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Euro 2016 is well underway and as I expected no one has jumped out of the blocks and grabbed the tournament by the throat. No side has sent a warning to the rest as the team to beat.
Pre-tournament favourites Germany laboured to a draw against a spirited Poland.
The likes of England, Spain and France have all recorded positive results but have not stamped their authority with dominant performances.
It’s hard to read the tournament thus far, the beautiful thing about knock-out football is that anything can happen, and being a favourite means little.
England has all but booked it’s place in the next round with a good come back against a dangerous Gareth Bale, or should I say Wales.
What strikes me about this English squad is that they are the type of team to grind out results which is often the recipe to success in a tournament. They have many impact players with a solid all-round squad. They might not play pretty football and will often leave it late, but they could steal several important games and go far into the tournament.
Germany, similar to England, hasn’t astounded the world like they did in Brazil. However, their ability to get results even when they aren’t playing well is a true testament of a champion team.
Germany has struggled without a world-class striker, someone to poach them a goal when they can’t one, their reliance on Muller in that position could prove costly. In saying that, they’re a team that will stand up in the later stages of the tournament, expect Germany to turn it on when it counts.
Moreover, a large portion of their squad plays for Bayern which always an advantage – just ask Spain whose team is basically Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Spain’s 1-0 win over the Czech Republic was an important win over a solid Czech side. Spain created a lot of excellent chances, while limiting the Czechs to only two genuine opportunities.
The experience of being the defending champions could prove invaluable and serve as the catalyst of a three-peat. Spain take my fancy at the moment as being the favourites. They’ve got a complete team combined with experience, it’s a combination that no other team has, not even Germany.
France have the 12th man being at home, however, were fortunate to get three points against my Romania.
Make no mistake, France have the ability to win the tournament and with the crowd could go very deep, however their lack of experience could either be a catalyst for a fearless brand of football or their stumbling block against a Germany or Spain.
I have two dark horses, the first being Italy. It is weird calling Italy a dark horse, nevertheless, they were written off at the start of the tournament.
Italy, however, posses arguably the best defence in the Euros and could pull off an Atletico Madrid.
They are also helped by the Juventus link, with the core of their team being comprised from Juventus. Beating Belgium was merely the beginning for the Azzurri. Belgium were touted as pre-tournament dark-horses but have proven that the young Belgian side might struggle on the big stage.
The second is not a standard dark horse – it is Russia. They pushed England and were very unlucky to lose to Slovakia. Watching their defence work in tandem and catch Slovakia with their offside trap several times showed me that they are well disciplined and trained.
It will difficult to get out of their group, however, should somehow progress they could knock off a big team. I don’t think they’ll win the tournament or even potentially make it far, but if they get out of their group, they could be a dangerous team to come up against.
Croatia and Belgium are the last two teams who have a genuine chance to reach the semi-finals.
Croatia have a great team with stars scattered around the park, lead by none other than Luka Modric in the middle and Mario Mandzukic up front.
They could steal a win from a big nation, but a lot would need to go right for Croatia to reach the pinnacle of the tournament.
Belgium are ‘stacked’ with stars and young prodigies, however, their biggest weakness is a lack of experience.
Moreover, the Belgium team is comprised players from many different clubs and styles of play, talent can shine through but team cohesion can often be lacking from a team like Belgium.
In an international setting having players who are used to playing with each other or playing a certain style is almost more important than having a team full of stars.
They may prove me wrong with youthful fearlessness, however, I can’t see them challenging for the prize this year, come Euro 2020 they might just come close to being pre-tournament favourites.
Jimmy’s predictions
Favourites: Spain
Dark-horse: Italy
Who I want to win: Romania
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