Euro 2024 Diary: Faltering In Frankfurt
As usual when following England a good trip is ruined by 90 minutes of football
Dear Reader,
The reason you’re getting my Euro 2024 Diary from Frankfurt 24 hours late is, because, as anyone who knows me will attest, knows that it’s all or nothing with me.
And so it proved on Thursday for England vs Denmark.
To cut a long story short, with the match on at 6pm local time, we got on the beers around 2pm. And got back to our hotel room at 10am the next morning after staying out all night drinking, singing and generally laughing with old friends in the centre of Frankfurt, around the timbered buildings of the Aldstadt, the old town, before and after the game.
No trouble. No problems. Just a good laugh, being daft and having fun with old pals. Apart from the game. Which, alas, was awful.
An Arsenal flag outside Frankfurt Stadium. CREDIT:
All good pals and jolly good company. The author with cousin Paul, and Tony, a Bristol Rovers mate
A mix of Danes and England fans outside the ground before kick-off.
Ah, the game.
There’s a famous line by Michel Platini where he says: “England are lions in the autumn and sheep in the summer,’ or words to that effect.
Meaning they start the season full of power and fitness, but due to the crushingly relentless demands on players due to an ever-increasing schedule, not to mention the high levels of physical intensity English football demands from those who play it, come a summer tournament, English footballers, are, knackered, to use a technical phrase.
England looked tired against Denmark.
That’s not to detract from Kasper Hjulmand’s side’s performance, which I thought was excellent. But the fact is Gareth Southgate’s side run out of steam against the Danes.
Denmark got the equaliser they deserved when Morten Hjulmand scored with a cracking 25-yard strike to level Harry Kane’s opener.
As an England fan - not a journalist - in Frankfurt, I didn’t boo the team, because I always think you should support your side come thick or thin. And have the post-mortem in the pub. And as a fan I don’t agree with a fan booing their own team. I’ve never done it in 40 years of watching The Arsenal and England and I never will.
Some people some do, and they pay their money and are entitled to their opinion. Fair enough.
But I don’t like it. Because it makes you, as a fan base, look fickle instead of loyal.
And believe me England fans are incredibly loyal in terms of getting to places to watch their team. I always used to joke that if England played on the Moon they’d still take thousands.
However, I can understand why so many people were frustrated.
Many booed because it was a lethargic performance from a team that has got so many outstanding players. And they expected better.
Others booed because having been in charge for eight years, Southgate’s sullen tactics and team selection was muddled and confused, sending mixed messages to his side, amplifying a disjointed display by tired players.
And some booed because it was simply an outlet to express annoyance at a team that should simply have played better.
Bratwurst outside Frankfurt Stadium. CREDIT:
Despite the efforts of some, football isn’t rocket science.
You need talent, temperament and technique. To go with form, fitness and tactics, which, allied with athleticism, strong characters, motivation, leadership and a slice of luck, you send out your team to hopefully play better than your opponents.
It didn’t happen against Denmark, nor did we particularly impress against Serbia for long spells.
But here’s the thing.
England are top of the group. They’ve won one and drawn one. Yes, we’ve been laboured, but tournament football gives you the space to grow.
Look at Italy at the 1982 World Cup. They drew all three of their group games and qualified for the next round by the skin of their teeth. But they grew in stature, form, confidence and performances every round, including beating the best team never to have won the World Cup, that great Brazil side of 1982 on the way to winning the tournament for the first time in more than four decades.
England aren’t there yet. Nowhere near in fact.
But we are due a good performance to lift spirits and hopefully we will get one on Tuesday in Cologne against Slovenia. So let’s not write England off just yet.
But, if we play like we did against Denmark, in the forthcoming knock-out stages it is a certainty that we’ll be going home far earlier than we would like.
England fans in Frankfurt Altstad
The timbered beams of buildings in Frankfurt’s Aldstad. CREDIT
On the beers in Frankfurt with a good friend of mine, Cov Steve. CREDIT: Paul Kelleher
………..
Gareth Southgate
For me, Gareth Southgate is the most emotionally intelligent, considered, articulate, coach, who is also a polite, decent human being in a profession full of sharks.
He has transformed the outlook of the England team to become one of its most successful coaches. He’s earned respect for England reaching the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup and getting to the Euro 2020 final.
But I do think Southgate’s flaw is that he is inherently cautious.
And at the wrong time.
Yes, he jettisoned Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling before the tournament, which was the right thing to do for this tournament.
But having failed to select a maverick such as Jack Grealish - how can you not have space in a 26 player squad for such a player who can unlock defences with his talent - it meant his side would struggle to make inroads deep in a game when you can throw on such a mercurial player who would make things happen simply with his unpredictability.
As it was Southgate swapped his entire forward line during the Denmark game - but not Antony Gordon on the left, nor of course the missing Grealish - and it made absolutely no difference.
………
Mainz
Having been to Frankfurt twice before, England 1-0 Paraguay in 2006 and Eintract Frankfurt 0-3 Arsenal in 2018, we knew what to expect from the place.
As we did in Mainz, where our hotel was. And where we stayed during the 2006 World Cup when England played in Frankfurt.
Mainz is one of those places that you’d probably never, ever, visit if it wasn't for a football trip. I loved it in 2006, and despite my horrendous hangover that lasted until Friday evening, I really savoured being back in such a beautiful city.
Earlier, we had raced down the Autobahn from Dortmund to our hotel in the charming town of Mainz, 45 minutes from Frankfurt.
With Paul and myself getting back to our hotel in Mainz, the morning after the England game on Thursday evening, we slept for the pretty much the whole of Friday, waking only to keep tabs on Ukraine beating Slovenia 2-1, and Austria beating Poland 3-1, before feeling just about well enough to head out around 7pm.
Mainz has a sandstone coloured cathedral and wonderfully evocative cobbled streets in the centre, and is such a pleasant place to explore for a day or two.
There was also a fair on in town, which meant the centre of town was packed but with a convivial atmosphere.
Which we enjoyed while watching France and Netherlands play out an underwhelming draw.
See, it’s not just England that aren’t playing well so far….
Mainz town square, Friday evening. CREDIT:
Main Cathedral Friday evening. CREDIT:
The evocative timbered beams of Mainz. CREDIT:
DAILY LIST:
Drive back up the Autobahn on Saturday afternoon to cover Belgium vs Romania in Cologne later tonight.