England at UEFA Euro 2016

Hello my dear friends, I’m happy to report that I’m back! The fantastic season with Notts County was over, we managed to get a quadruple and the whole world seemed to be at our feet. But before embarking on my last season with the Magpies I had an important duty to fulfill, managing England at the UEFA Euro 2016. You might remember that we qualified for the tournament with ease but now we had to play much better to achieve something.

You might also remember that we were drawn in a pretty tough group with title holders France, Denmark and Bulgaria. The bookmakers thought that we didn’t have much of a chance to challenge for the title and the FA stated that they would have been satisfied if we would have qualified for the quarter finals. I was quietly hoping for more but I have to admit that I wasn’t feeling very confident.

The good thing was that I didn’t have any injury problems before the tournament so I was allowed to select the squad that I wanted. I was planning to use the same 4-4-2 tactic that I employed at Notts County with Rooney and Delfouneso upfront.

The first match of the group was against Denmark, a team that was relying on two Premier League players: Arsenal’s Bendtner and Notts County’s Simon Kjaer. Their team was looking fairly solid overall but I was expecting a win.

After a nervy start to the game Wayne Rooney was presented with a golden opportunity as Kasper Schmeichel headed out a ball from outside the box but it didn’t go far enough. Rooney seized the ball and released a perfect long range chip to give us the lead. Our joy was short lived though, Denmark scored only four minutes later with a screamer from the edge of the area. We were not very convincing until half time but despite that Rooney went pretty close on two occasions. I sent in Lennon for Hinshelwood at half time and we were pushing forward with more efficiency. The pressure was rising and Denmark finally succumbed as Michael Mancienne finished a corner kick with a beautifully placed header. We were in control of the game and Rooney finally scored a late goal after hitting the post with a fine long range shot. The other game of the group produced a massive upset, Bulgaria beat title holders France 2-1!

And our next game was against high-flying Bulgaria! The main threat was striker Valeri Bojinov but we had to keep an eye on Berbatov too despite his advancing age (35 years old at the time).

We got off to a great start, Delfouneso had two clear chances in the first 8 minutes but he missed both of them. He finally scored a couple of minutes later with a placed shot, Bulgaria were looking down and out. We were totally in control of the game but the finishing was rather poor, we should have scored quite a few more goals. We did score one eventually, Sam Himshelwood finished a counter attack move with a placed shot. Bulgaria tried to react in the second half but after the initial 10 minutes we took control of the game again and didn’t allow them to create too much danger. France reacted well after the initial defeat and beat Denmark 3-1.

We were already qualified before the last game and only needed one point to make sure of finishing top of the group table. On the other hand France desperately needed a win to qualify and they surely had what it takes to beat us: a super keeper, solid defense, highly creative midfield and skillful strikers.

They got off to a nightmare start though, Sagna tripped Delph inside the box and left back Joe Barton coolly slotted it home. France produced a great reaction and my own Chris Gadi was looking in great shape. He scored eventually after missing a good opportunity, my defenders were unable to cope with his explosive dribbling. Then we took control of the game but Hugo Lloris denied Delfouneso with a spectacular save. There was nothing he could do to stop Delph‘s shot from inside the box though, he got a hand to it but it was too powerful to be stopped. We were leading 2-1 at half time and looking pretty solid. France equalized just after the break though, we gave the ball away easily in midfield and the counter attack was quick and lethal. A few minutes later France nearly took the lead as Tafer‘s corner kick header hit the crossbar and went out of play. I had to change something and I went pretty radical in the 60th minute: I replaced both wingers hoping for more speed on the flanks and also sent in Jack Rodwell for Delph to provide better coverage in midfield. We were looking more solid after those changes and they finally paid off, Nathan Delfouneso dribbled past a defender and smashed it into the back of the net! France immediately switched to a 4-2-4 set up so I had to change the strategy to counter. My lads withstood the pressure very well and Michael Mancienne did it again from a corner kick just before the final whistle. It was a great result and I was hoping that it would send France back home. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Well guess what, France did qualify after all… Denmark beat Bulgaria and France sneaked through on goal difference!

And just to make our bad luck complete, World Cup winners Spain finished 2nd in their group and were going to meet us in the quarter final! I guess I should have lost the game against France…

So, we had to face Spain… Their team looked incredibly strong overall, one of the best teams in the world at that moment. I chose to field and unchanged squad hoping that the lads that beat France would be able to produce another breathtaking display.

We got off to a good start, we were keeping the opponents under control and getting back lots of balls in midfield. That’s how we scored eventually, Delfouneso played a quick through ball for Hinshelwood and my wonderkind struck it home. We were playing very well but failed to convert that into another goal, we missed a couple of good chances. Then Spain took over and they didn’t miss their opportunities, left winger Mata showed some clinical finishing to overturn the result before half time. The second half showed a spectacular game, we were pushing forward with great determination while Spain were looking to bury us on counter attacks. We managed to produce quite a few more good chances but were unable to beat an immense Iker Casillas, he kept the door shut with some incredible saves. We were out of the tournament, I was disappointed but also proud of my team, they played well.

Guess who won the tournament? That’s right, France!

The FA were satisfied with our performance during Euro 2016 but I was disappointed by the outcome. I guess I don’t know how to manage a national team so I chose to resign and focus on my last season with Notts County. It was a great journey with England but I just can’t shake off the bitter taste of defeat, I guess we deserved a lot more from this tournament.

That’s how it was my friends, thanks for reading and stay tuned for my last season with Notts County!