Kevin Whitcher
Well, let’s face it, you can call it tactical if you like, but yesterday’s Euro 2016 final between France and Portugal was as dull as ditchwater for the duration of normal time and the first half of extra time. I nodded off once or twice. It was kind of fitting. It has been a tournament of moments, but overall, the drama has felt a bit limited, the standard of play disappointing. Some big names really didn’t turn up, or flickered intermittently without really making a mark. A few reputations were enhanced, a good number battered.
Italy took care of Spain, Germany did for Italy, France sent Germany home and with hindsight, they were all softening each other up for whoever emerged from the other half of the draw. So the fairytale was not to be. France, and Paris, trying to get back to some semblance of the good life after the attacks last November, were denied the opportunity to celebrate, although by all accounts, they did at least, manage a fair bit of that in the aftermath of their semi-final victory.
Portugal finished as they started and largely continued, unable to beat their opposition in normal time. This feat they managed once in seven matches. A long way from being the best team in the tournament, they proved the best at not being beaten. Survival football. It doesn’t augur well for future international tournaments, but it won’t cast a shadow over domestic leagues, where draws do not equate to success. Roll on the return of the Premier League.
So, we had an invasion of moths, Cristiano Ronaldo being nobbled by Dmitri Payet, a few chances, but not enough to save the game as a spectacle. In the end, Portugal took theirs when there did not look like any danger. If you’d told me before the semi-finals that a player that started last season on Swansea’s books was going to score the winner in the final I’d have rushed down the bookies and put a wad on the Welsh, with the decisive goal being scored by Ashley Williams.
France gave it their all, but looked a little short of inspiration against a disciplined defence. It was a disappointing performance, as indeed their group games generally were. Portugal did what Greece, in turn, had done to them when they hosted the tournament 12 years ago. Poop the hosts’ party with a masterclass of defensive football. It meant Ronaldo could lift the trophy and bask in the glory of a final to which he had contributed very little, whilst the French licked their wounds and await the post-mortem.
The seventh game was a game too far for them. Ironic in that it was Michel Platini who decided to expand the finals to 24 teams, and create an extra game. As an advert for the tournament, a bit of me thinks this will have a knock on effect in 2020. With the group and knockout matches being held all over the continent, and the ticket prices doubtless on the high side, I think the games will be a tough sell, with a large number of empty seats. They will probably fill them with schoolkids. Apparently the only nation that expressed an interest in hosting the finals before the decision was made to play the games all over the continent, was Turkey. A while ago, I would have considered that an interesting place to travel around and watch matches. Now, it’s quite obviously too high a risk to take.
On that note, the tournament, as far as the threat of being a focus for terrorist attacks, was undoubtedly a success. The trouble that there was came from the supporters – England, Russia and Croatia hit the headlines there. That England fans became the focus of police attacks, and not the supporters of other nations that also drank heavily and loudly, needs to be looked at. Are the police treating the English differently or are the English supporters behaving in a way that attracts a different style of policing? In Lisbon, 12 years ago, the police adapted a strategy of sitting back and allowing England fans to do what they do. The only trouble was in the Algarve where fans were drinking in a bar in a normally quiet area, and the local police decided to handle it in a more confrontational manner. Obviously in Marseille local youths went looking to antagonize, before the Russians even got involved, but my question is, why didn’t they go after the other nations that played there? Is the answer that everyone hates the English?
The other observation that can be made now that the tournament is over is that the security checkpoints sometimes created dangerous bottlenecks, with large amounts of people crammed into a small area, before being checked for anything on their person likely to be of danger to those around them. Frankly, put a suicide bomber outside the Lille stadium and Parc des Princes cordons and hundreds could be wiped out. It doesn’t bear thinking about and it’s the reason Arsenal have their own cordons now, some distance from the turnstiles.
Anyway, back to the football. Was the expansion to 24 teams a success? Possibly. In that the group games at least maintained interest until the third match. Whether or not sticking to the previous format of 16 teams would have made for better games is one for debate. What is beyond doubt is that some of the leading teams looked a bit weary at the end of a long season. At least, in 2017, most countries will get a break, or at least those not taking part in the Confederations Cup (17 June – 2 July). I am sure you will be delighted to hear that both Germany and Chile will be taking part. I am trying to work out when Alexis Sanchez last had a summer off, and I think it was 2013, a year before he joined Arsenal. We’ve never had him completely fresh for a season, and are unlikely to until 2020-21 (the next Copa America is going to be in 2019). Talk about flogging a dead horse.
So we can move into 2016-17 on Friday week, when Arsenal begin their pre-season fixtures with a visit to Lens. Enjoy the close season, all 12 days of it. What will we do without football, eh?
