France are the favourites but Giroud is no Benzema, and he will be missed (for goals, not for team morale), and will the home pressure get to them? It's a fairly young squad, and most are inexperienced in big tournaments like this. Romania have a great defence and a poor attack, having drawn to both Spain and Italy in friendlies; Switzerland should be OK, Shaqiri and a few others should be good, but it remains to be seen if the Swiss can perform on the big stage as a team; Albania have a solid team and are being underrated by the media in my opinion, they can surprise some people as they're under no pressure at all.
England should win this group, but are faced with two problems: Rooney and the defence. Rooney continues to push the 4-3-1-2 or whatever midfield diamond they're trying to achieve into a 4-3-3 with a slightly deeper nine, and the two forwards dropping back a lot. I think Ronney should be dropped and Alli moved into his preferred role so they have Dier, Alli and Kane all playing where they want to be. The defence is just pretty bad, and one injury to it will destroy the squad. Not to mention the ev growing hype back home. Wales depend on Bale, and to a (much) lesser extent Ramsey; Slovakia depend on Hamsik and to a lesser extent Kucka; and Russia are missing their two best central midfielders. The fight for second will be nice, and first if England slip up.
Really looking forward to Poland vs Germany. Poland could well be the surprise of the tournament and Germany will reach the semi-finals at least because it's Löw with Germany. If Lewandowski plays as he can they could cause many good teams with poor defences (I'm thinking England here) some problems. Ukraine might struggle but should beat Northern Ireland who although have the hearts of lions unfortunately also have the technical ability of a lion.
Croatia to beat Spain. You heard it here first. Seriously though, with Modrić, Mandžukić, Kovacić, Perišić, Rakitić, Kalinić, Brozović, Strinić, somethingelse-ić, they have a very strong midfield and attack. Defence is a problem, but Srna is pretty good and Strinić is decent. Dark horses. Spain have lost Xavi and Xabi Alonso but they have strikers now, Nolito and Morata are very good and Pedro is always there, but Costa and Torres have been left out. Koke has great skill, Fabregas is always good for Spain, Thiago has great talent, Silva is silky, Iniesta is Iniesta and Busquets is, well, Busquets, for better or probably for worse. The defence is not as talented but Azpilicueta seems to have ironed out his mistakes and Ramos is very, very good but I have been told by my Spanish friends that Pique is 'malo. Muy malo' and I cringe whenever I see Alba and Juanfran play together, especially Juanfran. Oh, and De Gea needs to keep. Much better than Casillas. Czechs are decent team and Turkey could cause an upset but my focuse for Group D is Spain and Croatia.
Belgium should top Group E, but they'll probably draw to Italy, and then need to beat Ireland, which is sometimes easier said than done, and self-declared God Ibra. They have a fantastically talented team but always seem to be so stiff when they play as a team, lacking the fluidity that their players should have. If Hazard takes his need of year Chelsea's form into the Euros then they could be very good, but once again their defence is poor. Italy are the opposite, lacking strikers, firepower and spark but with the best defence in the tournament, maybe after the Germans. Insigne brings a bit of spark, but without the brilliant Verratti and Marchisio they may struggle. With them, I'd be going into this tournament much more optimistic. Sweden have Ibra, Ireland have grit and Long, who ousted Pellé as first choice striker at Southamlton a couple of times.
Portugal have Ronaldo but if their friendly against England is anything to go they are poor without. That game was abysmal, from both sides. Seriously low level of football. More so from England, though, who were one man up and had a full team out. Austria should be good with Alaba and could surprise, and Hungary have a few decent players. Iceland are my favourite team and will win the group, and the euros.
Perfect shot.
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