Skip to main content

England could still become serious Euro challengers but there is plenty to fix | Jonathan Wilson

The incoherence and panic that gripped lethargic players against Denmark shows their problems are deep-rooted

Italy won the World Cup in 1982 and Portugal the Euros in 2016 after drawing all three games in the initial group. Spain in 2010 and Argentina in 2022 both began their World Cup-winning campaigns with defeat. This year, Ivory Coast lost group games 1-0 to Nigeria and 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea, qualified for the last 16 only because Ghana conceded twice in injury time against Mozambique and still went on to win the Africa Cup of Nations.

Only Brazil, in 2002, have won seven games out of seven at a major tournament. It is possible for a team that has begun poorly to win it. But just because something is possible, doesn’t mean that’s how you should do things. Tournaments are short; average teams sometimes can be mysteriously energised. England haven’t ticked a box by getting in a couple of bad performances when it didn’t really matter. Planning tends to win out over shrugging and hoping for the best.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2QuThed
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coronavirus live news: Brazil adds record 34,918 daily cases as infections surge in six US states

Beijing Covid-19 outbreak ‘extremely severe’; French police fire tear gas at healthcare protest; New Zealand cancels compassionate quarantine exceptions. Follow the latest updates Beijing travel restricted to tackle ‘extremely severe’ situation Brazil suffers record case increase Six US states see record case increases Covid-19 outbreaks in New Zealand and China highlight stark choices See all our coronavirus coverage 1.10am BST More on the rise in cases in the US now: Across the United States, 17 states saw new cases rise last week, according to a Reuters analysis. In Oklahoma, where President Donald Trump plans to hold an indoor campaign rally on Saturday, new cases rose 68%. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said officials were considering other, possibly outdoor, venues for the Tulsa event. The virus spreads far more efficiently in enclosed spaces. On Tuesday, Oklahoma health officials urged anyone attending the rally to get tested for the coronavirus before arrivi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Apartment 7A review – Rosemary’s Baby prequel is a vacant rehash

Strong performances from Julia Garner and Dianne Wiest can’t add enough weight to a pointless horror that fills in gaps we didn’t need filling in There wasn’t any urgent necessity to this April’s horror prequel The First Omen , a film that took us back to tell a tale we mostly knew already. Filling in the specifics of Damien’s backstory, before he was adopted by a couple unaware of his satanic conception, was not something even the most impassioned Omen fans were thirsting for but it came to be because of Disney’s Fox purchase and a greedy desire to stuff its streamer Hulu with content associated with known IP, the common contemporary reasoning that forces existence: could over should. But a strike-affected release schedule, and I would imagine some enthused test screenings, pushed it into cinemas instead and while it wasn’t without its problems, it was made with such visual flair and frightening inventiveness that it ultimately felt like a worthwhile revisit. Months later, the same ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Rico Lewis helped harden up Manchester City’s treble challenge | Jamie Jackson

Guardiola believes advent of the teenage talent sowed seeds of change that turned his side into champions again Mid-January, the Etihad Campus. Before Tottenham’s visit a discontented Pep Guardiola is addressing a Manchester City team meeting that includes Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Ederson. The champions are in second place, eight points behind Arsenal, each having played 18 games. Performances have dipped and so has the attitude of his players. The final match before the World Cup was a 2-1 home defeat by Brentford . Since the tournament, City have beaten Leeds and Chelsea, drawn with Everton and lost their previous outing , 2-1 at Manchester United. Seven points from 15 is not championship-defending form and, when being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Southampton is factored in, Guardiola can see City’s campaign derailing. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/h8WjbMX
Post a Comment
Read more