England escape at the last and Spain book Germany clash – Football Daily

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Bly me, long throw, flick on, and then Jude Bellingham's overhead kick.

And then Harry Kane in in the right place, scoring another crucial goal to help England into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.

Until the 95th minute, they were two of England's worst players in a very crowded field.

It was a terrible performance.

Garris Southgate, often criticised for poor in-game management, decided on no in-game management instead for quite a lot of this.

Heartbreak for Slovakia and England find themselves in a quarter-final against Switzerland, who are definitely the form side, but you would have taken it at the start.

of the tournament and then Spain get a little fright from the brilliantly entertaining Georgia.

The game so wildly different to what came before, but in the end, Rodri, Yamal, Williams and Co.

were just too good.

We'll look ahead briefly to Monday's game.

Some of you have been struck by lightning, and we hear from a distant relative of a midfielder who could have been the solution to England's left-sided problems in the 90s.

All that plus your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, John Bruin, welcome.

Hello.

Commiserations, Barry Glendenning.

Hello.

Hello, Dan Bardell.

Hello.

We're recording this after full-time in the Spain game, but I caught up with Barney Ronay at full-time in the England game, and here's our chat.

Let's bring in Barney Ronay.

Barney, game finished about 10 minutes ago.

What did you make of that?

Well, it was all...

It was all as planned, wasn't it, Max, really, in the end?

I mean, it's just...

It's almost...

It's really hard to express how extraordinary that moment really was.

There's so many superlatives in sport and the kind of fawning over Bellingham, I've got to admit, has been kind of annoying at times.

He's a really good player, but he's also banging the crosshairs of kind of celebrity and fame, and looking great, and being so incredibly confident, blah blah blah.

But what happened there was just extraordinary.

I mean, nobody practices overhead kicks.

Like, that's not something you do.

It's 94 minutes into the game.

The entire era is collapsing in front of you.

And it was just a beautiful move.

It was three perfect touches: the long throw, the flick-on, and then the completely mental overhead-flying volley.

It was from the Don Howe playbook.

You know, I saw ghosts of Don in Pork Pie Hat.

It was a very English goal.

I'm really delighted for Mark Gahee, who's just the loveliest man.

Like, he flicked the ball on.

He's in that moment forever.

And we will never hear the end of it.

He'll be recreating it in a bleach advert 50 years from now

because that's just what he's going to be.

It was incredible.

And I think maybe it might kind of,

you know,

just shoot a bullet through the whole thing.

I mean, who knows?

It was so miserable till then.

It was so weird.

It was like they'd taken the brown acid.

You know, everybody looked confused.

Everybody looked bad.

Everyone looked unhappy.

It was just, you know, you can imagine the first edition write-ups that have been junked now.

Because it was the whole thing, you know, it was the circularity of Iceland.

It was the misery, the blue shirts, they were even doing that who chant.

And it was the whole message seemed to be: you cannot escape from the island.

The island is you.

This is England.

And you run and you run and you run, and you just end up against Iceland in 2016 again.

And then an extraordinary bloke did a thing that is so random.

What are the chances of that happening?

And it's all just fine.

Yeah.

And an extraordinary bloke who

absolutely had a terrible game, really?

Yeah, I mean, there seemed to be something wrong with his arms at various points because they could only make annoyed shrugging gestures.

They seem to be stuck in that position.

I wonder if he needed a massage or something to ease them up.

I mean, he's clearly not as good as he thinks he is, but that's not a criticism.

Nobody in the history of football has ever been as good as Jude Bellingham thinks Jude Bellingham is, and you have to aim high.

But what he did there is absolutely extraordinary, and you know, hats off to the young lad it's amazing I leapt out of my seat I was sitting next to Johnny and we were both up making noises and doing weird things and I'm a jaded old foul hack you know but I I made strange sounds and leapt and yeah it was incredible

I mean it was did you find it extraordinary that Southgate and we'll get into this with the panel didn't make any change at halftime and then only made what one by about the 80th minute I just couldn't I was sitting there going I can't believe this well I can believe it because it's a trope isn't it?

It's the kind of you got us into this, you get us out sort of macho kind of

inaction.

So I could understand it and I think he gave them what 15 minutes to be 10 minutes.

That's his thing.

He is totally static and maybe you just stick with what you are.

But I mean, I don't know why they were so terrible in the first half.

There is just something wrong with that group of players.

Everything is this doom spiral of fear and misplaced passes.

Technique falls apart everything falls apart and yeah it looked worse than anything we'd seen they were dreadful um and then they and then they weren't yeah it felt well it felt as bad as Iceland like I was sort of sitting there going this is as bad I was watching going this is as bad and also Harry Kane right who because I wondered I sent this tweet which is really doing the numbers now going you wondered if Southgate would be brave enough to take off Bellingham and Kane yeah and he isn't and it's a great shame and like Kane as well really does not look on it at all and yet he scores the winner I I mean, maybe Southgate is right.

I don't think he is still.

No, I mean, you can just happen to be standing in the right place.

Maybe you could say that's his striking instinct.

But...

He had another poor game.

He doesn't look mobile, doesn't look happy.

I do think that with him, that can change.

I mean, he is an incredible player because his whole career is basically an act of will, isn't it?

It's not some incredible, over-the-top talent that must be expressed.

And so you kind of feel that he has the brain and the will to rescue that.

I mean, he scored twice at this tournament, they've scored whatever four goals to them from him.

He can get better, they've got five days now, a quarter-final against Switzerland in Dusseldorf, which is a hell of a town, let me tell you.

And I don't see any reason why we keep saying it's going to click.

I keep thinking it's going to click, and within 20 seconds of this, it was just like it's not clicked.

There's no click.

It's clicked.

If anything, it's clicked the other way, Max.

Yeah, they've clicked too early.

But there was no click.

The clicking didn't happen.

But they can still click.

I do think it's more than clicking.

Obviously, Southgate needs to stop playing two people in central midfield and three people at number 10.

