There was a fantastic English contingent this year with 21 people travelling from the UK to Lausanne for the tournoi, where England were looking to defend their trophy. Out of 21 there was 16 players and it was hopeful that we could get our strongest team out to give ourselves the best possible chance of success.
Everyone arrived at the Hotel Alpha-Palmiers on the Thursday night (except Carole who arrived Friday night) and a few beers were had on arrival due to the football not starting until the following afternoon. The tournoi was back up to eight teams with the return of the Hungarians and Polish, and the excitment was building.
Friday 21st May 2010
On the Friday afternoon we had a meeting so that Dale could have a chat with everyone about what to expect during the fooball, especially for those who had not played in the tournoi before. Shortly after everyone headed to the pitches, next to the olympic stadium, to prepare for kick off and change into the England home kit once again. Unfortunately, Leigh was not feeling well enough to play so we were down to 15 players.
Group Stage - England v France - 4.05pm
4-5-1 Formation
Team Line Up
GK Steve M / RB Stefano / LB Ivan / CB Steve H (c) / CB Chris / DM Dale / CM Morris / CM Ismail / LM Stefan / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Paul / SUB Adrian / SUB Alvin / SUB Andy
The team started very well and composed and were finding their men all over the park. Steve organised at the back and Dale did likewise in midfield, and the three lions settled into the match.
Peggy and Stefan both had the beating of the full backs and Morris put in some excellent controlled tackling in midfield and shortly into the match, was told by Dale to man mark France's best player FX. Roger and Morris both had shots blocked before England took the lead.
Peggy found Stefan in the box, he tried to make a pass along the area to Roger which was blocked by the defender, the ball fell loose on the edge of the area in the 'D' and DALE curled the ball with his instep into the top corner for a half-time lead.
Half-Time England 1 v France 0
Paul was brought on in place of Stefano at the break and Dale told everyone to continue in the same vein as the first half. The half started and we were composed on the ball with Roger running the channels well, linking up with Peggy and Stefan.
Alvin replaced Ismail and almost scored with his first touch, Stefan ran to the byline and crossed into the area where Alvin took the ball in his stride, got his shot away but the keeper made a full length block.
The second goal came when Ivan hit the bar from a Peggy cross, the ball fell kindly for STEVE H six yards out and he volleyed home into the bottom corner. This resulted in more subs with Adrian replacing Ivan and Andy coming on in place of Stefan. The shape held well and the English defence was never threatened with Dale protecting the back four.
Full-Time England 2 v France 0
Group Stage - England v Switzerland - 5.30pm
4-5-1 Formation
Team Line Up
GK Steve M / RB Paul / LB Stefano / CB Steve H (c) / CB Chris / DM Dale / CM Morris / CM Alvin / LM Stefan / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Ivan / SUB Adrian / SUB Ismail / SUB Andy
A couple of changes to the starting line-up ensured that we kept people fresh during our second game and we started in the same formation as the game before. It was a composed start yet again and we were controlling possession in and around their penalty area.
Unfortunately, Dale had been carrying a hamstring injury obtained just under four weeks before and five minutes into the match, he overstretched reaching for the ball in midfield and had to go off with a further tear, and was replaced by Ismail.
Loko took the lead when STEVE H got to the ball first from a corner and drilled past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately that lead was short lived when England failed to clear their lines on no less than four occasions and a speculative long range effort from the Swiss hit the underside of the bar and deflected home for the equaliser.
Thngs went from bad to worse when another long range effort looked to have been easily saved by Steve M in goal, high above his head, but as he landed the ball came loose and fell into the net. Afterwards, it was apparent that he had twisted his ankle on landing and that would keep him out of the second day.
Half-Time England 1 v Switzerland 2
Dale's team talk was that this game was far from over and we needed to forget what had happened and take the game to them. Adrian replaced Morris and Ivan replaced Paul and we went to a 4-4-2 with Stefan moving up front and Alvin out onto the left.
The lads started well, taking the game to the Swiss and we equalised almost immediately when Peggy got down the right, Stefano made a decoy run and the defender sat off Pegs who put in a peach of a ball to the penalty spot, where ROGER leaped highest and nodded the ball home into the bottom corner.
