro Champions left most fans either booing or yawning, and it was a great relief to all concerned when Zlatan Ibrahimovic finally broke the deadlock and set Sweden on their way to a 2-0 victory. Sweden will still need a positive result against Russia, but they look to be the better of the two sides competing for second place.

That being said, Spain are still Spain, and can fall foul to unexpected defeats in major tournaments. Do not be too surprised to see Sweden take something out of their game on Saturday.

Ramsey Gunning for Arsenal

As cheesey as the headline sounds, the point has been made. Hailed as the most sought after talent outside The Premiership (with the condition of being within the United Kingdom), Aaron Ramsey has agreed to join Arsenal, and spurn offers from Premier and Champions League winners Manchester United, and ever improving Everton. It has long been considered that, any promising young talent would be well advised to learn under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson, predominantly because of his track record of getting the best out of young British footballers. So, why, would Aaron Ramsey elect to join the French revolution at Arsenal than follow in the footsteps of Giggs, Scholes, Rooney etc?

Perhaps... because of one man. Step forward, Gary Neville. As the negotiations began for Ramsey's signature, each club made their approach for the talented youngster. Everton flew Ramsey to Merseyside, when he spoke with David Moyes. Arsenal flew him to Basel, where he spoke with Arsene Wenger. Manchester United flew him to Manchester, where he was taken on a tour of the stadium by... yes that's right, Club Captain and always inspirational Gary Neville. Now, I'm not suggesting that Gary Neville is boring... no, wait... I am. Manchester United may feel they have missed out on this exciting talent, but I feel they only have themselves to blame. Surely Ryan Giggs would have been a better selection (if I'm correct in thinking Sir Alex Ferguson was too busy worrying if Ronaldo really did say those things in the paper)? Surely every young Welsh winger looks up to Ryan Giggs?

Whatever the reason, it will be exciting to see Arsenal with another British player in their ranks, as they look to take their tally to six before Sepp Blatter gets his rule in place.

Euro 2008 - Holland vs Italy

Yesterday the Dutch woke up the footballing world. Until Holland took the field yesterday, Euro 2008 had made a stuttering start, which climaxed with Romania and France's boring 0-0 draw. Holland's shock 3-0 victory over World Champions Italy will stir excitement all over Europe.

It is not that the Dutch played Italy off the park, but they did the simple things well, worked hard, and counter-attacked with such speed and accuracy that the Italians just did not know how to stop them. Both sides kept possession well, and were not afraid to be patient in keeping the ball, waiting for the opportunity for a killer pass to arrive. The best example of this would be Rafael Van de Vaart's precise through ball to Ruud van Nistelrooy when the Dutch striker should have done better.

Italy, and the ignorant (Andy Townsend) will claim that Holland had a lucky break to go 1-0 infront, when van Nistelrooy cooly tapped in Van de Vaart's effort from a poorly cleared set-piece. The truth is that van Nistelrooy was not offside, as Panucci, whilst not on the pitch, was still active and therefore playing van Nistelrooy onside. The simple truth is, to be off the field of play, you need the referee's permission, and without it, you are still active. If a striker had been off the field, and then just stuck his foot round the post to deflect the ball in, would the same ignorant people be claiming the goal should stand? It is not often that Officials are given credit, and no doubt ITV and Andy Townsend will not apologise, but the Linesman (sorry, Referee's Assistant) made an excellent decision.

After this goal, it was just a case of Holland demonstrating the art of counter-attacking football. Italy never really looked like committing too many players forward, in fact, if Roberto Donadoni continues with what can only be described as three anchor midfield players, Italy are going to go nowhere. Luca Toni, with the occasioal support from Di Natale, were never going to threaten a Dutch defence that I'm sure will not withstand a serious attack. Ironically, it was Italy's attacking set-pieces that took the game away from themselves.

Holland's second goal should be remembered as one of the great Euro goals, as Van Bronckhorst (Man of the Match) firstly clears the ball off the line, then sprints the length of the field to receive the ball in space, have the awareness to find Dirk Kuyt at the back post, who cooly nods the ball down to the impressive Wesley Sneijder to poke the ball past Gianluigi Buffon. Breathtaking football.

The final nail in the coffin, Pirlo's excellent free-kick is neatly pushed away by Van de Sar, and Holland are away again, and the move could have been finished a couple of times before Van Bronckhorst (Man of the Match) heads the ball over the line. On another day those chances both go in for Italy, but yesterday Holland took their chances when they came.

Are Holland good enough to go all the way? Perhaps. Let's not forget that van Persie and Robben are both currently unfit. However the Dutch defence does lack a certain solidarity, and I expect them to concede goals later on in the competition. As for Italy, it's all well and good playing Gattuso and Pirlo together in midfield when Kaka' is with them, but Ambrosini is not the desired third party. They need to shake up their system because Luca Toni can not do it all on his own.

