Thetownend.com

This morning I've hoovered and done a bunch of jobs around the house I've been putting off.

Now for the first cider of the day with lunch.

Come on England. God knows we could all do with a lift.

https://mobile.twitter.com/england/status/1404040020034527241/photo/1 (https://mobile.twitter.com/england/status/1404040020034527241/photo/1)

Team as per leaks. A few odd choices but it's a good team. For me, selection is the most overrated part of football - a well organised side beats a talented one with no structure every time.

Looks to me like a team designed to control possession and play a fairly low tempo - probably wise considering the season most of these players have had, as much as we'd all love to see a vibrant attacking side.

Incredible bench options.

England 2 Croatia 1
Austria 2 North Macedonia 0
The eternally overrated Netherland 2 Ukraine 1

Decent first half I think. Oddly given the team selection we've looked much better down the left, Trippier, Sterling, Phillips and Mings all done well. Foden had a few nice touches but Walker behind him not looking great so far.

Need to get the right hand side firing, but we have a lot more on the bench. We're controlling this.

started well, but faded. Croatia are too good to dominate for 90.

don't know much about Phillips, but he looks good

Yep, important to realise Croatia are a decent side. This isn't a game against a minnow at all. We've been more comfortable in possession than England have been in the past, just need to get a breakthrough. Italy game was the same though, lots of control of the game before the goals came.

Phillips, had a great season at Leeds (which was why I was surprised Bamford missed out).

Only weak point for England really... Walker, he's playing pretty gash and compared to the rest of the squad he didn't appear to have the same energy levels. On a different page to the rest of the squad. Kane not quite in it too and not pressing as much as Foden, Stirling, Phillips etc. But with Kane you know he'll get in the right place at the right time.

Impressed by England. Not too dissimilar to Italy in the sense of a constant high press. Yet England are arguably playing against tougher openents so it might take a little longer to get the goal. Foden - an inch to the right of the post and that pings in off.

I'd pull Walker, shift Trippier to his usual RB and bring on Chilwell.

Looks like a goal will come in time for England. Plenty of quality on the bench. Don't let Croatia play and it should be a win for England. Foden or Stirling goal on around 70mins.

Gotta say, the controversial picks are all doing well so far. I wouldn't have gone with Sterling, Phillips, Trippier or Mings...

Tripper would be more effective on the right!

Croatia haven’t really threatened.

Very professional job done that. Toughest game in the group and we've won without much of a threat. Excellent performances from Phillips and Sterling and everyone pretty solid. Nice cameo from Bellingham at the end. No injuries, just the one (?) yelllow. Job done.

Happy with that. Did fuck all attacking wise after the goal but managed the game very well. Good start

I reckon we could have stepped up the pace a tad. We'll be seeing more when they get into their rhythm.

Absolutely. Did the necessary, no more no less

As above but not so sure Croatia are as good as everyone predicting and had nothing up front so Mings & Stones weren't really tested

Agreed, but absolutely sensible to preserve energy in the group stage.

As above but not so sure Croatia are as good as everyone were predicting and had nothing up front so Mings & Stones weren't really teste

Asinine we didn’t sign Mings.
He was only down the road in Chippenham

happy with that.

Mings played well

Philips motm

Kane was crap today but hey ho

James constable Malmesbury

nevertheless we have won our first game in the Euros in what seems like ages. Enjoy

To be fair he did and seemed more commanding than Stones

Ever.

Yeah Mings playing at Euros is comparable with Constable playing in L2.

It was good to get a win against what was on paper our toughest game but I’d be amazed if that turns out to be our toughest group game.

Croatia never threatened and we didn’t really do enough in the attacking third. I’m gonna put that down to the fact we were 1-0 and didn’t need to do anymore. You have to hope there is another couple of gears in this side.

We’ll have a tougher game against the Scots than we had today

Yep. Sure it was something like:

W D L
0  5  4

or

W D L
0  4  5

10th time lucky but lots of draws there though, so definitely at least one win before today (if your name is Luke)  ;)

Didn't realise the record was that bad :(. On to Austria v North Macedonia now - need to slow the beer consumption considerably if I want to be awake by the end of the third game

I'd say there definitely is a 3rd & 4th gear in that team. England were more akin to a tap today and mostly had control of the flow. For the first 20mins they were 2nd gear, then dropped it to 1st. Croatia obviously grew into the match but quite possible that England knew that Croatia didn't offer much threat. When they needed to turn the "tap" on, they definitely did.

Not getting carried away but if people were impressed with Italy (I was) beating arguably easier opposition then I'm impressed with England today. When you look at opportunities...Foden, Mount & Kane could all have got on the sheet today too. Foden by about an inch, Mount by a bit more dip, Kane by being a little more sharp at the back post (defender did well though).

Did enough today, more to come and they'll ramp it up v Scotland I'm sure. That match will take us all back to '96 again hopefully. Wembley crowd were a bit flat at times so expect more of an atmosphere v the Jocks. Tasty!

You missed my point as I was highlighting another local player that we missed out on

Just let us all know you're still awake at around 10pm Crackity!

I see ITV Sport have appointed Buzz Killington AKA Nigel No Friends as their "Technical Referee Expert".

Austria v Franchise (MKD as ITV put it) is quite an interesting match for the neutral. Level is played a bit like one of those early kick off Conference matches you see on BT Sport.

Arnautović is somewhat mad

Very watchable game in Amsterdam.

Good game but lack of individual flair players in the tournament so far

definitely. Holland have had the best chances, but Ukraine certainly look dangerous too.

quite open

Holland lack a decent striker

Holland shaded the first half I think. The Ukraine keeper has made a couple of really good saves to keep it nil-nil. Ukraine have had their moments though

Hell of a finish from the Ukrainians, 2-1 game on

what, another one 2-2

What's going on😀

3-2 to the hollandish

What was the goalie doing  :eek:

Kovaring his far post

 :clap: :pint: :clap:

:clap:

nice

Good start for one of my sweepstake teams. Netherlands are going to be fun, for sure!

That was lots of fun.

So far so good with the Euros, don't think there has been a poor game so far and really enjoyed both the Netherlands and the Austria games.

It may be just me but I think the standard of the refereeing has been very high so far and there has been little intervention by VAR as well, long may it last!

Not just you. The games have flowed so much better for free kicks not being giving for a blade of grass brushing an appointments leg and sending them tumbling

It just goes to show that how the Premier league handles VAR is a shambles.  The World cup in 2018 and so far this Euro Championships have handled VAR in the correct way and not ruining the eperience of actually watching a match.

Premier League and FA should take note.

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

whilst the centre back is curran the late run of the centre forward.

I reckon those two might find their level in the same team again one day.

Good work, sir!