TopBetta continues its analysis of the European Championships with EURO 2016 Group B. You can enter our EURO 2016 Tournament with a cash pool of $10,000 and a guaranteed 1st Prize of $2,500 by CLICKING HERE.
GROUP B: ENGLAND; RUSSIA; SLOVAKIA; WALES; ENGLAND
Manager: Roy Hodgson
In 1996 the entire English nation sang, hummed and whistled every second of every day to the tune of ‘Three Lions’ by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds. If you listened carefully in Calais just across the French Channel you could hear “It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming … football is coming home.”
That was thirty years of hurt.
You can ask three different Poms’ their thoughts on England’s chances of winning and get three different answers. Do they still believe?
Oliver Raggett, London: “No chance. ‘You win nothing with kids.’ We haven’t got one world class player.”
Danny Broome, Kent: “The Quarter-Final is the minimum requirement, then I think they leave after another penalty shoot-out . . .”
Sean Rush, Essex: “Back in the days of my youth I blindly thought they had a fair chance of winning titles and beating anything put in front of them. I just do not have that confidence any more.”
It would appear that the England fans believe it will be 50 years of hurt this time around.
Player to watch
One thing England do not lack is firepower and they have the most in-form strike force in the competition in Vardy and Kane, who both had 20+ goal seasons in the Premier League. The problem for Hodgson is what to do with team captain, Rooney. So, by all accounts the player to watch could well be the United striker to see if he plays or sits on the bench. If he gets the bench will this be the Rooney of old with sight of a red card at some stage in the Tournament when he comes on? Otherwise, keep an eye on Dele Alli, the Spurs superstar. If you don’t know much about him, you soon will.
Verdict
With the youngest squad in the competition there is absolutely no expectation back home for England to win this Tournament, so expect no burning effigies of Rooney when they go out. In their favour is that they miss the major heavyweights until the semi-finals, then all it takes is two top-notch games to finally silence the Lightning Seeds and their ‘thirty-years of hurt.’ As for the Group, England top it, easily.
RUSSIA
Manager: Leonid Slutsky
The Russians finished second behind Austria in their Group mainly playing a 4-2-3-1 formation that their manager favours. It’s an all-sorts kind of side with an ageing defence and the midfield missing two main players. At the back Berezutski and Ignashevich have a combined age of 69 and critics are expecting them to struggle against fast forwards, (think Stirling for England). In the midfield two seasoned professionals, Dzagoev of CSKA Moscow and Denisov of Dinamo Maoscow, have over 100 caps between them yet neither will be playing due to injury. We expect the Russians to sit back in their opening match against England, much like Muhammed Ali’s rope-a-dope con, and hit the Poms on the break with a long ball up to their 6ft 5in striker Artem Dzyuba.
Player to Watch
He was born just as Euro 96 kicked off in England and now Russian wonderkid, Aleksandr Golovin, is ready to set these Euros alight. The CSKA Moscow attacking midfielder has been nicknamed the ‘Russian Ronaldo’ with his silky skills and ability to turn a game once he takes control of it. He scored on his Russian debut, within minutes of coming on as a sub, and has netted twice in three international appearances for his country. Definitely one to watch.
Verdict
Russia appear to have speed out wide which may trouble teams and they have an in-from striker in Artem Dzyuba who banged in eight in the qualifiers and 23 goals for his side Zenit St. Petersburg during the season. The midfield looks weak but then it’s a chance for players to shine and seize their spots if the Russians are to progress further. It all depends on those Slovakia and Wales games.
SLOVAKIA
Manager: Jan Kozak
Slovakia finished second in their qualifying group to Spain yet beat them 2-1 to get to Euro 2016. They have some very talented players within their set-up, which again favours a 4-2-3-1 formation and have the Napoli playmaker, Marek Hamsik, as their star player. This season the 28-year-old midfielder scored eight times and had 11 assists and he will most certainly boss the Slovakian midfield. With experienced Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel behind him, who has won 81 caps, the Slovakians could cause all sorts of problems in this Group.
Player to watch
Ondrej Duda has been touted as one of the best young talents in Europe and his countrymen see him as a natural successor to Hamsik. He currently plays for Legia Warsaw and if he puts in the performances that many know he can provide you can bet your bottom dollar he will not be hanging around in Poland too long. Apperently he was that obsessed with football as a kid he slept in his boots. That surely is enough to make you a player to watch.
Verdict:
It’s a tricky old Group to be in with England, Wales and Russia with you but Slovakia do have the players and potential to escape it. Jag a draw with England then beat the Russians and off they go. If Duda can live up to his potential he could be the player, along with Hamsik, to get this team out of the Group stages.
WALES
Manager: Chris Coleman
This is the best Welsh squad for a long time and they have one of the best players in the world in Gareth Bale, with the Real Madrid superstar scoring seven times for Wales in their qualifiers while also setting up two of their 11 goals. The Welsh enjoy a 3-4-2-1 system and on their way to qualification they beat the current No.2 team in the world, Belgium. All in all the Welsh boys only conceded four goals and they can seriously have a crack at getting out of this Group. If Aaron Ramsey fires too, a world class player, then they will reach the last 16.
Player to watch:
Do we really need to say his name? Just watch how good Bale is, the kid who made his debut at 16 years of age for his country. The mature player who outshone Ronaldo in the recent Champions League Final, the lad that just loves playing for his country. His sublime skills and passion is what all little boys dreamt of when they first kicked a ball. Wales to win the Euros? Well, Leicester won the English Premier League . . .
GROUP B FINAL TABLE:
1st ENGLAND 2nd: WALES 3rd: SLOVAKIA 4th: RUSSIA
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This article first appeared on TopBetta HERE.