Euro roundup - matchweek 3

Published on 26/06/21

Daniel James - Wales vs Croatia (By Rhys James)

Coming off at 73 minutes, Daniel James had a tough game against Italy. Wales played a back five for the first time in this tournament, which meant James played a slightly different role as a split striker alongside Gareth Bale, with Aaron Ramsey playing as a false nine. Similar to the formation Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had played occasionally in the 19/20 season and at times in the first half of last season.

Something that has made James really effective in this competition is how Wales have managed to distribute the ball to him and get him into the dangerous areas where he thrives in, however this wasn't the case against Italy and throughout the game he only managed 18 touches. The red card coming early in the second half made it even more difficult for the red dragons.

The Azzurri pressed really well and Wales struggled to play out from the back and find the forwards. James managed a couple of impressive moments throughout the game such as a great ball whipped in from a free kick and a foul or two won in dangerous positions (Which he has been great at in this tournament), but they were naturally limited as with all the welsh players.

Overall though, despite this tricky fixture, James will be delighted with his performances in the group stage.

Scott Mctominay - Scotland vs Croatia (By Dara O'Brien)

During Scotland’s heart crushing 3-1 defeat to Croatia in the final game week of their Euro 2020 campaign, we once again saw Scott McTominay play for 90 minutes. In the match that saw Scotland eliminated from the competition, McTominay once again played as a right-sided centre-back in a 3-at-the-back formation for Scotland.

Although Scotland started strongly, nearly scoring inside the first 6 minutes through Che Adams, Croatia went ahead with a goal from Nikola Vlasovic, who was able to lose Scott McTominay off of Ivan Perisic’s knock down from the back-post.

Scotland went on to have chances here and there for the remainder of the first half, before Callum McGregor equalised on 42 minutes with a strike from the edge of the box. From here, it went downhill for Scotland and McTominay. In the 62nd minute, Croatia found themselves back in the lead after a wonderful strike from Luka Modric with the outside of his boot. With Scotland already down, Perisic was able to send a header home from the near-post to send Scotland packing for good.

Scott McTominay himself had a decent performance however, winning 5 out of 5 ground duels, 2 out of 2 aerial duels, 1 clearance, 1 block, 1 interceptions and 2 tackles. He also was not dribbled past for the entire match. He also played 3 accurate long balls, and completed 82.4% of his total passes. All in all, it was a disappointing way for Scotland to go out, however Scott McTominay will now be able to join up with Solskjaer and the rest of the squad to prepare for the busy season ahead.

Victor Lindelöf - Sweden vs Poland (By Josh Coleman)

Another game for United man Victor Lindelof saw his Sweden side win 3-2 against group rivals Poland. This meant that Sweden secured their place in the next round, taking first place Group E meaning they take on Ukraine in the Round of Sixteen on Tuesday the 29th of June.

As for Victor Lindelof it was generally another good performance. He played all 90 minutes and kept up his good form from his previous games. While conceding two, Victor Lindelof had a good game. While unable to stop Lewandowski’s brace, Lindelof and his defence were vital in preventing further damage, in what was a seemingly one sided game, as Poland dominated possession at 67% and a total of 18 shots. Similar to the match against Spain, Lindelof showed his ability as part of a defence that is under fire. Finding himself playing incredibly deep, often held up in his own penalty area, he was able to rack up impressive defensive stats. Making 6 clearances, 2 blocks, and contained what was an aerial barrage from the Polish, as Lindelof won 11 aerial duels from crosses put in.

A successful group stage for the United man and his nation, yet to lose a game. A huge game next up for them will put Lindelof and his defence to the test as they come up against a particularly strong Ukrainian attack, made up of the likes of Yarmolenko and the highly demanded Roman Yaremchuk.

Luke Shaw - England vs Czech Republic (By Tom Cole)

Luke Shaw kept his place in Gareth Southgate starting XI as England needed a win against the Czech Republic to top Group D. Shaw started brightly, making runs down the left hand side that United fans have seen all season. A fantastic ball over the top to Sterling saw him hit the post, denying Shaw a brilliant assist.