I mean,

it's insane.

I mean, what's he doing?

I generally trust managers and think they see things we don't see.

They see training.

They know what they're doing.

Sometimes you do have to rub your eyes a bit and say, how is this still happening?

Yeah.

I wonder, do you think this could be the tournament that goes in off our ass?

You know, we could be just shy for all of it.

No, it's not Portugal 2016.

No, I don't think so.

I see something's got to happen.

We haven't played a good team yet.

It's a first good team you play kind of tournament again.

Maybe they should sack Southgate now.

I mean, has he done anything to say I shouldn't be sacked in the last 120 minutes?

Not really.

I mean, someone does an overhead kick, and that means you don't get sacked.

What does that mean?

How is that a logical sport?

But they probably, I say they probably won't sack him but it is an ex I mean they do can England beat Switzerland yes can can they beat the Netherlands probably 60-40 maybe 40-60 something like that They will have to play someone good in the end though and I think the weaknesses in that team the spaces are too big everything's wrong and they will be picked they could just be getting deep enough into the tournament to lose 6-0 to someone you know I mean

there's so much that's systematically wrong with the team an overhead kick kick does not a summer make.

No.

But it was.

Was it Watford who got done 6-0 by Man City in the FA Cup final?

Something like that.

Yes.

Could be that, the end of football.

Yeah, or

Brazil against Germany in 2014.

We could be heading for

one of those kind of moments because

they're terrible.

What are they doing still in the tournament?

It's ridiculous.

It is.

Anyway, thanks, Barney.

Have a lovely evening.

You too.

And roll on Gareth.

So that was Barney.

Fraser says, is this the best, worst game of football ever?

Tom says, you've got to feel for Barry, haven't you, Barry?

And Mark says, how close to popping the champagne had Barry got before Bellingham's goal?

Did he have it out of the fridge and glass on the table ready?

No, I didn't.

I don't drink champagne.

It gives me a tump and headache.

It makes me feel ill.

But

yeah,

I said in the WhatsApp group when the Zoom link was sent, I don't think I can do this because tonight's just been

a double dagger to the heart for me.

And

I don't know when I've last been this upset.

I'm honestly not joking.

I have a bets in the family that didn't upset me as much as tonight's football matches.

I suppose we'll start, Dan, with that dude Bellingham goal because it is one of those unforgettable England moments.

Sorry, just one second before we go to Dan, can can I just say that

your interview with Barney, it should have been accompanied by beeping noises to signal the way he's reversing into his big reverse maneuver into

sort of finally admitting that Gareth South Kate is shy.

Well, it's only fair that the two of you have this out together when you're on together, I would say.

Right.

We'll get to England's performance.

But Dan, firstly, the dude Bellingham overhead kick it is it is an incredible moment.

Yeah, look it it's one of those moments that it wherever you are sat I mean Garris Harcat did a lot of weird sofa analogies after the game but I did jump up off my sofa when when Jude Bellingham scored that goal but before that it I mean I spent I was at a wedding all day yesterday and I woke up this morning not feeling very well and the first thing I did this morning was pretty much throw up into a bush and that was probably going to be the second worst thing that happened to me after doing a a podcast with Barry Glendenning so I was you know the concern going into our record earlier was was obviously very very high but what he's a phenomenal player is that we we haven't seen anywhere near what Jude Bellingham can do in this tournament so far just like anyone else that you could name in in this England squad but to do what he did in the in the 94th 95th minute to claw England back up I have a feeling that it might be a temporary stay of execution he's just delaying the inevitable because we are hopeless But

what a magical moment.

What a goal.

And, you know, I'm sure we're going to talk about mouthing off and people saying stuff afterwards, but him to kind of stand there and say, who else

whilst he's celebrating?

You know, he's got some confidence, hasn't he?

He has.

And, like I say, we'll get to the performance.

And then, actually, John, it's great you're here because, as Paul says, given both goals came from the getting it in the mixer, we're England wrong to sack Big Sam after all.

Would we be sailing through?

The other one is, you know, launch it to Tony, flick on Harry Kane, who did similarly little in this football match, scores the winner.

I mean, I just don't know why people don't listen to me more often.

It's not.

We're England.

I've just watched Spain zip it around nicely in the fashion we'd really like to.

We're fooling ourselves, aren't we?

Get it in the mixer, get the knockdown.

I mean, listen, Slavaki were actually a team that were quite suited to dealing with the ball in the mixer.

The mixer wasn't actually producing much, but they were worn down eventually, weren't they?

Let's pay credit to Mark Gway's flick from the throw.

Absolutely magnificent.

And Ivan Toney, a substitution brought on with a minute to play of 97 minutes or whatever it was.

The whole nation going, what is this?

You know, you're actually at this point, you're seeing Ivan Tony's entire England career.

Just that's going to be it, isn't he?

He's like the Alan Smith on for Lineker back in Euro 92.

And then he comes on and he does a flick.

And

Harry Kane scores from that.

So,

yes, get it in the mixer.

Let's not mess around with having Twinkletoed midfielders.

Their job is to get it in there.

Hit Les.

Graham.

Do you know what, right?

During this game,

one of the I got quite nervous about it.

One of the things I did was I've read the obituary of Graham Taylor.

But just to remember, you know, one of the.

It's a strange place to go during the football match.

Well, just I just sort of

I've always really liked Graeme Taylor.

And, you know, I thought he was a wonderful man given a really harsh treatment.

And, you know, I thought the way

the nation's mood was going was to war that Gareth Southgate would become a Graeme Taylor figure, and that was.

But I just thought, you know, let's remember actually that, you know, at the end of it all, Graham Taylor is really well regarded.

And that's probably how we're going to think of Gareth one day because there was a spell when he didn't make a sub at halftime, I'm sure we'll get onto this, where he was the most hated man in Britain.

And this is in an election week, in which Nigel Farage is

just amazing, but he was the most hated man.

And everyone is screaming at the TV

across the country, make a substitution.