The three lions had their tales up and almost took the lead when Peggy floated in a free-kick and Chris came in unmarked and drilled a header against the angle of post and crossbar and was unfortunate that it didn't deflect in. Then Roger held off two challenges and was one on one but the keeper stuck out a leg and managed to keep out what looked like a certain goal. Andy replaced Stefan, and Morris came back on for Ismail.
Peggy was having more and more fun with his full back, he skinned two men on the line and was blatently tripped well after the ball had gone, Dale lost his temper on the sideline with the blatent cheating and was asked by the referee to leave the pitchside, so he went back into his technical area.
The inevitable happened almost immediately, Steve H failed to clear his lines in time and his clearance was charged down, the striker ran through and scored into the bottom corner, and the Swiss had scored the only three chances they had had all afternoon.
Dale went 3-4-3 with only minutes remaining pushing Steve H upfront and it worked, Peggy again chasing the ball to the byline on the left wing and laying the ball back to STEVE H who curled the ball from outside the left corner of the box into the top corner for the goal of the tournament. The game should have been won but we were grateful for the draw by the end.
Full-Time England 3 v Switzerland 3
It was a mixed day for the team, we should have won two out of two but came off feeling relieved we had secured the draw, we were top of the group overnight on four points, above Switzerland on goal difference with the dangerous Polish in third on three points.
We had a nice meal but the team was falling apart, Steve M's ankled had swollen so he was unavailable to play in goal, meaning Dale would have to play in goal with a torn hamstring. Stefan's back had stiffened so much he had to be put to bed and couldn't move, Ismail's knee was damaged and he was struggling to move also, we were the walking wounded, even Roger was carrying a pulled muscle in his side.
A few of the lads had a couple of beers in the bar over the road, departing to bed around 1am but not going crazy, unfortunately one or two went over the top and it was obvious performances the following day would be affected.
Saturday 22nd May 2010
Everyone went down for breakfast at 7.30am and were heading to the pitches an hour later. The squad was down to 13, Ismail changed and was on the bench but wouldn't be able to play, and the 13 also included Dale with a torn hamstring so options were limited for the manager when it came to tactics. We changed and warmed up, and knew that anything other than a defeat would see us in the semi-finals.
Group Stage - England v Poland - 9.45am
4-5-1 Formation
Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Stefano / LB Ivan / CB Steve H (c) / CB Chris / DM Andy / CM Morris / CM Adrian / LM Alvin / RM Peggy / CF Roger / SUB Paul / SUB Ismail
The Polish had a number of youngsters in their team and were very physical from the start, at times slicing through players and there was no protection from the referee. We were slow out of the blocks and failed to impose ourselves, some players looked like the night before had taken it's toll.
The polish took the lead five minutes in when their striker got behind Stefano at right back and played the ball across the edge of the penalty area for his strike partner to hit a first time volley into the bottom corner, the marking was somewhat lacking as three polish players were unmarked streaming into the box.
Peggy and Roger tried to drive us forward, now in a 4-4-2 formation but we couldn't get the support to them, apart from a couple of corners we weren't threatening and the polish sat back and looked to hit us on the counter attack, almost succeeding when they drilled inches over the bar from the edge of the area.
Half-Time England 0 v Poland 1
Paul replaced Ivan with Stefano switching to left back as the team talk tried to get people motivated, unfortunately there was little tactical options available with no other subs. They hit a few shots wide but never tested Dale in the second half, with Dale trying to kick long with his bad leg over and over again.
Steve H was performing his captain duties trying to drag the team forward, and Roger almost took us into the semi-finals when Peggy ran his man to the byline and pulled him the ball back for a first time shot that was hitting the bottom corner until a last ditch full length save by the keeper kept the ball out, it bounced up and was there for Alvin to attack with his head but he let the ball drop and hit it wide under pressure from the defender.
Andy was working like a trouper in midfield and was putting in his tackles, and Dale went 3-4-3 again with Steve H going up top but this time the magic didn't pay off, and apart from a few scrambles the three lions didn't come close again.
If the French beat the Swiss we could still qualify and it looked promising when the French went ahead and then had a free header hit the crossbar, but the Swiss came back and finished with a 3-1 win which left us third in the group.
