England go Bonkers for Bellingham
Morning! It's June 17th, and today we're digging into the English press reaction to Jude's MotM performance, as well as Ronald Koeman's 'inspirational' substitution. Enjoy!
Jude Bellingham was very good indeed for England, in the first half of their 1-0 win against Serbia. Which, of course, was no surprise for anyone who has watched him play for Real Madrid this season of course. The lad is a special talent (and yes, incredibly mature for his age) and England were playing a rather mediocre Serbian team.
Perhaps it was because the second half was such a dull exhibition of Southgateball and there really wasn’t much in the way of excitement or controversy, but the English press has gone, well, slightly over the top in their praise of the midfielder.
We have ‘better than Gazza’ from Barney Ronay in the Guardian: We remember Paul Gascoigne, who also had everything but was barely in control of his own energies, whereas Bellingham seems to have been born already processing his route to greatness.
James Oiley at ESPN says “comparisons like this are palpably premature given the formative nature of these finals, but there were shades of Wayne Rooney in 2004” Bellingham shows he can bend Euro 2024 to his will.
“He knows what he is, and what he can be, too. Certainly he could be the player, the face, of this tournament.” says Martin Samuel in The Times ($).
The Times also has a nice piece with various people who have known Bellingham since he was a kid.
If it was a contest to see who could go the most overboard in their praise of Bellingham though, then Piers Morgan in The Sun is the clear winner:
Bellingham is a stunning hybrid version of some of the greatest to ever pull on an England shirt.
He’s Duncan Edwards with a dash of Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, David Beckham, Paul Gascoigne, Brian Robson, Paul Scholes, Glenn Hoddle, Gary Lineker and Wayne Rooney.
And there was us thinking that headed goal was pure Paul Mariner…..
Oh, and he’s even got a bit of Vinnie Jones in him.
Meanwhile Erik ten Hag is doing punditry duties in Holland and provided his views on Southgate and England’s very familiar retreat in the second half. (Daily Mail)
“England were playing very passive. I actually saw them moving backwards, they kept Serbia coming at them. It's the vision of the manager. England will take a 1-0 lead, then he decides to start gambling with making his team compact and relying on moments for the remaining minutes of the game.”
Yep.
The Athletic takes a good look at what actually went on with the guy with the hammer and molotov cocktail in Hamburg. All very weird.
Thankfully it wasn’t a repeat of this incident in Magdeburg on Saturday where an Afghan attacked a Euros garden party, killing one before he was eliminated by the German police.
Other EURO 2024 News
We’re not sure if allowing Joe öffentlich the opportunity to slip straight through Manuel Neuer on the Munich subway is sending the right message…
At 1-1 against Poland, and with ten minutes to go, Dutch fans were looking for Ronald Koeman to do something, anything….
And after a little root he came up with Wout, perennial Burnley loanee, and major championship talisman for the Netherlands, scoring with his first touch on 83 mins:
“He has value to the team,” Koeman said. “He has a different way of behaving, which is great. It was what we needed.” He was “a little bit upset” not to start, according to Koeman, but said afterwards he was “so happy, it's indescribable”. (Independent)
Where to Watch
Check out the UEFA page for the broadcast schedules of every country.
Stat(s) of the Day
There were just 11 shots between Serbia (6) and England (5), the lowest of any game at the EUROs on record (since 1980). (@OptaJean)
Mmmmmbappe?
In Other Soccer News
COPA AMERICA: 20 questions you didn’t know you needed answering about USMNT. (Henry Bushnell, Y!Sports)
EVERTON: Friedkin Group, the American owners of AS Roma, are reported to have bought a 94% stake in the blue half of Merseyside for €650 million plus their debts of €400 million. Sounds like a bargain! (Romapress.net)
The Daily Soccer Quote of the Day
"The memes? Of course one or two get to me, I usually have a laugh about it. I was born this way, I have this body shape, I’m not saying that I was this big when I was born, but I have a basic, physique, genetics, I can’t change that.”
- Martin Adam - Hungary’s ‘Big No. 9’ and proverbial '“tégla szarháza”
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