He kept going, and provided some great overlaps to Sterling and Grealish in the interchangeable front three. It was refreshing to see England actually use their fullbacks after they seem to be ignored in the Scotland game. Sadly after England scored, the attacks faded away and the game became a keep ball exercise, where Shaw did not get up the pitch as much as he would have wanted to, but he continued to pass well.

Southgate surely cannot be thinking of dropping Shaw against Germany, he has looked one of our best attacking options throughout the two games he has played and is always there to be used to stretch the play.

Harry Maguire - England vs Czech Republic (By Tom Cole)

Harry Maguire made his first start since his ankle injury prematurely ended his season, missing the last few Premier League games and the Europa League final. Could you tell he’d not played in over a month? Absolutely not. He immediately looked comfortable alongside John Stones and were in complete control of the game.

There were no signs throughout the entire game that the Czech strikers were getting anywhere near the goal. Maguire’s passing has to be one of the most underrated parts of his game. United fans have seen in the games he missed the links between our defence and attack falling apart, and now England fans must be starting to see it too. Maguire had the most successful passes into the final third, and if not for a fantastic save, would’ve taken an assist after playing a long ball into the path of Harry Kane.

Maguire will surely be one of the first names on the team sheet regardless of which formation Southgate chooses when we face Germany on Tuesday. His passing from the back is unrivalled and the aerial clearances and defending is something we just take for granted now. Maguire is finally getting the respect he deserves as one of the best centre backs in the Premier League.

Marcus Rashford - England vs Czech Republic (By Tom Cole)

Rashford made another appearance off the bench and played under half an hour against the Czech Republic. Southgate chose to play him on the wing to help Kane which is where United fans may have been expecting him to be, rather than replacing Kane up front as he did earlier in the group stage.

Unfortunately the game was pretty much wrapped up by the time Rashford came on and England weren’t really prepared to attack at this point, so fans didn’t see what we usually would from Marcus in this cameo appearance, with no attempted shots and only one cross into the box.

Rashford may be in Southgate’s plans for the Round of 16 tie against Germany, but he hasn’t shown too much on the pitch yet to be forcing his way into the side. Hopefully Gareth will continue to give him at least these cameo appearances so he can show him what he is all about.

Paul Pogba - France vs Portugal (By @Elitesolskjaer)

Overall performance

Pogba had an outstanding performance versus Portugal. He played as part of a midfield two with N’golo Kante; He hit an excellent pass to Jules Koundé in the early half. He also played a fantastic pass to Kylian Mbappe in the first half, but the PSG forward had his shot saved by Rui Patricio of Wolves; Pogba controlled the midfield and improved from the Hungary performance. In the second half, Pogba played an inch-perfect ball to Benzema, who put France back in the lead but unfortunately, it wasn't enough for them to win the match. Nevertheless, this was a satisfactory performance from the French man, and one of us united fans will hope to see more off next season at Old Trafford.

Stats

The stats for this game tells us how good of a match Pogba had. He made one hundred and four touches of the ball and ninety-seven pass accuracy, and he also had nine successful long passes; he had two shots and assisted one goal. In the defence, he had three-ball recoveries.

(Stats from Statman Dave)

The team's performance

France performed very well in the first half but was a bit off in the second half, with the team losing concentration at times; the two penalties were harsh on them. France will face Switzerland in the round of 16 in a game they are expected to win.

Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot - France vs Portugal (By @Elitesolskjaer)

Overall performance

Bruno Fernandes

Fernandes came on in the 72 minutes for Bernardo Silva and didn’t do much other than near giving away a penalty for Portugal. Bruno looked tired, and I think a good holiday would do him well.

Diogo Dalot

Dalot made his Portugal debut today, coining on for the injured Nelson Semedo, the inexperienced right-back impressed against the challenging task of Kylian Mbappé, which Semedo struggled with. The young man was out to prove the doubters wrong and to show he has what it takes to be the competition to Aaron Wan Bissaka that Ole wants

Stats

Fernandes and Dalot were not on long enough today to be fairly judged by stats.

The team's performance

Portugal had periods of good play and possession, but their defence and terrible refereeing decisions let them down, as usual; Cristiano Ronaldo dragged them to a result. In the next round, Portugal will play Belgium in the next game, which will see them face former red Romelu Lukaku.