The football authorities have a duty of care to protect the players and Fifa failed with its risk assessment of the gameOne of the many sad things about what unfolded during England’s game in Hungary on Thursday is that it was completely preventable. We knew at Kick It Out there was a high risk of racism and disorder, so Fifa must have known too, but nothing was done to prevent it.So we find ourselves with victims, when there didn’t need to be victims, and we are talking about sanctions when the solution was to put adequate prevention in place. It’s laughable that the stadium ban imposed by Uefa for the discriminatory behaviour of Hungary fans at Euro 2020 did not...
Questions remain about how well he uses his ability but £100m Manchester City signing played his part in comfortable victoryMessiahs in football tend to exist more in the mind than on the pitch. The clamour for Jack Grealish to start for England may have been answered but the pattern of the game was very familiar; he did not elevate them inexplicably to something transcendent. This was classic England under Gareth Southgate, holding an opponent at arm’s length before finally opening them up. Thrilling it was not, but it was effective.Grealish was instrumental in the opening goal, surging down the left after Declan Rice had won possession, before releasing the overlapping Mason Mount to cross for Raheem Sterling to cuff into...
The Euros showed that conservatism still dominates international football, but there are signs the club-style cohesiveness shown by Spain and Italy may be taking overThe broken glass has been cleared. Wembley Way is no longer sticky underfoot. As the sense of shame and disappointment fades, and the knee-zjerk panaceas melt away, it is perhaps worth reflecting that Euro 2020, however disgracefully it ended, was one of the great tournaments, perhaps the best since Euro 2000, and asking what that might mean for next year’s World Cup and beyond.There was a long period in which international football represented the pinnacle of the game; that was where you saw the greatest concentration of the best players. Then in the late 70s, as...
The government did not back England players when fans booed them for taking the knee and now face the consequencesSo, as the prime minister has learned, a week is a long time in football. He and Priti Patel began it grinning in their crisp new England shirts, seeking kudos for their politics from a triumph in Europe just months after they took Britain out of the EU. Instead, the racist abuse that rained on England’s young black players following defeat on penalties on Sunday meant Johnson and Patel were finally confronted with consequences of the green light they gave to racism before the tournament started.One senior football figure told me there was “deep outrage” in the game about Johnson and...
Experience taught me how hard it can be to recover from such a defeat and we all have a part to play in the healing processEngland has had five weeks of being brought together by a group of young men who carry themselves with humility and tried to make the country’s dream come true. It could, however, take those players months to get over losing in the final to Italy.After the 2009 Women’s Euros final defeat by Germany it took me six months before I felt recuperated. I did not recover until after Christmas when I’d had a break and thought I could finally mentally and physically go again. I returned devastated because we as a team had worked so...