Euro 2008 - France vs Romania

Yesterday France epitomised what a lack of passion can do to a team with an abundance of talent. It would not be unfair to suggest that France bottled it in their opening game. When the draw was made, and the 'Group of Death' was created, everyone was looking forward to seeing three of the better sides in Europe slug it out to win the Group. France, quite fittingly, appeared to open the group waving a white flag in surrender to Holland and Italy.

I feel it is a great shame that France did not come out with a positive attitude. They are well organised, they spread the ball around the park quickly and efficiently, and their movement will be difficult for even the top defences to handle. Their system is nearer a 4-2-4 than a 4-4-2, with Malouda and Ribery roaming around, often coming infield, and Malouda attempting dashing runs through the middle. This is well complemented firstly with Benzema and Anelka upfront, who in turn make themselves available outwide, and find any available space to collect the ball, and secondly with Abidal and Sagnol always looking to support from full-back. This system puts a lot of pressure on just Toulalan and Makelele in midfield, who would almost certainly get overrun by any three man midfield of quality, but if France can keep the ball like they do this should never be too much of a concern.

Romania's performance was typical of the outsider in such a competitive group. If they can hold on for a couple of draws, and perhaps hope for a bit of luck, or just that the other three keep taking points of each other, they could scrape through.

France Coach Raymond Domenech now believes they must beat Holland and Italy to progress, which is not unachievable, but they will certainly need to raise their game... and find some passion. France will hope that Henry's return will be the difference.

Euro 2008 - Day Two

It should not be underestimated how important it was for Croatia to pick up a victory in yesterday's matinee match, and Croatia Coach Slaven Bilic was quick to emphasise it,

"Some players were overwhelmed by playing at a great tournament but we started off with the best possible way - with a win".

It's an old cliche that it's great teams that win when playing badly, but I feel in this case, it was just a lucky team. Croatia have the ability, and the potential to cause any team trouble. Although England weren't the greatest of competition in their Qualifying Group, Croatia did come to Wembley and play them off the park.

Regardless of the performance, the win was essential if Croatia want to make it through to the next stage. With the next round of fixtures seeing Croatia face Germany, and Austria host Poland, only picking up a point against a lucklustre Austria would have put Poland in the driving seat to qualify from second place, as they somehow managed to hold Germany to just two goals. Poland didn't seem to turn up to their opening game, but they were also faced with the daunting task of opening against the Tournament favourites.

Germany performed as expected, and seemed to justify their favourite tag, but the rest of Europe will not have much fear in facing them in the latter stages, particularly the likes of Italy and Spain who will defend much more solidly than Poland, and have prolific strikers in great goalscoring form.

Euro 2008 - Day One

Euro 2008 kicked off last night, with co-hosts Switzerland entertaining Czech Rep. and Portugal vs. Turkey. Switzerland will wake up this morning feeling that they could have got something out of the tournament opener yesterday, and worse still their best player and Captain Alexander Frei will be out of the rest of the tournament. Not a great start for the tournament hosts that were probably hoping for the same kind of home support that helped push South Korea to the World Cup Semi Finals. In truth, the Czech Rep. were a shadow of their former selves, and I cannot see them progressing past the Quarter Finals.

Portugal were comfortable winners in the Group's second match, neither denting or enhancing their credentials as potential winners of the tournament. Turkey put in a fairly decent performance, spreading the ball about, moving forward with pace, but never really threatened a Portugal defence that certainly isn't impenetrable. Scolari is continuing with his 4-5-1 formation that has seen his Portugal side play attractive football, but often fail at the penultimate hurdle due to a lack of an out and out goalscorer. All things going as expected, Portugal will meet Germany in this year's Semi-Finals, but they will desperately need Ronaldo to find that spark that led him to 42 club goals this season.

Both matches yesterday produced free-flowing end to end football, which bodes well for the games to come, although real clear cut chances were a rarity. Petr Cech, along with many other Tournament goalkeepers had raised his concerns about the movement of the football, indicating there could be a number of long range goals this summer, but it only seemed to be a lack of movement in the ball that had Cech flustered.

With Germany as Tournament favourites, they will be looking to send a message across Europe today, and a 3-0 victory against a well organised Poland would be enough to send fear into the top teams in the other half of the draw. The world is expecting great things from Mario Gomez, and if he works well with Lucas Podolski, Germany could have a ruthless strike force for many years to come.

Austria are widely considered to be the poorest team at this summer's tournament, even with home support they will struggle not to finish bottom of Group B. Croatia are a young and exciting side, and dark horses to progress into the latter stages. A strong 2-0 victory today could be the catalyst for an unbelievable tournament.

Dennis Bergkamp

Last night I was watching ITV4s Greatest World Cup Goals, and at number 3 was Dennis Bergkamp's excellent last minute winner against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup Finals. The comment attributed to this goal was, "Dennis Bergkamp has scored, a sublime goal, the sort of goal that only he can score"

One of my first footballing memories was of Dennis Bergkamp. It was England vs Holland at Wembley in 1993, the infamous "Do I not like that" campaign. Prior to "that" 2-0 defeat in Holland, England were held to a 2-2 draw at Wembley, and Dennis Bergkamp scored one of the finest goals I will ever remember. Sadly, I cannot find any footage, or even still images of the event... but those that did see it will certainly remember it.