He did,

and he worked.

And the reason he worked was they got it launched.

Yeah.

At 6.27 p.m., Barry, I tweeted, Kane and Bellingham are not playing well.

It is not a crime to substitute them.

It has made it to a count called Freezing Cold Takes.

Which has hundreds of thousands of followers.

I'm getting absolutely battered.

But I sort of stand by it.

They both were playing terribly.

And I think I tweeted as well, you know, I just thought Southgate might have the bravery to take them off, and he didn't.

Am I wrong?

Like, I mean, I still sort of think he should have taken them off much, much earlier.

Once you get to the 95th minute, fair enough.

But, like,

in the 45th or the 60th minute or something, Barry, I just thought these, I mean, like, pick whoever you want, but they were contributing almost nothing.

You were right at the time,

but history will judge you harshly.

And I suspect your mentions and acts tomorrow will judge you harshly.

And if I was you, I'd just entomb my phone in concrete and throw it over Vauxhall Bridge.

But

no, I definitely...

I mean, what I love about this result

is how confused everyone is going to be for the next week.

Because England's England's next game isn't till next

Saturday, yeah, Saturday.

So, that's just

seven days of total confusion.

And we all know the performance was rubbish, but they won again.

And I'm beginning to wonder: does it matter if they play well or not?

Because clearly,

the gods are with them.

The gods are smiling on them.

Like, I find myself here tonight.

It's like you've made me watch, if I had a wife, you've made me watch two different men

who are both clearly better than me in every way make love to her.

And now you're making me sit down and talk you through it.

So, yeah, I love the fact that all these journalists will be talking about this, the phone-ins,

and, you know, you can say...

Oh, Gareth, you weren't very good.

Ah, but we won.

And, you know, Jude's already stuck it to the haters.

Yeah.

We showed you.

And I think

it wasn't a very wise thing for him to say, but he's young and impetuous and all that.

But I think my take on the game is Gareth Southgate will once again get most of the criticism.

I think he deserves plenty of criticism.

I've been saying that for years.

But the players deserve more than their fair share of it as well.

And I think they're hiding behind the fact that he's shipping it all and seems happy to take it all.

They're all good players but when things aren't going right for them on the pitch, I j I just think they're s they're too stupid to figure out how to solve the problems that are in front of them, you know, and

uh

they've got away with it so far and tonight they've got away with it by the absolute skin of their teeth and had to rely on

this last gasp moment of magic from their best player to get them out of jail, but

you know,

they were lucky.

They were very lucky.

So lucky.

I did like Noradine Chowdhury's tweet, you know, because we're talking about the players looking tired, and it's not just Bellingham, but saying Bellingham went down like a Transformer changing into a car there.

It did make me laugh.

Mate, it's hard to know.

I mean, they were down

almost to a man atrocious

today.

But Barry said earlier,

they keep winning.

It's our

second win of the tournament, isn't it?

And all the performances are starting to amalgamate into one.

I've never seen an England team, and I've seen some bad England teams, so incapable of getting a weight of pass, correct?

They smash it at each other when it should be a light, delicate pass, or vice versa.

They're getting the basics of football very, very wrong at the moment.

I do think the players are hiding behind the manager a little bit.

I will admit this, that I've always been very, very pro-Southgate.

Yeah, me too.

But I have found this tournament such a slog, such hard work.

My girlfriend's kids, I've been doing everything to try and get them into this tournament, get them into England.

Wall charts, football kits, you know, and I'm fighting against things like Fortnite on the PlayStation 5.

Tonight, I was fighting against homework and homework won.

That is how unenjoyable England are to watch at the moment.

It's amazing, John, that there were...

Well, it's not amazing, I guess.

And, you know, like Dan, I have been really supportive of Southgate.

You know, and paid for what he's done for this England team.

You know, he's got them further than almost every manager before him, like, almost.

But

how at half-time, you saw the panel on ITV all just going, this is right, this is bad.

We need to change.

And when there were no changes, I couldn't believe it.

Like, I was just going, that is insane.

Like, has he not watched what's happening here?

Well, I was beginning to suspect the malign influence of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank.

Now,

okay,

I'm someone who's works in football a long time.

I'll level with you here.

I didn't realise Jimmy was part of the England camp.

I missed this.

So suddenly, I watching the TV, and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank is stood in the tunnel, and then Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank is giving advice to Gareth Southgate on the halfway line, on the touchline, and then they don't make any subs.

I'm thinking, what is Jimmy saying to them?

And actually, it was one in a sort of Jimmy way, which is is smash it.

When in doubt, smash it.

So maybe Jim, Jim is providing advice.

But yeah, it's...

But it's him and Steve Holland and Salvador and the whole coaching staff.

How are they all

looking at that?

It's something, something, whatever's going on in that castle where they're all playing Uno into the, you know, into 5 a.m.

or whatever it is.

And what's that game called?

Is it Padel or something like that?

Some sort of...

Haddle, yeah.

Yeah, that's meant to be quite fun.

And what else are they doing?

They're playing playing a game called Wolf or something.

I can't remember.

Yeah, right.

I mean, sounds awful.

And they're having morale boosting games of darts with journalists, which I'm sure they all love.

I mean, it sounds awful.

I watched a

organised fun.

I watched, I mean,

I'll tell you another thing that I did to entertain myself through the night is I watched a documentary about a borstel in 1982, and I reckon that looked more fun than the England camp.

But

yeah,

it appears to me that this tournament, Gareth has got sick of it.

He's got sick of having to prove himself.

Because an England manager, by nature of the job, has to prove himself almost every time.

International managers have to prove themselves.

You've seen it with Didier Deschamps, a manager who has achieved so much with France.

And you've seen it

with

Germany's managers.

You know, they won stuff and then it's still like

the end comes, it happened to Alf Ramsey.

And there is a thin-skinnedness that's appeared with Southgate.

And I do think that there is an obstinacy that was part of not making any of those changes when Harry Kane is wandering around like

a three-legged donkey

on the Blackpool beach.

