England's Euro 2012 Campaign Review

KIEV, UKRAINE – JUNE 24: Alessandro Diamanti of Italy celebrates scoring the winning penalty during the UEFA EURO 2012 quarter final match between England and Italy at The Olympic Stadium on June 24, 2012 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

England’s Euro 2012 campaign ended in all too familiar fashion – defeat in a penalty shootout. But personally, this wasn’t nearly as painful to watch as the crushing blows that were the defeats to Portugal in the noughties. We had been outplayed throughout the entire game and it would have been complete and utter robbery had we won that match. Plus, had we somehow progressed to the semi finals, we would have to face Germany and seeing how imperious they have looked so far, it would have been difficult for an England fan to watch as our oldest rivals walked all over us. It was hard enough in 2010.

But this tournament has been no means a disaster, far from it. There are a lot of positives to take back to Heathrow but some issues to address at the same time. So here’s the best and the worst from England’s Euro 2012 campaign. The positives come first.

1. England’s defence is one of the best:

The one thing everyone knew going into the tournament was that Roy Hodgson’s England were going to be organised – to what extent remained a mystery. Apart from two lapses in concentration against Sweden, some of the defending in this tournament has been exceptional. John Terry was probably England’s player of the tournament – which was mainly down to the game against Italy – and Glen Johnson proved a lot of people wrong with some great positioning and last-gasp defending.

2. Young Strikers showing their class:

Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll deputised brilliantly for Wayne Rooney during his suspension and now should be part of the England setup for a long time. They are still raw and still need to improve, but Welbeck can forge a great partnership with Rooney at Old Trafford and hopefully carry their club form into the national side.

Roy’s boys won a lot of plaudits during the tournament

3. The Manager

Who’s asking for Redknapp now? Hodgson has answered every challenge that has been presented to him. He dealt very well with questions from the media regarding Ferdinand’s omission, managed to simultaneously keep fans’ expectations low and make them hope that the impossible could happen. His tactics and substitutions were excellent – epitomised by Walcott’s dramatic impact coming off the bench – and crucially, he has made both the old guard and the new starlets believe in his methods, which bodes very well for the next four years.

And now let’s look at the things to work on.

1. Possession, Possession, Possession

For all of England’s organisation, the bare stats do not lie. Against the two ‘superior’ sides we faced – Italy and France – we had an average of 38% possession and that isn’t good enough for a top 10 side. How many times did we have a promising attack building up, only to try the Hollywood ball and gift it to the opposition? Scott Parker in particular is fantastic at what he does but he was the chief culprit in giving the ball away in the final third all too often. Hopefully, Jack Wilshere can help solve this problem, and while an on-form Rooney is also of the best passers in the side, don’t expect miracles come the start of the season.

2. Wing Play

Of the entire England squad, only two players under-performed: James Milner and Ashley Young. Young in particular had a very disappointing tournament after playing so well in the warm-up games against Belgium and Norway. Here he gave the ball away too often – as did most England players to be honest – but his dribbling led him into cul de sacs and at times, he had to resort to his unpleasant party trick – simulation – to get out of trouble.

Milner had to track back a lot during the tournament but on the occasions he did get forward, he flattered to deceive. He was given a lesson in crossing by Gerrard and Walcott’s magnificent impact performance against Sweden showed that although he is one of the most dependable players in the squad, he lacks that X-Factor ability which you need to be a regular starter at this level. With Johnson looking a little more assured at the back – Walcott might be back in with a shout at starting – and on the left, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain showed that he has the ability to be a star. If Young wants to keep his place in the starting XI for England, he needs to up his game.

3. The Manager

It might sound strange to put the manager on both lists despite a successful tournament, but hear me out. Although the 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 worked well in this tournament, if ever there was a time when England found themselves two goals behind in the opening 20 minutes, I’m not certain Hodgson would want to change formation and he would just hope that the players could find a way through and rely on substitutions. The same tactical stubbornness brought down Capello in 2010 and I just hope the same doesn’t happen to Roy.

Personally, I would like Wilshere to come back into the side and play a little deeper than Gerrard, or whoever the attacking midfielder is, much like Pirlo did in yesterday’s game but I am not convinced as to whether it will happen. I’m sure, that in time, Hodgson will find new ways to improve the attacking game of England as he focused on the defence during the brief time he’s been in charge, but can you see Hodgson playing a 4-3-3?

But let’s not focus on the negatives. England have exceeded expectations for once, and even though we lost on penalties (again), there is much cause for optimism going into the next major tournament.

And that has not happened for almost a decade.