Euro 2016 Review: Depressing Violence Overshadows Exciting England Display

In the end, the overriding sensation should have been one of relief. A few dark days of running battles in the streets of Marseille, particularly in the old port area of the city, could have turned pitch black when Russia supporters stormed their English counterparts at full-time.

It was a depressing sight to behold, but one that could have been so much worse. 

The image of one England fan placing a protective arm over his young son, while holding the other out to make a helpless stop sign, was both frightening and depressingly familiar.

Non-existent policing and paper-thin segregation that would have been laughable had it not been so terrifying, made the prospect of a disaster all too real. Supporters trampled over one another to escape to the exits, with many vaulting over walls to hasten their retreat.

Others were not so fortunate, as punches were traded behind the goal England were defending resolutely enough until two minutes into stoppage-time, when Russia captain Vasili Berezutski strained every sinew in his neck to loop a gargantuan header over Joe Hart and rescue his side a point they barely deserved.

Outbreaks of violence in a city, however ongoing, are notoriously difficult to police. Excuses dissipate though when it comes to keeping supporters safe in the confines of a stadium, at a major global sporting event. It hardly takes Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle to make the connection between seating warring factions within spitting distance of one another, with no signification segregation, and the potential for trouble. This was grade-A mayhem and carnage.

Presumably the back-up plan had violence escalated further was to pipe John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Give Peace a Chance through the Stade Velodrome's PA system and hope for the best.

English broadcaster ITV chose not to mention the ensuing chaos playing out behind them until the closing credits were cued, electing instead to focus on anything but the Cold War being fought just yards away on the balmiest of Marseille nights. Anchor Mark Pougatch stuck to his script of getting Peter Crouch to pontificate over Wayne Rooney, while off camera the elephant in the room had trampled its handler and was running amok.

Split heads, broken bones, smashed glass, bloody battles, vicious violence, lobbed bottles, hurled tables, flying chairs, karate kicks, discarded chips, makeshift bandages, makeshift weapons, terrified kids, terrified adults, raving loons, gurning goons, water cannons, real cannons (wouldn’t rule it out), tear gas et al—all played out on a pitch-green sea of flattened Heineken and Carlsberg boxes. It's been quite the start to Euro 2016. 

Shane Meadows could have shot the TV images filtering back, and those captured on phones by eyewitnesses caught somewhere between reportage and voyeurism.

This is England (in France), 2016.

While it is incongruous to lay the blame squarely at the feet of the English, it would be equally pernicious to label "our boys" as the friendly hooligans, as some seem to be doing in comparison to their European brethren. Russian fans and local Marseille youths have both more than played their part in the mayhem, as many respected journalists have noted, yet there are alternatives when set upon than picking up patio furniture.

Hang me for treason if you will, but if I ever had the misfortune to encounter a shirtless human steroid in the shortest of shorts with seemingly a predisposition for murder, I would lap Usain Bolt in my sprint for sanctuary. The only thing I’d use a garden chair for would be to cower under.

That’s not to make light of those genuinely caught up in the trouble without design, of which there have seemingly been many, but rather question a narrative being spun presenting English supporters as universal victims, as opposed to being at least part of the cause. No one is blameless in any of this.

UEFA has made clear it will not rule out disqualifying either nation should supporters be involved in further violence during the course of the tournament, per the Guardian. Whether UEFA will govern itself with a similar iron fist over stadium safety remains to be seen. 

"The UEFA executive committee has warned both football associations that—irrespective of any decisions taken by the independent disciplinary bodies relating to incidents inside the stadium—it will not hesitate to impose additional sanctions on the Football Association and the Russian Football Union, including the potential disqualification of their respective teams from the tournament, should such violence occur again."

All of which makes pretty grim reading for the overwhelming majority in France purely for the football, and to enjoy themselves.

ESPN journalist Iain Macintosh, in Marseille and witness it seems to a good deal of the bloodshed, summed it all up pretty well when reflecting on fights between locals and English fans in a Facebook post on Friday: “So what does it all mean? Well, it means that some English fans are dicks. It means that some French people are dicks.”