Rice is like a pudding.

You know, it's just all these players.

I mean, Protection Rice played a horrible role in this Slavak goal, by the way.

The slowest chasing back you've ever seen.

And he's doing nothing to change it and it just felt like all of it was irreversible damage and we were just going to have to face this Iceland situation this Sweden 92 situation you know that that that that the Algeria situation we all just have to face it as a nation and then it's turned round and I'm not even sure that Garrow Southgate can do another week of this because it's it's been

He's wearing the scars of it, isn't he?

It really seems to have got to him.

And

there's another thing out there.

No one at any point has said, this is the end of Gareth Southgate.

That's not been spoken about publicly, but it is accepted across the board.

This is it for Gareth.

And that's strange, I find.

Yeah, I mean, the thing is, it must be hard, right?

I mean, England have not been good, Dan, and we can't, we're not cheerleaders.

And, you know, we can only talk about the games that we've seen.

And apart from the first half against Serbia, they've all been bad.

But that doesn't mean it's not difficult

if you're on the end of lots of criticism.

You know, I mean,

I get my fair share of criticism.

I don't care.

But like, but like,

I think that must be a slightly difficult position to be in.

That's not justifying the criticism because it's totally justified.

Yeah.

I think it plays a part, but it's not as if the criticism is what's making them play badly.

The tactical framework to me seems to be

what is making them play badly.

And I get why they bite back but they seem a lot more tetchy in this tournament criticism has been there for for years and criticism has been there in all the other tournaments that Southgate has been manager for and the players will have faced criticism because there has been a bad game within every single tournament where the nation does launch on the players and they do launch on the managers you know that that's not not a new thing but the way in which they kind of bit back is new and there's something off with the the body language.

I'm no body language expert, but the way if someone makes a mistake, they're on each other,

having a pop at each other.

The way some of the players are moving around doesn't look right to me, throwing their hands up in the air.

And I also think there's a bit of a sense of delusion around England at the moment.

When Declan Royce hit the post, the cameras cut, there was a replay and it cut to Southgate, Jimmy Floyd, Hasselbank and Steve Holland, their reaction on the bench.

And it was a reaction of almost as if, oh, what do we have to do to catch a break here?

We're so unlucky.

We were.

We were just playing really, really badly.

And that's what we've done for the majority of the other guys in this tournament as well.

Are there any positives, John, from the performance?

I mean, okay, winning is a positive, but I'm just thinking about that's the main one.

Yeah, but that is the main one, right?

Maynou, like that we looked slightly better midfield, but defensively we didn't.

No, well,

Mainu did what Maynu does, which is he's so good at carrying the ball, he's so good at linking the play, but he provides zero cover for those behind him, and the Slovakia goal came essentially from the space that he might have been expected to cover.

I'll say this actually:

with Sladgara's substitutions, but he was finally decisive.

And then he took off all the attacking players and decided to defend the last 25 minutes against Slovakia

as if England were playing against Rivaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho

with 10 men back in the middle.

about positives, I think.

Yeah.

But I was just like to say that our brave boys defended very well against

the overpowering Slovakian geniuses.

I don't.

What are the positives we can take?

I suppose you have that idea, don't you, that in

the Steve Archibald thing of in the glimpse, in the midst of victory, some element of team ethic might appear that suddenly they'll suddenly think, hey, hey, we might be on the road to doing this.

And

even people like Anthony Gordon and Adam Wharton, remember those guys, might feel part of this.

And

there is a togetherness.

Maybe like an us against the world vibe.

Yeah,

I mean, you know, you think of certain teams that have got to finals or competition or won competitions, like certain German teams that the German team, I think it's 1982, when the German nation hated this team.

And like the Argentina team back in 1990, 1990, this sort of brute team with Maradona whinging all the way through.

Maybe that could be Jude's role.

And maybe, yeah,

that siege mentality.

I've been living in a castle, can just pull them through.

It's just like buckets of hot oil.

Yeah, boiling oil.

Build a moat.

There'll be a moat the next day.

The journalists are lobbying in dead cattle on trebuchets.

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are there with

boiling oil.

John Cross put on a catapult, flung over the castle.

I did.

Do you know what?

There was a moment, Barry, when it was going so wrong, and I thought, oh, we're done here.

I think it was early in the second half where I can't remember, maybe Jon Stones gave it away.

And then a Slovakia guy.

It's normally a good idea.

The Slovakia guy tried an F halfway line.

And I thought...

I was almost sad it didn't go in for the joy it would have given you.

I was just thinking about how happy you would have been to see Jordan Pickwood scrabbling back and having to put that one out of his list.

I'm not going to lie.

I'm on a WhatsApp group, which is basically a safe space for

myself and other like-minded individuals.

Bartha Jim, Ellis James.

Some of whom are quite high-profile.

I'm not going to name any names.

To,

you know, vent, safely vent.

It's like England Anonymous.

You know,

we sit in a metaphorical circle of chairs and what's said in the room stays in the room.

And

there is an emurta.

And suffice to say,

for

94 minutes, it was one of the most entertaining conversations I've ever been part of.

And then when Jude Bellingham scored that goal,

it was just silence.

That was it.

It was like, you only have the room for an hour.

The crochet club are in next.

Time for a game of UNO.

And then someone piped up

and said, well, see you Saturday, everyone.

But there's an Australian.

Yeah, I'm not going to say any more.

No, no.

The sanctity of the room is sacred.

No, no.

It's a safe space.

Keep it that way.

Dan, do we look ahead to next Saturday or do we just leave ourselves being confused for a bit?

Because Mark Gay, I think, is quite a big miss, actually, despite everyone playing badly.

I think that's quite a hard place to fill, maybe, concert, because of, you know, he's probably a bit quicker than Lewis Dunk.

I mean,

a tad biased me, obviously, but I would rather see Esri concer in there than Lewis Dunk.

Lewis Dunk has frightened me in every friendly that he's played for England so far.

