Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 29

Marvel of Eriksen’s recovery reminds us that glory comes in many forms | Jonathan Wilson

The Dane’s presence at these Euros is less about creative inspiration than an affirmation of the game’s greatest values

It was the third game of the Euros. There was a slow sense of familiarity returning. The night before, Italy had beaten Turkey 3-0 in Rome. Earlier in the afternoon, Wales and Switzerland had drawn 1-1 in Baku. In Copenhagen, Denmark would face Finland. Covid restrictions meant there would be only 13,700 at Parken. But a year after it should have been played, the fact Euro 2020 was going ahead at all was a symbol that, whatever the lingering effects of the virus, something approaching normal life could return.

Finland’s 3,000-strong contingent were giddy on the euphoria of playing in their first tournament; the Denmark fans were, like everybody, glad that football was possible again and that they were hosting a game at a major finals for the first time. The long days of lockdown were in the past.

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Kevin Campbell, legend of the early Premier League, mixed goals with versatility

Pacy and direct striker won First Division and Cup Winners’ Cup with Arsenal but he was never given an England cap

A throw-in from Lee Dixon. Alan Smith controls it at the top corner of the box and plays the ball back out to Dixon as Kevin Campbell, coming from wide, runs past him, drawing the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Paul Le Guen with him. The movement creates space for Dixon, who has time to measure his cross. Campbell continues his run far enough for Le Guen to stop, but not quite far enough for Alain Roche to pick him up. Dixon finds Campbell and, twisting, he guides a low header past the sprawl of Bernard Lama at the near post.

The first leg of the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final at the Parc des Princes had finished 1-1. Campbell’s goal, after seven minutes, was the only one of the second leg. Arsenal, after what felt like an extremely characteristic performance, were through to the final, which they won – 1-0, obviously – thanks to a Smith goal against Parma, and they had their first European trophy since the Fairs Cup of 1970.

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Switzerland hold off Hungary fightback after Duah bursts on to the scene

They shoot dark horses, don’t they? Just like Turkey at the last Euros, Hungary have been so widely tipped as  plausible outsiders that ­expectations have perhaps reached unreasonable levels. Like Turkey three years ago, Hungary began with a defeat and looked a long way from being a side capable of challenging.

For Switzerland, the opposite is true. For them, there could hardly have been a greater symbol of their unexpected urgency than the substitute Breel Embolo, who sustained a cruciate ligament injury in August, surging through in injury time, the strapping flying from his knee as he seized on Willi Orban’s misplaced header to lob the ball over Peter Gulacsi and seal the win. “Embolo’s ability to hold the ball up made us feel very safe,” said Murat Yakin, who praised Embolo’s commitment to get fit and his medical staff.

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Euro 2024 contenders are all flawed – and that will add to the spectacle | Jonathan Wilson

The beauty of international football is that nobody can go out and buy a perfectly balanced squad

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As boos echoed round an increasingly empty Wembley on Friday, the pitch dotted with paper planes, the mind drifted back to a similar occasion eight years ago and another friendly played in preparation for the European Championship. That time the opposition were Portugal and then too there were boos, despite Chris Smalling heading the winner from a Raheem Sterling cross with four minutes remaining. A little over a month later, England were grimly looking to a fresh start under Sam Allardyce, having been eliminated by Iceland in their first game after the Brexit vote, and Portugal were European champions.

It’s true that Portugal had had Bruno Alves sent off 10 minutes before half-time in that friendly; somebody desperate, post hoc, to trace cause and effect may conclude that in their resistance there were clues to Portugal’s ultimate dogged triumph. And certainly there was plenty of evidence for how lacking in fluency England would be in the weeks that followed. But it’s even truer to say that pre-season friendlies are quickly forgotten.