The operative word here being "some." It will likely continue to be an important distinction to make, when inevitably as many words and images on England’s travails in France occupy the front pages as they do the back over the next few weeks.

At the final whistle Joe Hart was seen mouthing, "stay safe" to family in the stands. Not even the players could focus solely on events on the field, which is a shame given for the large part the positives far outweighed the negatives, on a night when England were seconds away from a first-ever victory in a European Championship opening game.

It was only really in the first 15 minutes of the second half; cue Roy Hodgson’s detractors rolling their eyes (coincidence, no?), that England misplaced the verve and chutzpah (of youth) so evident and invigorating in the opening period.

As the American filmmaker Billy Wilder once said "hindsight is always twenty/twenty", but that hasn’t stopped Hodgson being the subject of an incandescent ire on the part of many who accuse him of reverting to type, in demonstrating acute conservatism, after Eric Dier’s unexpected thundering free-kick gave England a deserved 74th-minute lead.

With a horribly limited, agricultural in style, and increasingly leggy-looking Russia side forced to come out after falling behind, the choice for England was whether to defend what they had, or look to grab a killer second goal on the counter-attack.

The industrious but out-of-kilter Harry Kane could have been replaced by Jamie Vardy, who would have loved nothing more than to play on the shoulder of a Russian centre-half partnership that shares the best part of 70 years. As would either of Daniel Sturridge or Marcus Rashford.

Many would have equally welcomed the introduction of any of the aforementioned for Raheem Sterling. The Manchester City wide man is fast becoming the postman who always finishes his round first, but has delivered mail to all the wrong addresses. His burgeoning partnership with the buccaneering Danny Rose on the left showed promise; less impressive is his decision-making in key areas, which is more £50 than £50 million at times.

Instead Hodgson first removed the controlling presence of Rooney for Jack Wilshere, and only with three minutes remaining did he replace Sterling, as James Milner was summoned. In a stretched game, in the latter stages particularly, there is no better facet than raw pace. Neither Wilshere nor Milner possess it.

England fans wanted a nightcap to end the evening; Roy gave them a Horlicks. It’s a wonder they didn’t lob it back at him.

It didn’t need Opta to point out only one of the five strikers Hodgson has brought to France actually featured up front on Saturday. On this evidence he’s only going to use his get-out-of-jail-free card when he’s behind bars and been informed by his solicitor there’s no chance of parole. When he gets asked what he wants for his last meal, he’ll tell Rashford to get stripped.

A penurious Russia side was on the ropes, leaden legged, chin jutted out, when a still sprightly England decided to put up their guard and accept a victory on points. Just as tournament football favours the brave, it tends to punish those caught between two stools. England have now won just two of seven tournament matches under Hodgson, both at Euro 2012.

"Always afterwards you can look and think 'Could we have used more subs? Could we have done a bit more?' But we didn't honestly believe we were in great difficulties during that time and we thought we'd see the game out 1-0,” Hodgson said, via Sky Sports, post-match.

All of which begs the question, why retreat if of the opinion playing in a relatively expansive fashion was not causing England any issues? It was hardly the rhetoric of a champion-elect coach, bringing to mind his majestic summary of the 2014 World Cup campaign, via the Guardian.

"Had the ball not skidded off Gerrard’s head and played Suarez onside, had we gone on to win that game 2-1, had we then gone on to beat Costa Rica, we might have been talking about a great tournament," said Hodgson, before going on to explain how if he’d been born a girl it is unlikely his mother would have named him Roy.

Accusing Hodgson of introducing some kind of all-pervading fear factor though, as if the mere presence of Milner limbering up on the touchline manifests a debilitating existential angst in his otherwise untouchable young bucks, all seems a little melodramatic. With 15 minutes remaining of England's opening game of the Euros, he chose to shut up shop with his side leading 1-0. It’s not Total Football, but it’s hardly total madness either.