So throwing him into the mix of quarterfinal Yeah, it'd probably be probably be okay.

Part of me thinks Southgate will just throw Dunk in because he plays left centre half and you know Concern plays right centre half so there'd probably be a reason not to play Esri Concer there.

Maybe you gave Concer some minutes in in that game so that he wasn't just thrown in and that was his his tournament debut in a in a quarter final so maybe it will be Concern but I think Gay's been okay.

You know, I think Because in a bizarre way, he's the one that everyone has the least expectations of because he's probably the last name on the team sheet.

So

he's done okay.

Therefore, everyone thinks he's doing really, really well.

But he's actually going to be, you know, I don't think he'll be a huge, huge miss that, you know, England have got other centre halves.

But

I think Switzerland are a good team.

They obviously dispatched Italy.

Last night, England haven't really played any one of any great shakes at the moment.

They've really, really struggled.

I think Switzerland, if England play like that, Switzerland will see England off relatively comfortably.

Can I ask?

I haven't played a proper football match since I was 14, I think.

Yeah, but ahead of.

Oh, man.

Well, look, that's for Christmas, Max.

That's a Christmas story.

Can I ask, well, I know you've played centre-backs, Max.

I don't know about the others, but would having,

and it was discussed on ITV's coverage, would having a goalkeeper like Jordan Pickford behind you,

I think that would really annoy me.

Just his constant shouting, his chest thumping, his

Lee Dixon was funny, wasn't he?

Lee Dixon was.

That was a funny line from Lee Dixon when he was just like, it would really get on my nerves of David Seaman.

Half the time I didn't know he was there.

I don't know, is the answer.

Actually, I think it's probably different.

And when Naeem scored that goal, Seaman wasn't there.

so so what what what i was trying that was interesting comment wasn't it is i was trying to work out that dynamic because john lukic i seem to recall before that was a bit of a shouter

so with david seaman

which was he just did they just turn around and he just do that sort of chuckle that he used to do that sort of

as the

that's all you needed from seaman like he was they called him so good it was called safe hands yeah because it was all that rivalry wasn't there it was like schmeichle did a lot of shouting and, you know, balling and his starfish famously.

And then

there's certain types of goalkeeper.

There's a very demonstrative one.

Now, I think, you know,

over the years, Jordan Pipper has never let England down.

Yeah.

I think he's been absolutely excellent for England.

For, you know, we're going back to the 2018 World Cup when he was a hero of a penalty shootout against Columbia.

And he's one of those players that is better for his country than he is for his club.

That's a rarity we know.

I just wanted to ask about left-the-left back situation.

Chippy is getting a lot of criticism, Dan, and slightly unfairly because it's not his natural position.

And then, and also Saka, who sort of was put there despite saying,

which is, I suppose, a sign of not selecting any fit left backs is an issue.

I suppose, you know, Luke Shaw's got another week, and we really need that to happen.

I do think a lot of why this side is falling down is to do with that left-hand side, because you can't have a non-orthodox left back playing and then ask someone who really is an unorthodox left-winger to play there as well because it makes that that that whole side irrelevant you've got absolutely no width whatsoever i've been saying since the tournament started with no left back anthony gordon is almost must start because you need some width for to come from somewhere on that on that left hand side i mean anthony gordon isn't even really been been bought on as a as a substitute is he the thing he's been remembered for so far is falling off his bike on the um on the on the warm-down day but left backs are a huge huge problem and i guess you know you question the makeup of the squad I thought Chilwell was horrible in the last international break in the in the friendlies but he is a left back and probably England would have been better had he been playing in these games instead of Keir and Trippier but he went down injured as well didn't he and I thought of Saka being there is I thought you know there's a lot of things that happened in that game that could have been embarrassing or were embarrassing I thought it was quite embarrassing having to having Saka at left back to be honest I mean not for him fair play to him

for us yeah yeah but but for Southgate as well, yeah.

He's a right-sided attacking player and we're playing him left back and we've got, you know, we've got Bayer Munich's player of the season, we've got Arsenal's two player of the season, Man City's player of the season, Real Madrid's player of the season and we've we all look like we've never met each other on a pitch.

There's something fundamentally wrong.

Yeah, a long time since Zaka played left back.

He has done it, hasn't it?

And Ian Wright suggested it, so like I'd pretty much do whatever.

I'd love Ian Wright to take over as manager now, whatever he does.

Anyway, we're in.

Pip says, 53 minutes on the clock, and my pregnant girlfriend has decided to tell me she decided not to eat her placenta.

After Max told us how young Ian did a dump in front of the TV, I wondered if the panel had experienced any other strange interruptions to the games.

It was a nice thing to think about, Pip, and nice to know.

And now everybody knows that your pregnant wife, Aziz Herwant, has decided not to.

Well, loving her.

As a child, one of my many chores around the house or veterinary practice, as a

practice lackey, was cleaning out the surgery after

births of, you know, calvings or ewings,

lambings.

And our dog loved placenta.

Loved it.

So I would say, do eat the placenta.

It's very, very nutritious and good for you.

Right.

And that's a good way to end part one.

Part two, we'll do Spain's brilliant performance against Georgia.

hi pod fans of america max here barry's here too hello football weekly is supported by the remarkable paper pro now if you're a regular listener to this show you'll have heard us talk before about the remarkable paper pro we already know that remarkable's the leader in the paper tablet category digital notebooks that give you everything you love about paper but with the power of modern technology but there's something new and exciting the remarkable paper pro move Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, man.

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A proper football journalist, man.

Exactly.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

So Spain 4, Georgia 1.

What a brilliant game this was, John.

I mean, from the moment that Georgia took the lead, the way they attacked, and then eventually Spain just showing that they are so, so good.

Yeah, yeah, it was, I mean, it's a 4-1 win, but it's one of those where both teams played their full part, didn't they?

And

I think the tournament is going to miss that,

how can you describe it?