Full-Time Score England 0 v Poland 1
The Group A table finished as follows:
PL | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
1. | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 7 |
2. | Poland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 |
3. | England | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 |
4. | France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | -8 | 0 |
5th/6th Play-Off - England v Belgium - 2.30pm
4-4-2 Formation
Team Line Up
GK Dale / RB Paul / LB Ivan / CB Steve H (c) / CB Chris / CM Andy / CM Morris / LM Adrian / RM Peggy / CF Roger / CF Alvin / SUB Stefano / SUB Leigh / SUB Ismail
The lads had had a beer over lunch and Dale asked everyone to go out and just enjoy themselves in this final play-off match. Injuries had taken their toll, but it was nice to see Leigh feel well enough to put himself on the bench as a sub keeper.
England started really slowly and the workrate from one or two players was missing and we were made to pay within a couple of minutes, a ball came to their striker in the 'D' of our penalty area and we were too slow to respond, he turned and drilled into the bottom corner.
Straight after it was 2-0 when their winger got behind Paul, Steve H covered the gap but a ball was slipped into the gap he had just vacated for their other striker to run through with Chris aka 'skills' trailing in his wake, a fit Dale may have got their first but he couldn't come out and the striker drilled again into the bottom corner.
The third came after fifteen minutes and it began to get a little embarassing, again their player had all the time in the world to find the bottom corner from the edge of the box and the three lions were chasing shadows.
England went 4-5-1 with Alvin dropping into midfield to give Morris and Andy support, and almost immediately it made a difference, the ball was won by Morris in the centre circle, he found Alvin who slipped ROGER in behind the defence and he slipped it past the keeper into the bottom corner.
Half-Time England 1 v Belgium 3
Paul came off to be replaced by Stefano, and Ismail decided it was best if he didn't risk his knee. It was Dale's last team talk and he told his players to enjoy themselves and give everything for the last twenty minutes of the tournoi, leave it all out on the field.
It seemed to work, England were now on top and playing the ball around like they knew they could. Five minutes after the break and we were back in the game, Stefano found Peggy on the wing and he put over a glorious cross for ROGER to nod home his second at the back post.
Belgium responded with a couple of corners and after those were cleared Leigh made his debut in place of Dale in goal and came out well, early on to collect a through ball confidently. Everyone was buzzing now and Andy was tackling like a terrier in midfield and feeling the referees wrath in the process. From one such tackle, the chance for the equaliser arrived when Morris broke through on the angle, and his shot hit the inside of the post and ran across the goal line to safety. Roger was open and a pull back would have resulted in a certain goal so the chance was lost.
Shortly after the game was over, a long ball over Ivan at full back, saw Leigh rush out of his area but stutter half way there and start to go back, the striker got the ball and scored a fantastic lob to put the game out of the three lions reach.
The boys kept plugging away but Dale went 3-4-3 pushing Alvin and Steve H upfront but apart from a few scrambles on the edge of the box, nothing more of note was created.
Full-Time England 2 v Belgium 4
Dale thanked all his players at the end for a great effort under trying circumstances, the injuries really took their toll but everyone gave everthing and that is all a manager can ask of his players.
Final Standings
1. Italy
2. Switzerland
3. Poland
4. Spain
5. Belgium
6. England
7. Hungary
8. France
The lads went back and got changed then headed for the customary Gala Evening around 6.30pm, it was walking distance at somewhere called the MAD Club and was actually a night club that was open to us from 7pm to 11pm and to the public thereafter.
This was the first year where there wasn`t a sit down meal and people were stood around eating a cold buffet from paper plates, it was very disappointing as we always looked forward to the meal and a laugh and joke around the table. The free bar all night helped us get over the disappointment and we collected our 6th place trophy from the stage.
The player of the tournoi was voted privately by the players and Dale announced the results as they happened, Dale and Andy picked up a vote each, Roger got four, Steve H six and the winner was Peggy with eight votes and he picked up a trophy and bottle of champagne as a result.
Ivan presented Dale with a bottle of sparkling cava as a thank you for his efforts, and earlier on in the night Paul had arranged with the help of the players to buy two bottles of champagne for Dale and Ivan to thank them for the season. It was shared by all. Dale announced after much speculation that he would manage for one last season in 2010/11 and he said he needed everyone's help to make this a great club.
Let's look forward to getting in some good players, retaining our regulars and doing well in the Sportsmans League 2010/11 and the England Tournoi on May 20th and 21st 2011.
Tournoi Report by Dale Mellor.
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