There are certain goals that only the truly gifted can score, and Dennis Bergkamp is one of those truly gifted players. Here is a compilation, climaxing with that goal against Argentina.

David Bentley; The New Frank Lampard?

Twelve months ago, David Bentley had just competed in an England 'B' game, and was due to travel with the England U21 Squad to compete in the European Championships. He pulled out, owing to the long season he'd just had, spending the last few weeks with the England squad, and having to start the next season early with Blackburn in the Inter-toto Cup. I defended his decision to all of those that booed him, and made outrageous remarks that he was turning his back on his country because he felt he was 'too good for the Under 21s'. This was never David Bentley's claim.

Since then, he has had another fantastic season for Blackburn, and earnt his way into the England set-up once again. However, he is in danger of following in the footsteps of too many fellow England players.

"I have learnt some players are good in training but not so good when it comes to the game." Fabio Capello.

David Bentley has featured in all of Capello's England matches, but in these last two matches against the USA and Trinidad & Tobago, he has failed to make an impression, and in fact has under performed. Could David Bentley be the new Frank Lampard?

Frank Lampard has turned the under-performing England midfield role his own since he replaced Paul Scholes. Two players that played exceptionally at club level but never fulfilled their potential in an England shirt. It is still early in David Bentley's England career, but this is a very good oppurtunity to establish himself in that right midfield position. Having played in each of Capello's England games, he has still been unable to oust an overaged and underperforming David Beckham. It seems likely that Bentley will leave Blackburn this summer, in the belief that he needs to be at a bigger club to prove his worth to the England team. This is utter rubbish. To prove his worth to the England team, he needs to deliver in an England shirt.

I have faith in Bentley's ability, but if he gets a chance against the Czech Republic in August and doesn't perform, he could find himself out of a side now operating with Stewart Downing and Ashley Young down the left and David Beckham and Joe Cole down the right.

Sepp Blatter's Six-plus-Five Rule

There has been a nationwide furore surrounding the recent developments with Sepp Blatter's Six-plus-Five Rule. Blatter's vision is for football teams to compete with a minimum of six domestic players, or put another way, a maximum of five foreign players.

I'm not sure what Arsene Wenger's latest excuse for not picking English players is, but needless to say Arsenal are not fans of the plan, and understandably so. If this rule was implemented tomorrow, only Manchester United (with Ben Foster, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney) from the big four would mange to comply to the rule throughout the season.

At the moment, the demand for English talent is not high, where a club can happily purchase players from abroad to do the same role. For example, Michael Carrick went to Manchester United for an exaggerated £18 million. Spurs replaced Michael Carrick with Didier Zokora for only £6 million (though quite unsuccessfully). Imagine if every team needed a minimum of six English players, suddenly the demand for quality English players would increase, but the supply (in the short term) would remain the same. Michael Carrick's value would suddenly double. Is the result that only the big four can afford to fulfil the criteria with quality English players? Will the big four pull even further away? I believe not.

If, and hopefully when, the rule comes into effect, players like David Bentley, Micah Richards, Ashley Young, Gareth Barry will not be moving to the big four in exaggerated inflated £30 million transfers... they will become priceless, irreplaceable, thus, increasing competition in The Premiership, and taking that 'big four' mentality away. Emphasis will be on developing talent again, rather than buying it.

The big four, as with most of the Premiership, has not been naive in this rule coming about. There are state-of-the-art Youth Academies all over the country, developing the next generation of English footballers. At whatever point this rule or a similar rule comes about, the top clubs will be prepared for it... but that's not to say they would not rather delay the inevitable.

As for the foreigner aspect... the general football fan should not fear that the Premiership will lose out on its exciting world class foreign imports. Being able to field five foreign players is still more than enough to allow Torres, Fabregas, Ronaldo and Berbatov to excite the crowds... but the rule may grossly affect how some clubs make their purchases. The lottery system of buying many foreign players and hoping that a few make it will be over, so there will be no more Andreas Anderssons, Antony Le-Tallacs, Florent Sinama-Pongolles, Marco Boogers, Raymond Vegas, Remi Gardes, Gilles Grimandis, Christopher Wrehs, Igor Stepanovs, Pascal Cygans, Sean Dundees, Bruno Cheyrous, Eric Djemba-Djembas, Quinton Fortunes, Ibrahim Bas, Paulo Tramezzanis, Djimi Traores, Michele Padovanos, Andrea Silenzis, Temuri Ketsbaias, Bosko Balabans...

"This is probably the most contentious issue to hit English football since the Premier League was set up in 1992," David Dein.

Contentious yes, but I would say, imperative; for the good of The Premiership… and the good of the national team.