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Euro 2024 preview: Groups A and B … including the hosts, Germany – Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini, Jonathan Wilson, Sid Lowe, Archie Rhind-Tutt and Ewan Murray to preview Groups A and B

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today; we begin with Group A. What shape are the hosts Germany in under Julian Nagelsmann? Does the country expect? Will Kai Havertz lead the line? And what of Scotland? Can they spring a surprise and make it through a major tournament group stage for the first time in their history? Hungary and Switzerland will also be in their way.

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Georgia and Albania’s presence at Euro 2024 is sign of eastern resurgence | Jonathan Wilson

Slowly, unsurely, sides from the former eastern bloc are emerging again – but their journeys are all very different

On 14 July, the European champions will be crowned in Berlin. No one really expects a former communist country to win in the city whose division once symbolised the cold war but perhaps, finally, 35 years after the Wall came down, the eastern part of the continent is beginning from a football perspective to regather its strength.

Not including Germany (two players in their provisional squad were born in the east), 11 of the 24 teams at the Euros will be from the former Soviet bloc, as opposed to eight in 2020 and 2016. Even including the two hosts, Poland and Ukraine, five of the 16 were from the east in 2012; there were five in 2008, 2004 and 1996 and four in 2000.

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Brilliant Oranje: 50 years on, the game is still in thrall to Total Football

The influence of the Netherlands at the 1974 World Cup – Cruyff and the high-press revolution – will still resonate at the Euros in Germany

Sérgio Markarián was the 30-year-old general manager of a fuel distribution company in Montevideo when he became aware of his mission. He had given up on his dreams of becoming a footballer 12 years earlier but, watching the 1974 World Cup, he realised his time in the game was not over.

As he watched the Netherlands outplay Uruguay, he knew that he had to become a coach so he could ensure his country would never suffer in the same way again. And it wasn’t just Uruguay. The Dutch went on to beat Argentina and Brazil as well, by an aggregate score of 8-1. Markarián had to teach the whole of South America how to deal with Total Football.

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Ancelotti’s relaxed style is crucial to Real’s Champions League success | Jonathan Wilson

In an era of coaching philosophers, the Italian’s pragmatic approach continues to give Madrid an edge in Europe

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Some day they’ll come up with a different story. Yet again, Real Madrid didn’t seem entirely convincing. Yet again, their opponents had chances. Yet again, there was a sense they rode their luck. And yet again, they won and, by the end, were so much in control that it seemed bizarre they had ever been doubted. Victory over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday gave Madrid their sixth Champions League in 11 years and, yet again, there was a curious sense that they had won it largely because they are used to winning it.

There are two distinct – and apparently contradictory – aspects to this. On the one hand, there is a sort of revisionism going on, an attempt to suggest that Madrid just do things differently, that because they and their coaches, whether Zinedine Zidane or Carlo Ancelotti, don’t have a clearly defined philosophy their tactical excellence is underplayed. And perhaps there is some truth to that; but on the other hand, Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi did squander two glorious opportunities with the score at 0-0 on Saturday. Madrid do give their opponents a lot of chances.

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Nice try Dortmund, but Real Madrid are kings of Europe again – Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson, Archie Rhind-Tutt and Jonathan Fadugba for the final pod of the domestic season

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today; Real Madrid are outplayed for large parts of the game as Borussia Dortmund miss chance after chance in the first half but none of that matters does it? Because Real Madrid always win.

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Bad vibes and VAR: waiting game leaves fans frustrated over marginal calls | Jonathan Wilson

With a vote on the technology looming, it’s debatable that the search for accuracy is worth the sacrifice of spontaneity

On Thursday, Premier League clubs will vote on Wolves’ proposal to scrap video assistant referees. The motion will almost certainly not achieve majority support, never mind secure the 14 votes out of 20 needed for it to pass. But what it may do is to shift the Overton window and lead to a serious review of VAR, an assessment of where it works and where it doesn’t. And that is something that is long overdue.

Consultation is unfashionable in the modern world. Politicians of all stripes act too often in effect by fiat, and that is as true in football as anything else. VAR was imposed for the 2018 World Cup with minimal research or conversation and accepted almost everywhere without anybody really investigating the consequences.

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