Noble is in there somewhere!

This has to go down as one of my favourtie blogs to write…obviously not because of it’s quality as I’ve not started yet, but because I’m writing it on a train from Gothenburg to Malmo; following the path of the England U21 team to the final of the European Championships.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been sent by my new employers, Football United, to cover the semi-final and final, which is where I’m heading now. Gothenburg is a fantastic city and as I said in a twitter update from there, God really knew what he was doing when he created Sweden! I just hope Malmo can match it – on both visual and footballing appeal (I could do with it being a little cheaper though, beer budget has rapidly diminished!)

So I thought that as I had a few hours to spare, I could update you all on our boys’ performances in the Semi Final, and my take on whether Noble can lead the U21 to victory on Monday.

Turning Points

Personally I felt that there were three factors that affected the quite incredible turnaround by the Swedish team in the second half. Firstly and most importantly, the substitutions made by both managers had a massive effect on the way the game was flowing. Perhaps I’m a little bias, but I felt that Noble was a hugely dominant character in the middle of the park during the first half. He was pulling strings and getting things done in his usual tenacious way. His link up play with Cattermole was brilliant…yet Pearce took him off. Probably, as per usual, due to exhaustion, but we lost a lot of bite when he went off and particularly looked a whole lot more disjointed. It was however a Swedish substitution that influenced their fortunes…the introduction of the number 15, Labinot Harbuzi. He looked like a real star in the making and revitalised their attacking prowess.

I felt Pearce made a mistake in taking Noble off – perhaps it was to save him for the final? All I know is he did us proud in Gothenburg and I hope to see another top draw performance from him on Monday.

Secondly, the referee was hugely in favour of the homeside…it was laughable I felt at times. He sent one of our players off and booked one for ’sledging’. He made a point of making sure we took all our freekicks from the exact spot, yet turned a blind eye to the Swedes moving the ball to what seemed anywhere they fancied within a 20yard circle. He also failed to make sure the Swedes were actually ten yards at free kicks…petulant, inconsistent and bias. Had it been a full international I feel people would have raised a few eyebrows, but there you go!

Finally, the fans were a huge factor in the Swedish comeback. Funny lot they were to be honest and they outnumbered us to about 200:1 (plus the England fans were sort of mingled in and scattered about). They would boo at pretty much everything, but the environment they created for their side was impressive – it must have been a daunting atmosphere for our side. They were in all fairness though, particularly tolerable of us England fans jumping about like madmen (on our own) at each of our goals, plus the penalties. How silly we felt when they pegged it back to 3-3!

All things considered it was a privilage to have been at the game, Sweden have been great hosts and I look forward to seeing Noble lift the trophy tomorrow evening!

Will post some more photos of my trip after the final

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For the readers of my blog who don’t use NewsNow, Iain Dale and KUMB.com have been running some insightful interviews with Scott Duxburry over the last couple of days…be sure to have a read of the HERE and HERE respectively.

IRONS!

Sam

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