Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 25

Gareth Southgate made England relevant again – but it was time to go | Jonathan Wilson

The national team were in a dark place but he made them unrecognisably successful during his eight years in charge

Eight years is a long time in football. Eight years is long enough for people to run out of patience. Eight years is long enough that the successes no longer generate quite such goodwill, that the flaws and foibles annoy all the more.

A rattiness was evident in the group stage of the Euros just gone. There was an impatience, a sense of irritation on all sides. Better to go now than to let it fester, to let those complaints about the environment being created fester into something far more toxic following, say, a goalless draw against Honduras in the second game of the World Cup.

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Mediocre Euros and Copa América show there is such a thing as too much football

Neither tournament produced high-level play and proved the present fixture list is unsustainable for players and fans

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On the one hand, the best side in both the Euros and Copa América ended up triumphant. On the other hand, there was just about everything else, from the general quality of play to the fact football’s authorities seem to have entirely lost the capacity to stage matches. However bad Uefa’s organisation of various aspects of the Euros was, what happened at Hard Rock Stadium was on a different level.

An inquiry will presumably be held to determine exactly who or what was to blame for the scenes that delayed kick-off by 75 minutes and led to as an estimated 7,000 fans without tickets gaining access to the ground, but what is clear is that there is need of major improvement before the stadium hosts seven games at the World Cup finals in 2026. It’s not just a question of more security: lengthy queues in searing heat are not a solution to anything.

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Heartache for England again as Spain take Euro 2024 crown – Football Daily

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson, Troy Townsend and John Brewin as England lose another Euros final

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On the podcast today: it’s happened again, England have lost in the final of a major tournament. Spain deserved the win on the night but England were a Dani Olmo clearance from forcing extra time – instead, those familiar feelings are flooding back.

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Euro 2024 final: Spain v England updates before game in Berlin – as it happened

All the latest updates as we count down to Sunday’s European Championship final in Berlin

Spain v England: join Rob Smyth for our MBM blog

So, Spain v England is essentially Spain v Spain. Football really will be the winner tonight. According to Barney Ronay: “It is basically coming home whatever happens on Sunday night. Because the home of elite football, right now, is Spain.”

What we have here are two teams hugely influenced by the success of the Spain-Barcelona-Dutch dynamic over the last quarter-century. How Spanish is this final? Twenty-three players across the two squads have a Spanish club coach, or 27 if we allow Xavi to remain in the count.

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Euro 2024 final: news and buildup to Spain v England – live

All the latest as we count down to tonight’s finalTactical breakdown: where the final will be won and lostGet in touch! Email Xaymaca | Golden Boot standings

So, Spain v England is essentially Spain v Spain. Football really will be the winner tonight. According to Barney Ronay: “It is basically coming home whatever happens on Sunday night. Because the home of elite football, right now, is Spain.”

What we have here are two teams hugely influenced by the success of the Spain-Barcelona-Dutch dynamic over the last quarter-century. How Spanish is this final? Twenty-three players across the two squads have a Spanish club coach, or 27 if we allow Xavi to remain in the count.

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As the beer rains down, one thing is clear: Uefa’s complacency puts all of us at risk | Jonathan Wilson

Journalists are not the only ones to have had plastic cups thrown at them at Euro 2024 so what will it take before the organising body reacts?

It was shortly after the final whistle had blown on England’s semi-final victory over the Netherlands that the barrage began. First one plastic cup landed in the press box, beer exploding from it in a sticky fountain, then another and another until all you could hear other than the insistent PA was the crump of plastic on desk and the shouts of journalists taking hits and trying to protect their laptops.

Looking up towards the tier from which they came, there was a terrible beauty to it, the cups with their furls of lager illuminated in the floodlit sky, falling slowly with an implausible grace before their liquid detonation.

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Tactical breakdown: where the Euro 2024 final will be won and lost

Spain have been the outstanding team but if England can shut down the supply, Southgate’s men can make history

Spain have been by far the most fluent side at the Euros, by far the best side at the Euros, and much of the reason for that has been their two youthful wingers, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. They give Spain a verticality that they have at times lacked since their golden age came to an end at the 2014 World Cup and, beyond that, Lamine Yamal appears to be blessed with that extra quality that elevates the true greats.

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Spain v England: who will win? And the Southgate verdict - Football Daily podcast

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Barney Ronay and Jonathan Wilson to preview the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain

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On the podcast today: England play Spain on Sunday in the final of Euro 2024, but before we preview that, can Barry and Barney agree on Gareth Southgate’s place in the pantheon of largely disappointing England managers?

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England acquire inexplicable indestructibility before Spain final | Jonathan Wilson

Tournaments don’t always make much sense so can Gareth Southgate’s side live up to the perception of destiny?

Ivory Coast lost their second group game at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations and followed it up by losing their third, 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea. They were, by any realistic assessment, on their way out of a tournament they were hosting, especially when Ghana went 2-0 up against Mozambique, which seemed to close off the possibility of the Ivorians going through as one of the four best third-place teams.

But then Mozambique scored twice in injury-time, Ivory Coast snuck through, sacked their manager and, after equalising with an 86th-minute penalty against Senegal, and equalising in the last minute when down to 10 men against Mali, the rest was history.

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Technocrat Southgate has been transformed into reckless adventurer | Jonathan Wilson

England came from behind again, the manager finally made the right substitutions: it was bewildering but brilliant

England’s problem, in major tournament game after major tournament game, has been taking an early lead. Since time immemorial the English response to going ahead has been to try to protect what they have, as though inspired by some Boy’s Own urge to recreate the siege of Mafeking at every opportunity. What better way to avoid that then, than by going behind and only taking the lead at the very last?

That’s obviously not the plan, but it does seem in keeping with the wildness of late-era Gareth Southgate. The technocrat with his clipboard and his data has somehow been transformed into a reckless adventurer. Why rust unburnished on the shore when you can set off into the dark, broad seas, court adventure and improvise? Who remembers the back four now? Who wants to win tournaments with clean sheets when you could progress with injury-time goals and a sense of narrative inevitability? Why try to be Portugal or France, when you can be something far less explicable, far more magical?

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