That Georgian scream whenever anything exciting is happening, even if it's when the ball is being cleared or when they're on the attack.

The way that they the fans just make this noise, which is different to let's say the Western European fan.

But Spain,

they really do look the park, don't they?

I mean, the wealth of skillful players that they have playing in the proper positions,

this tends to be

a valuable exercise, I find.

You've got Yamal

is not the best finisher in the world, is he?

Despite being the best 16-year-old you've ever seen.

He could have scored a hat-trick.

But he's so good.

He's just unbelievable.

It matters.

No, no, because he gets so many chances because he's so good.

And you've got players like Danny Olmer, you've got Rodri, who is just so fantastic.

Yeah.

Can I mention actually

Robin Lenormand, who scored the goal?

Me and some friends were talking about this, and I was saying that he sounds like a knight

who

is an associate of the Sheriff of Nottingham.

and he's quite a foppish character

and

he's and he's there are suspicions over his behaviour on the third crusade that's that's the sort of that's the character I've created for him

send him to Robin another Robert no more Robert of Loxley will take him down eventually yes but I mean I just

but I yeah I'm not sure he's the best defender that's what I'm saying

if Spain have a

have a weakness and each team has a weakness as by the very nature of the Euros,

I've never been too convinced by Simon, the goalie.

And Lenorman is not the greatest of defenders.

So

thank you, Georgia.

They've lit up the tournament.

Every game that we played has been absolutely excellent.

But farewell,

fond farewell.

Been brilliant.

Yeah, I mean, there are just so many exciting players on this pitch, Dan.

I thought, because the way Mikatatze played and Kravitz Jalia had that effort from halfway, which wasn't like a, he didn't try and chip Simon, he just tried to sort of bend it round him.

It was like amazing effort.

And then you've got with his bad foot mess.

Yeah, I know.

I'm not going to say he has a bad foot, he's weaker foot.

No, yeah, Kieran Trippier would struggle to have done that, I think.

But, you know, let's not hammer him anymore.

And then you've got Williams and Yamal as well.

I don't know.

It was just sort of, it was such a great palate cleanser from what we'd just seen.

I mean, I got more excited in that game than I did at any any point in the England game, really.

End-to-end at times, both teams carrying a threat on the break.

Obviously, Spain better on the ball,

as you would expect.

But Georgia didn't disgrace themselves at all.

And I think the goalkeeper comes out of this, Marmadash Valvilla.

He comes out of this tournament.

I don't know whether he's got far enough to qualify as goalkeeper of the tournament when the 11 gets named at the end of the tournament, but he's been absolutely sensational.

I can't claim to watch Valencia every week or anything like that, but I didn't realise how good he was.

He's been absolutely brilliant, and they've been a credit to themselves.

They've played really, really, really well, and

they're actually playing the ball out from the back as well.

I know they sit quite deep and try and defend, but actually when they build up, they do try and play football in the right way and make things happen.

They've been brilliant, and that win against Portugal.

That's such a historic Euros victory.

Everyone will remember that game for a long, long time.

It's a shame to see them go, but Spain are a very, very accomplished team.

They've got some very good players, a good mix of young, exciting talent, but also using their players with know-how and experience.

Well, yeah, the way that one more on the Georgians, Barry, just the way they

run at teams, you know, like the lost art of dribbling

is still going in Georgia, isn't it?

Well, it's like it's like a wild man,

socks down, shirt out, and they just run and run and run.

And, you know,

I don't like comparing everything or looking at everything through an England prison, but England is, you know, sideways, sideways, backwards, backwards, sideways, sideways, backwards, backwards.

Oh, look, Jordan Pickford has the ball at his feet.

But some of the Georgians just get the ball at their feet and they just run like their goal, which

I don't know if it was an actual fact, but it seemed like it was the first time they got out of their own half-in 18 minutes.

And some guy just slaloms across the halfway line, plays the ball out wide, and then there's this, you know, run in, sort of diagonal run inside, and an amazing cross.

And the ball goes in off

Sir Lenormand

under pressure from Kavitskilli.

I like to think in my head, every morning on the Georgian team bus,

Skipper Guram

gets on with his.

He's not a beats man.

I'm saying he's a discreet

AirPods guy.

And he's chuckling away.

And

just various teammates go,

what have they said about us today, Guru?

What have they said about us today, Captain?

What did the funny Irish guy say about me?

And I'm sure that doesn't happen, but in my head it does.

And if it does happen, just skipper, tell them that you can all go home with your heads held extremely high.

Just while we've been recording, I saw them post-match.

They were doing the Icelandic thunderclap with their fans.

And they've been an absolute credit to themselves and the tournament.

And

I just love them to bits.

Yeah.

Been absolutely brilliant.

I'm trying to work out what my favourite goal of the Spanish goals was, Dan.

But like the Olmo's feet and finish are great, but it might be

and the same, that feint from Nico Williams is so good.

And Jamal's cross for Ruiz is ridiculous.

So you pick one, Dan.

I can't.

I liked Olmo's goal, the way he shifted the ball,

the way he manipulated it and beat who I've just said

he's the goalkeeper of the tournament so far, left him absolutely rooted to the spot.

I think that was probably my favourite, but it depends what you're looking for in goals, I guess.

John?

No, Olmo, I think

he's one of those players that we've seen over the years has had that quite weird trajectory.

A Barcelona player ended up at Croatia's greb, Dini Mozaghreb, and then

has found his way into the Red Bull style of football.

And he's also one of those mainstays of the transfer window that someone somewhere will eventually take a chance and bring Danny Olmo to the Premier League, which I'm which would be fantastic to see.

Though, can we do that in this era now of financial restraint?

I'm sure Dan has plenty to say on that subject, but you know, it's yeah,

but yeah, but um

yeah, I really like Olmo, that he's that sort of classic Spanish little ball player, and uh Lamin Yamal is a slightly different player, isn't he?

