Tim’s SoS
I’m a happy man.
This has been a fantastic tournament so far, goals in every game and teams playing for wins. Three hours of football, plus punditry , on my TV every night - I’m sure you’ll agree it’s pure heaven. Though, I’m not sure about ITV’s “Peter and The Wolf” theme music.
So far ITV have offered up my favourite pundit pairing when they put Roy Keane with his old nemesis Patrick Viera - most entertaining. The funny thing is I’m not sure Roy has let that rivalry go…
The BBC have also come up trumps signing Harry Redknapp, the man everyone thought would be England’s manager. He’s put the pressure on Roy Hodgson and The FA by saying he would have taken the job and we’re a decent team who should do well. He could be right.
Sadly there are England fans out there who can see no good in anything we do, but I was pleasantly surprised by the 90 minute shift we put in against France.
Firstly, I liked Roy’s team selection. Prior to the tournament I hoped he would pick Oxlade-Chamberlain: “The Ox”. He duly obliged putting the exciting young player straight into the starting 11. I actually thought Roy selected a nice balance of experience and youth.
However, what impressed me most was the confidence of the players. During the last World Cup in South Africa under Capello, there was so much anticipation. When the England team turned up they looked lost and completely devoid of confidence.
Roy picked a ‘team’, they were well organised and they looked like they all knew what they were doing. They weren’t afraid to take players on and try and keep possession. The only downside was the last 15 minutes where we ran out of steam and it was a bit “backs against the wall”. Hopefully as the tournament progresses our stamina will grow.
We have a great point against France, so now we need to be more ambitious and go for a win against Sweden. Never underestimate the oppo, but we should be able to beat Sweden, so: attack, attack, attack!
It’s always good to have some upsets in a competition. Sadly the biggest so far were my favourites for the tournament, the Netherlands, rendering me a useless pundit! They lost to Denmark in their first game and to Germany on Wednesday night. Would anyone mind if I change my tournament champions prediction?
So far my prediction percentage rate is 50% which is not too bad.
Below are the other matches I’m going to watch with my predictions alongside them. There are lots of ‘ifs and buts’ rolling around in my mind, but here goes:
Fri 15th Jun Ukraine v France 17:00 ITV1 / ITV1 HD - France
Fri 15th Jun Sweden v England 19:45 BBC1 / BBC1 HD -England
Sat 16th Jun Czech Republic v Poland 19:45 BBC1 / BBC1 HD - Poland
Sat 16th Jun Greece v Russia 19:45 BBC HD / BBC3 - Russia
Sun 17th Jun Denmark v Germany 19:45 ITV4 / ITV4 HD - Germany
Sun 17th Jun Portugal v Netherlands 19:45 ITV1 / ITV1 HD - Holland
Mon 18th Jun Croatia v Spain 19:45 BBC HD / BBC3 - Spain
Mon 18th Jun Italy v Republic of Ireland 19:45 BBC1 / BBC1 HD - Italy
Tue 19th Jun England v Ukraine 19:45 ITV1 / ITV1 HD -Draw
Tue 19th Jun Sweden v France 19:45 ITV4 / ITV4 HD - France
Thu 21st Jun Winner Group A v Runner Up Group B UEFA Euro 2012 Quarter Final 19:45 TBC
What do you think of my predictions?
I’ll be back next week
Tim