Had England ridden out Russia’s lumpen late riposte, which in reality they would likely have done nine times out of 10, would Hodgson’s cautiousness have even made the small print, let alone been headline worthy?

Indeed, if Hodgson is solely responsible for the late collapse, surely he deserves to take the same amount of responsibility for all that transpired before Rose’s unfortunate mismatch with Berezutski at the death.

Russia’s paucity of quality makes it difficult to fully ascertain just how good England were in the opening 45 minutes, but there was so much to admire they looked completely unrecognisable from recent tournament sides. A young, balanced team, playing fluid, expansive football without fear: lie back and think of England indeed.

Who’d have thought at the start of qualifying in 2014 England’s midfield for France would consist of a Manchester United striker, a reserve Tottenham Hotspur centre-half, and a cocksure kid at MK Dons. Yet here they were, a triumvirate of unlikely lads, playing in perfect unison. Dele Alli’s energy and rangy bursts complemented Rooney’s shrewdness, and Dier’s rare football intelligence, to a tee.

Rooney made a mockery of those questioning whether he should have even made England’s squad, let alone starting XI, with a statesman-like imperiousness that seemed to calm those around him. When he went off with 12 minutes remaining, it immediately became apparent how influential he had been.

Despite a predilection at times to play too many Hollywood balls, it is an overused criticism. On the night he was a probing presence, his antennae fully receptive to the smart off the ball running ahead of him by his eager young teammates. It was measured stuff, often cleverly disguised, as Alli, Sterling, and Adam Lallana, not to mention the two fullbacks, showed a willingness to get beyond the focal point Kane.

A readiness to track back, again a quality so often overlooked by his critics, saw Rooney on more than one occasion thwart a Russia counter-attack. And were it not for a superlative save from Igor Akinfeev in the second half, when partially unsighted he somehow pushed onto the bar a well-struck effort from Rose’s half-cleared cross, Rooney would have added a goal to as an assured performance he has enjoyed for some time.

Adam Lallana in particular was playing with a wired energy. He was gegenpressing as if Jurgen Klopp was hidden in his shorts and flicking at his bits whenever he forgot. In addition, sharp and inventive runs were causing all manner of problems for Russia’s prosaic and pedestrian back four. If only he could finish.

Twice he was presented with gilt-edged opportunities only to draw a smart if comfortable save from Akinfeev, before dragging a meek shot wide that looked as if it was still making up its mind as it drifted past the far post. He’s like the guy at the buffet who somehow always gets to the front of the queue first, before holding it up for 20 minutes because he can’t decide whether to go with a free coffee or tea. It is now 24 caps and counting without a goal for Lallana.

For both chances he was fed in by Kyle "Cafu" Walker, who after his first near-assist elicited a "F--king brilliant" wild-eyed assessment from Lallana. The Liverpool man was right. It really was. This was England, just not as we know them.

Walker and Rose provided constant width, as Dier’s awareness to sit and make a back three when required gave the Tottenham pair the confidence to bomb on. With the game stretched, this in turn allowed Sterling and Lallana more space to operate in the pockets of space between, and in front of, Russia’s centre-halves and the fullbacks. 

The football was incisive as chances came and went, while Twitter ignored it all by frothing at its collective mouth at the sight of Kane taking corners. They were indeed crap, but for anyone adamant he’d almost certainly have scored from one had he been in the box, it’s worth considering Tottenham had 254 corners last season, and Kane was stood in the area for nearly all of them. He scored once.

When England finally found a breakthrough, Dier's jackhammer of an effort from a free-kick just outside the area had a little bit of Ronald Koeman about it. England’s holding midfielder gave Rooney and Kane a little look as if to say, "Here’s how real men do it", before nearly taking the netting out as he exposed some suspect positioning on Akinfeev’s part. Armchair pundits across the globe united in telling no one in particular: "I told you that Akinfeev fella had a mistake in him."

Whether Hodgson had one in him too depends very much on if you see the glass as half full, or half empty. For the minute, take consolation in the fact there isn’t a need to down it in despair just yet.

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