They've got wingers for is not something we've recognised really for

Spain for quite a while because we used to have things where players like David Silver was regarded as a winger when David Silver was essentially a playmaker and now you've got these two essentially bombing on which again appeals to those of us who like a good cross good crossing in the box don't we?

We've still got Jesus Navas as well.

Yeah, true.

I'm not old old.

Jesus Navas famously didn't provide an assist for 330 years at Manchester City or whatever it was.

He's got lovely eyes, though.

I think it is a bit.

I think maybe you're doing Laminia Marla and Nico Williams a disservice

just to clump them in the get-it-in-the-mixer set.

There was the Lemine, well, it wasn't really his goal, it was an own goal where he did this double give and go

and then just fired in a cross shot and it went in off a defender, but it was it was ruled out for some reason, offside, I think.

But

that oh, I mean,

just imagine being a good one.

They've got Germany next, they've got Germany on Friday.

I was going to say, that's fascinating, John.

I was going to say the thing is that Graeme Taylor, my guru, would have told you that a winger needs a trick.

You know, you think

John Barnes,

I was going to say Nigel Kennedy.

It's actually Nigel Callahan, but Nigel Kennedy would have been interesting.

I get the Villa connection again there.

Of course,

but a winger needs a trick, and those two lads certainly got a trick in them.

Germany,

Dan, from what we've seen,

I mean, it's great.

It's the first quarter-final, Friday, five o'clock.

Yeah, I mean, I think you'd think Spain would do it, right?

But it will be an absolutely brilliant game.

Yeah, I mean, talking of young players, Mussiara has absolutely lit up this tournament so far

as well.

You might

explain the favourite.

I know that Spain have been the best team, but I would probably still make Germany favourites for that one.

What do you think, Buzz?

I don't know, Max.

If you put a gun to my head, Spain.

Okay.

I won't.

Would you know where to get a gun, Max?

Would I know where to get a gun?

I mean, I reckon I could get a gun.

I mean, your local pub is a cash-only, you know,

ask no questions pub.

You're more likely.

If it's a race to get a gun, I think you're winning the race.

But like,

I don't think I would start to think of a metaphorical gun.

I really hope you don't want to.

Because your hand will be shaking so much.

I'd be worried about a nap.

No,

I don't think I'd know.

I would find it awkward, put it that way.

You know, if it was the task on the apprentice, I'd be like,

I'm not sure it's for me, and Team Euphoria, or whatever I was in.

Well, what a lovely place to end.

Part two.

If anyone can find barriers.

No, I don't.

I'm still after

Uber Platinum Shania Twain tickets.

I have no interest in a firearm.

One step at a time.

I was going to say, Barry, my mum watched Glastonbury this afternoon and texted me to say that she thinks Shania's voice is going.

So don't

overdo it.

I've recorded it.

I'm very much looking forward to watching it when we finish this.

Mrs.

Rushdon watched Coldplay at 6.30 this morning while I had Ian at the park and said they were fantastic and that I will never be Chris Martin is what she said.

They gave a five stars in The Guardian, which I'm sure was a dagger to the brewing heart.

Anyway, that'll do for part two.

Part three, I will look into tomorrow's games.

And you've sent some a couple of very good emails.

HiPod fans of America.

Max here.

Barry's here, too.

Hello.

Football Weekly is supported by the Remarkable Paper Pro.

Now, if you're a regular listener to this show, you'll have heard us talk before about the Remarkable Paper Pro.

We already know that Remarkable is the leader in the paper tablet category digital notebooks that give you everything you love about paper but with the power of modern technology but there's something new and exciting the remarkable paper pro move remarkable a brand name and an adjective man yeah it's their most portable paper tablet yet it holds all your notes to-dos and documents but it's smaller than a paperback and an incredible 0.26 inches thin so it slips easily into a bag or jacket pocket perfect for working professionals whose jobs take them out of the office like maybe a football journalist barry although not like you.

A proper football journalist, man.

Exactly.

Too much technology draws us in and shuts the world out.

This paper tablet doesn't.

It'll never beat or buzz to try and grab your attention, so you can devote your focus to what or who is in front of you.

It has a display that looks, feels, and even sounds like paper.

Think and work like a writer, not a texter.

And the battery performance is amazing.

No worries about running out of power before the end of extra time.

The remarkable Paper Pro move can keep going for up to two weeks.

And if you do need to recharge, you can go from naught to 90% in less than 45 minutes, Barry.

Fantastic.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly.

France, Belgium, in Dusseldorf, Dan.

That's a good start tomorrow, isn't it?

Yeah,

that'll get us back on the straight and narrow, won't it?

Won't it, tomorrow?

France are a bit like England.

You watch them and you think they should be brilliant and they're not, but yet they'll probably still get to the final of the tournament.

I'm not a massive fan of Belgium and how they've underperformed in the last three or four tournaments, but yeah, there's some...

Cante's playing, is it?

Canta's playing.

A game, usually you'll have a smile on your face at some point during a game.

So, yeah, France to go through her.

Not that you asked me for a prediction, but France to go through her.

No,

I'm happy for you to give me one.

Can you see Belgium?

You know, they looked angry.

De Bruyne looked angry with everybody last time out, John.

But if he and Lukaku click, they can do damage.

He's good at looking angry, isn't he, De Bruyne?

Oh, yeah.

Those sort of rather childish features really sort of looks like someone's run off with his wham bar or something like that.

He just gets so angry with his teammates.

Why aren't you giving me the ball?

And

Lukaku, he's also a very expressive character, isn't he?

When all is going wrong,

Belgium is good to watch when things are going badly, actually.

Quite entertaining.

Yeah, like Dan, I predict France to go through, but not with any particular style.

I think

they're lucky in that they probably have more strength in depth, if not talent, in England.

They do have a manager who has know-how, a manager who actually isn't that popular either back home because

actually he isn't Zinedine Zidane, is the truth, isn't it?

That the French want Zidane to take over as the manager and that's going to be the dream.

We don't have that luxury in this country because we're waiting for Graham Potter.

