Qualified success in Donetsk

So England have not only qualified for the Quarter-finals, but have done so as Group Winners. Cue mass celebration and a surge of optimism. Well not quite, after the composed passivity of the first match, we had the frenzied victory over the Swedish, but the Ukraine game saw England falling back to some bad old ways. The familiar pattern of conceding possession regularly, not exercising any control and always seeming to be on the verge of something going wrong, returned with a vengeance.

Ukraine dominated the first half and aside from the 'ghost goal' really deserved at least a draw. But the biggest problem is that Ukraine are a limited team, especially with Shevchenko on the sidelines and to be dominated in this way by a second rate side is worrying. They created a raft of chances which they spurned through a combination of naivety and lack of ability. Even after taking the lead, at no stage did England look comfortable and this does not augur well for the latter stages of the tournament.

The victory was more to do with team spirit, hanging on in there at times with some last ditch defending, than any grand design. So as the momentum grows behind England's campaign (this impetus will undoubtedly reach fever pitch in the run-up to the Quarter-Final with Italy), my heart sinks and I fear the worst. When facing a team of experience and stature such as Italy, England will be exposed as limited and overrated.

Fancied French fail to flatten functional England

We have been here many times before, watching England being outmanoeuvred by a technically more adept team. However, this time it felt slightly different in that the concession of territory seemed more of a deliberate ploy, encouraging the French to come on to our two solid banks of four who coped pretty well with any threat posed. This was more by tactical design rather than a failure of technique.

In the end, most of the danger mustered by France came from shots outside the penalty area, including Nasri's neatly-executed equaliser and a couple of well-struck attempts by Benzema. Despite his trickery Ribery rarely broke through the shackles of a solid and disciplined defence. England were not cut to ribbons as they were during the friendly at Wembley back in November 2010 and there was a modicum of control and even some calmness on the ball, which distinguished this performance from many in previous tournaments against superior opposition.

Whilst Welbeck did not muster an effort on goal, his overall play was impressive as he held the ball up and distributed it with an accuracy that looked a little strange coming from an English centre forward. Young and Oxlade-Chamberlain scampered to reasonable effect but never quite broke through, whilst Parker was as resolute as ever in tandem with the slightly more adventurous Gerrard.

Unlike so many previous occasions England didn't treat the ball as though it was an unexploded bomb, to be disposed of as quickly as possible. Whilst possession was squandered now and again, at least it looked like England were prepared to hold on to the ball in anticipation of a better option and rotate possession rather than get rid of it regardless. 

Hodgson's achievement, in such a short space of time, is to have instilled in the players a belief that they can stick to a pattern of play where the ball is no longer their enemy, but it is yet to be seen if he can convince them it should be their friend, to be cherished and nurtured. This change in attitude will inevitably take a lot longer to materialise, but at least there are signs of progress.

Match Officials or glorified ball boys?

Holland's failure to convert any of their numerous chances against Denmark proved to be their undoing and has left the much-fancied Dutch facing an early elimination from Euro 2012. They have nobody to blame but themselves for their profligacy and poor conversion rate, from 29 shots to muster only six on target is pitiful and to draw a blank when dominating a match so completely does note bode well for their chances of progressing into quarter-finals.

There was however a single mitigating factor which one has to feel some sympathy for the blighted boys in orange. The lack of any decisive action by any of the extra officials who take up their position behind the goal line is baffling. There were two penalty shouts for handball against the Danes in either half but there was not a peep out of any of the additional officials whose primary role is to help the referee with incidents in and around the penalty area.

Indeed that is their only task yet I am struggling to think of a single decision made by one of the fourth/ fifth officials in last night's match,  or actually any match in which they have been involved. Referees never seem to consult with them even if an incident is "on their patch" and one has to question exactly what they are doing there. So without any clear intervention in decision-making maybe their role is to act as top grade ball boys with one of the best views in the stadium and not a care in the world. With goal-line technology not too far away, there will be even less justification for them, but I am sure that in their infinite wisdom UEFA and FIFA will be upholding the right to have them installed for all major tournaments.

Fans stay away from Ukraine/ Poland

It is not just UK Ministers who are shunning the delights of Krakow and Kiev. It comes as no great surprise that the numbers of England fans going to Euro 2012 are drastically reduced from previous tournaments. Less than 10,000 are expected to follow the national team compared to over 100,000 who travelled to Germany for the World Cup six years ago. Firstly, there is a remarkably low level of expectation on how the team will perform coupled with a squad which has suffered from a variety of withdrawals, so not even the usually myopic optimism of English fans can mask the truth that the team that will struggle to get past the group stage. Furthermore, Eastern Europe may have many hidden gems but most football fans are not on a voyage of discovery, more a journey of hope and the unfamiliar surroundings will have had a negative impact on the lure of Lviv or the delights of Donetsk. So even before the unedifying spectacle of overt racism which was uncovered by the recent Panorama programme, there was never going to be much in the way of travelling support. The disgraceful scenes of both Polish and Ukrainian fans revelling in racist chanting would have deterred anyone thinking of making a last minute dash. Finally the harsh economic climate may have dissuaded many thousands from travelling abroad and spending time in hotels where prices have been jacked up by people aiming to exploit the expected influx of Westerners, especially as the standard of hospitality may be variable, if not disappointing. So with all those conditions it will probably be one of the friendliest, the most good-natured of tournaments and no doubt be topped off with a resounding English success. Remember where you read this first.

Lamps out = Lights out?

So Frank Lampard, stalwart of Chelsea and England, is out of the Euro 2012 tournament. There has been the predictable wailing and gnashing of teeth in the English media about how this will affect England's chances this summer and how this is a mortal blow to Roy Hodgson's team. "Lamps out, lights out" perhaps. Whilst we will all have sympathy for Lampard as this is likely to be the last chance for him to play in a major tournament for England, it is not too devastating a blow to England performing creditably in Ukraine and Poland. Clearly, Lampard has been an extremely successful player at club level, achieving the accolade of being the first midfielder to score 150 goals in the Premiership in April this year, but his record at international level is nothing to crow about and he has never really shone for England since making his debut in 1999. He is part of the 'golden generation' of English players, which include Gerrard, Ferdinand and Terry, who have flattered to deceive and it has been detrimental to England's chances to imagine that this group of players would deliver on all their promise and potential. They have not and will not. There has been a pressing need to inject some fresh blood into this squad for several years now and the passing of the "old guard" should be accelerated to allow younger players the opportunity to gain worthwhile experience during tournaments. It is personally tough for Lampard but he and his peers have had their chance and it is now time to leave the stage gracefully and allow the understudies the chance to shine. So Lamps is indeed out but let's usher some leading lights in.