Jonathan Liew's Blog, page 3

Women’s Euro 2025: countdown to France v Germany; England hopeful over Williamson – as it happened

France and Germany prepared to meet in the last quarter-final, while Esme Morgan delivered some positive injury news on Leah Williamson

As always, I want to hear from you today! Be sure to message me with any thoughts on the Euro 2025 quarter-finals so far and predictions for tonight’s match.

I think I’ve only just recovered from the drama of Thursday’s clash between Sweden and England. What a match! Here is how England fans reacted to the outcome…

Continue reading...

Women’s Euro 2025: countdown to France v Germany; England hopeful over Williamson – live

Match buildup, team news and more from Switzerland

Schedule | Top scorers | Player guide | Email Emillia

As always, I want to hear from you today! Be sure to message me with any thoughts on the Euro 2025 quarter-finals so far and predictions for tonight’s match.

I think I’ve only just recovered from the drama of Thursday’s clash between Sweden and England. What a match! Here is how England fans reacted to the outcome…

Continue reading...

Are Spain pacing themselves or sleepwalking to a deafening alarm call? | Jonathan Liew

Euro favourites give Switzerland hope before sealing their place in the semi-finals but France or Germany could challenge their supremacy

Afterwards, there was an awful lot of messing about. Probably more than you would expect after a briefly absorbing quarter-final whose outcome was never seriously in doubt. The Swiss players performed the world’s slowest lap of honour. The Spanish players posed for a group photo, but it kept having to be retaken as more players arrived. OK, now one more with Aitana. Now one more with Irene. Now one with the staff. Now in portrait for the ’gram. Then the teams gave each other an honour guard off the pitch. At one point you would swear someone laid out some picnic blankets and Scotch eggs.

Finally they left. And if there was a strangely ceremonial feel to the post-match perhaps it was because there was a strangely ceremonial feel to the match itself: more event than genuine contest, even as Switzerland held out for more than an hour, counted their blessings, fleetingly hoped. But there was always too much time on the clock. There were always Athenea del Castillo and Salma Paralluelo and Vicky López to come on. There was always one more attack to weather, one more shot to block, one more ricochet that had to bounce just right.

Continue reading...

England’s defensive problems go deeper than Carter – and must be fixed fast | Jonathan Liew

Centre-back’s ordeal against Sweden was damaging but sketchy press and midfield failings need to be addressed before Italy semi-final

Jess Carter glumly accepted her warm-down top, the pallid commiserations of Arjan Veurink and a seat on the England bench. In truth she had been fortunate to see 70 minutes of this quarter-final, and for all the nightmarish apparitions of the first half perhaps the last few minutes were the loneliest of all. Marooned at the back, 30 yards behind the rest of the team while England forced set pieces and pushed for a route back into the game: a last line of defence that had proved to be very little defence at all.

Esme Morgan would replace her to add some extra heft and the entire system would need to be rejigged to a back three. Carter would watch the excruciating last hour from a seated position, reflecting bleakly on the sort of performance that scars international careers, perhaps even defines them. “You’re feeling nothing and everything at the same time,” she said afterwards. “It’s a turbulent experience. I feel like it’s the first time I’ve smiled since the game.”

Continue reading...

Women’s Euro 2025: England’s wild win and countdown to Spain v Switzerland – as it happened

Thousands of Switzerland fans arrived in Bern for the nation’s Euro 2025 quarter-final clash with Spain

Anil Patel has messaged in from Zurich after watching the match at Stadion Letzigrund last night:

“I was at Stadion Letzigrund last night and at half time was wondering whether to sell my tickets for the semi-final in Geneva. I also thought to myself that I’d take extra time and the lottery of penalties at that point. The glory of football, the reason it’s the best sport, is that sometimes it’s about skill, tactics and professionalism, and sometimes it’s just pure chaos.”

Continue reading...

WFW: England victorious after shootout chaos and Italy stun Norway – Football Weekly

Faye Carruthers is joined by Tom Garry, Marva Kreel and Jonathan Liew to relive England’s dramatic shootout win and Italy’s late heroics

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

On the podcast today: England reach the Euro 2025 semi-finals after an astonishing 3-2 penalty shootout win over Sweden in Zurich. The panel discusses the game in detail, from Sarina Wiegman’s super subs and Michelle Agyemang’s breakout moment to secret notes, Hannah Hampton’s heroics, and Lucy Bronze’s nerveless strike. They also weigh up the Lionesses’ chances against their semi-final opponents, Italy.

Continue reading...

England victorious after shootout chaos and Italy stun Norway – Women’s Football Weekly

Faye Carruthers is joined by Tom Garry, Marva Kreel and Jonathan Liew to relive England’s dramatic win on penalties and Italy’s late heroics

On the podcast today: England reach the Euro 2025 semi-finals after an astonishing 3-2 penalty shootout win over Sweden in Zurich. The panel discusses the game in detail, from Sarina Wiegman’s super subs and Michelle Agyemang’s breakout moment to secret notes, Hannah Hampton’s heroics, and Lucy Bronze’s nerveless strike. They also weigh up the Lionesses’ chances against their semi-final opponents, Italy.

Elsewhere, Italy knocked out Norway with a dramatic Cristiana Girelli double, including a 90th-minute winner, to make their first Euros semi-final in 28 years. The panel asks what went wrong for Norway, and where do they go from here, and from those celebrations, are Italy getting ahead of themselves?

Continue reading...

Women’s Euro 2025: England’s wild win and countdown to Spain v Switzerland – live

Big match buildup, team news and previews

Why not email Emillia with your thoughts

Anil Patel has messaged in from Zurich after watching the match at Stadion Letzigrund last night:

“I was at Stadion Letzigrund last night and at half time was wondering whether to sell my tickets for the semi-final in Geneva. I also thought to myself that I’d take extra time and the lottery of penalties at that point. The glory of football, the reason it’s the best sport, is that sometimes it’s about skill, tactics and professionalism, and sometimes it’s just pure chaos.”

Continue reading...

England go from shambles to euphoria as self-belief somehow sees off Sweden | Jonathan Liew

The holders stubbornly refused to relinquish their European crown with a hugely flawed yet gloriously chaotic quarter-final triumph

The Letzigrund looks gorgeous under a pale pastel evening sun. The noise washes over the athletic track where Carl Lewis and Asafa Powell once broke the world record, and where Sweden are now flying out of the blocks and leaving England trailing in their dust.

We do not yet know that in many ways this is simply the prologue, that this devastating early two-goal flurry is actually relatively benign in comparison with the carnage that will follow.

Continue reading...

Women’s Euro 2025: Sweden v England buildup and the latest news – as it happened

Fans arrived in Zurich as Sweden prepared to face England in the Euro 2025 quarter-finals

England stars Chloe Kelly and Leah Williamson previewed tonight’s meeting with Sweden earlier this week.

Kelly said: “They are a team we definitely respect as England. They are maybe a team that does go under the radar but the consistency they have shown is impressive. They have so much talent. We have done our homework.”

Continue reading...