So, but yeah, anyway,

it's a great game.

Dusseldorf is, as I know from experience, a great city to host a game in.

One to look forward to, definitely.

How can you be unpopular when you

won the World Cup and the Euros as a captain, won the World Cup as a manager?

What do you have to do to be popular?

Have you met people?

Fair enough.

Portugal, Slovenia.

Portugal, Slovenia, at 8 o'clock tomorrow in Frankfurt, Barry.

Your pre-tournament tip, Portugal.

Are they still that?

Probably not.

I think I'm going with England now.

I'll do this play.

Portugal lost against Georgia, but they made 10 changes or whatever.

I wouldn't read too much into it.

I will be massively shocked if Slovenia beats them.

I think we're all nodding in agreement with that.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right, let's do a couple of emails before we go.

On the subject of being struck by lightning, and Adam said it was practically a daily occurrence in the US.

Matt says, as a lightning strike survivor, I was glad to see the Germany-Denmark match postponed for a bit.

It's not a pleasant experience, as you can imagine.

I wouldn't wish it on any of those players nor fans sitting in a gigantic metal box.

We were climbing a very tall mountain in Wyoming and got caught in a snow/slash thunderstorm.

I got hit several times, experiencing full body paralysis and third-degree burns.

I believe our situation was unique as most people get struck on golf courses in the States.

If any other listeners are lightning strike survivors, let me know.

So we can form a special football weekly subgroup, similar to those vasectomy while listening to the pod survivors.

Keep up the good Euros work.

Only 12 more games to go, says Matt.

Alex says, hi, pod.

I'm writing to you from Montana, USA, where I was recently struck by lightning.

It was quite a strange experience.

I was fly fishing as clouds were gathering, but it didn't seem too stormy.

That was a mistake.

Suddenly, there was a flash of white, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on my back a few feet from where I'd been standing.

I never heard any sound.

I was quite panicked, as I fumbled with my fishing gear and began scrambling to the safety of my car while calling my dogs to me.

As I did, I could smell burnt hair, and this was sufficient confirmation for me that I had indeed been struck by lightning.

But other than a couple of small burns on my feet where the lightning exited my body, I was completely fine.

My best guess is that my rod was struck, and this helped mitigate things, since I was gripping a cork handle.

But maybe another reader can explain, or listener.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that it is common enough that at least one listener has felt Thor's wrath firsthand.

Well, two.

Thank you, Alex and Matt.

I'm unsure whether that second guy did get struck by lightning.

He doesn't seem 100% sure.

Oh, you can't doubt that.

Well, I mean, if there's a big flash of lightning or suddenly 10 feet from your fishing rod, what's happened?

He said

he smelled burning, seemed to be the major body of evidence there from what I took away from the story.

Oh, okay, it's good to see you.

I've got to say he threw a stick of dynamite into the lake.

Oh, really?

And it exploded before it hit the water.

This is from Julie.

I'm Max and Barry.

I'm a longtime listener of the pod.

First time I've emailed you as a scouser living in Switzerland for more than 20 years.

Next Saturday will be one of those difficult days when I want both teams to win.

Maybe I stay neutral like my adopted country is famous for.

The Swiss have provided us with some exciting football to watch so far in the tournament.

I'm sure there's more to come.

After watching the England game, which was so close to making Barry so happy, they're very lucky to still be in the competition.

A few moments of magic when when it mattered prude enough this time.

Next time, I feel they will need more.

On a recent pod, I heard you liken Murat Yakin to a Bond villain.

I just remember him as a player for FC Basel when I arrived in Switzerland 20 years ago.

Back then, neither Liverpool or Basel had heard of Salah or Shakiri.

Maybe I'm even older than Barry, she says.

I love the pod, and Barry makes me smile every episode.

I'd love to chat over a drink in his local if I'm ever in London, and I promise not to mention the sock, smiley face.

Spare a thought for those of us with divided loyalties on Saturday.

Hoping football is coming home.

I just need to figure out where home is.

From Julie Wone, distant relative of Ian Wone.

We have never met.

I just have the family tree.

So there you are.

I've met and interviewed Ian Wone's wife.

Wow.

Who was one of the original self-professed wags?

And her and Shelly Webb, who was,

I think it used to be, I'm not sure.

I'm working on the assumption.

Marriages occasionally don't work out, so apologies if I got any of this wrong.

But yeah, they wrote a book about being footballers' wives long, long before the days of B and D.

Slowly but surely, I'm getting closer to Ian Woan, which is

all roads that lead to Wone.

I'll tell you a story, actually,

because it's jogged my memory.

Thank you, Julie.

And if we do end up having a drink in my local, I will definitely get you a gun.

Ian Wone met

the current

or former or Mrs.

Wone.

Him and Teddy Sherringham were on holidays in, I think it was Miami.

And

all these women were staring at them.

And they thought it was because, oh, we're famous footballers who play for Millwall or whoever it was at the time.

Forrest it was.

They were the only men on the beach wearing budgie smugglers.

Right.

And everyone thought they were completely ridiculous.

And somehow Ian Wone managed to get past this hurdle

and ended up marrying Kelly.

No, yeah, Kelly Wone.

So that that was how their paths crossed.

What a story.

Ian Wone was wearing very tight budgie smuggler speedos on a Miami beach.

Okay.

Feels a good place to end this podcast.

Do you do you think he wears them in the flash he should be?

With Sean Dice.

Do you know what?

We always end up on Sean Dice, don't we?

We always end up with Sean Dice.

I don't know is the answer.

Listen, once we finally get to Ian1, then we can answer that question.

Anyway, that'll do for today.

Thank you, John.

Thanks, Max.

Thanks, Barry.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dan.

You've actually cheered me up.

Thank you all.

I've cheered up.

I was at a very low end when we started this fod.

Hopefully, we've cheered some other people up as well.

That'll do for today.

We'll be back tomorrow.

Football Winkly is produced by Jesse Howard.

Our executive producer is Joshua King.