"Bold, Belated Subs"

I got to see all four semi-finals.  All intriguing in their own way.

About Effin' Time

Gareth Southgate has been conservative - nay timid - in his lineup and substitution choices, even as the team has struggled to score, or even look dangerous.  After four straight matches showing nothing, England played their best football of the tournament in the first half against Netherlands.  Still, all they had to show for it was a 1-1 scoreline.  Then they lost the plot in the second half and the Dutch looked more the likely winner.  Still, not much of a response from Southgate.  

A study in contrast seconds after Watkins delivers
the game winner for England

For almost five matches now, Dennis and I have been pointing out that maybe Ollie Watkins could be the one to shake things up for England.  But all we had seen was a 22 minute cameo against Denmark.  Finally, in the 81st minute, Southgate puts him in and what do you know, Watkins scores the game winner in the 90th minute.  An easy pick for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  

So good on Southgate for making the substitution.  We get that taking Harry Kane out of a match is a hard thing to do.  But he can be fairly criticized for playing not to lose.  Like this ESPN article notes, the move was bold but belated.  The article also recognizes that pulling the plug on Kane is a tough choice for a manager but then notes that Kane was "flat-footed, tired and too easy to mark."  

Given Southgate's nature, I'm guessing the starting XI will be unchanged for the final, except maybe Luke Shaw for Trippier, who may be hurt.  But, will he be quicker to pull the trigger on a move to shake things up?

Two Improbable Shots

Spain certainly have looked like the best squad at the tournament and their 2-1 win over France was not a big surprise.  However, the xG on their two goals adds up to a whopping .145.  First, they got  this screamer from Lamine Yamal, who at 16 became the youngest scorer in European Championship history.  That one was rated at .023; that is a 2.3% chance, which frankly seems high.  The game winner from Dani Olmo, seen here, was .122; he did make a some nice touches in the box to set the shot.  Initially given as an own goal, the People In Charge of These Things eventually decided that the shot was going to be on target and gave Olmo credit.  

France had the better chances but did not convert.  Hard to feel like they were hard done by the loss.  They managed just one goal from open play over six matches.  

COPA MMA

I kid.  But only slightly.  Canada committed 15 fouls in the 0-2 loss to Argentina.  Uruguay and Colombia combined for 24 fouls, six yellows and two reds in one of the more challenging matches to referee that I can remember.  Colombia played the second half down a man and still pulled out a 1-0 win.  But apparently that didn't end things.  As reported here, Darwin Nunez and a bunch of his Uruguayan teammates climbed into the stands after the final whistle and fought with Colombian fans.  Please tell me we will get more than statements from the various federations saying they condemn violence; hopefully this will be investigated and sanctions applied where appropriate.

RAS (Referees Against Shithousery)

A limited search of the web turned up nothing on this but in the Uruguary - Colombia match, referee Cesar Ramos made the unusual move of restarting the match with a player down.  Colombian Richard Rios had gone down after a play in the Uruguayan corner but play continued.  At the next stoppage, Ramos went to check on Rios, but curiously allowed the match to restart with Rios still lying on the ground.  Announcers Jon Strong and Stuart Holden were mildly amused, thinking it was probably yet another player milking contact, although they also suggested that Ramos probably should have held the restart.

At the first stoppage after that, Ramos called for the stretcher and Rios was taken off across the end line.  He returned to play shortly thereafter but had to leave the match about five minutes after coming back on.  So this was the one in a thousand where the player might actually have been hurt.

I get what Ramos was thinking.  Colombia, up 1-0 and down a man, are going to do everything they can to slow the match down.  The right thing in this case was probably to call for the stretcher at the first stoppage.  But, the more players feign injuries, they more cynicism they'll be getting from referees when a player goes down.  

Wrexham Update (Spoiler Alert)

If you prefer to get your Wrexham information as it comes out in the Hulu TV series, do not read any further.

As the club prepares for the upcoming season in League One, they have been seeking to get an upgrade in the status of their youth academy.  Details are here.  Short version is that currently they are rated Category 4, which means they can only bring in players U-17 and older.  Their request for Category 3 status, which would allow them to have teams as young as U-9, has been denied.  Though they have appealed, the quality of their facilities makes it sound like they will be unsuccessful.  The consequence is that they will continue to lose out on young talent from their region who would be very interested in playing for Wrexham.

I was a bit surprised that I had not encountered this issue in 10+ years of Football Manager.  I've learned about all manner of regulations from the game but had not heard of this aspect.  

Berhalter Sacked

No surprises to hear that Gregg Berhalter was fired as USMNT coach on Wednesday.  Now we get to find out how real this Jurgen Klopp talk was.  Turns out, probably not much.  Maybe it's just too soon.  But if not Klopp, who?  Lots of names floating out there.  Two articles I saw mentioned Jim Curtin (or Jim Curtain as the CBS article spelled it).  Feels like too much noise right now to spend too much time speculating.

So busy day on Sunday.  Spain vs England at 3 pm.  Argentina vs Colombia at 8 pm.

A couple of Union matches too - at Toronto 7:30 Saturday and back home on Wednesday at 7:30 to host New England.