England Still on Course to Enjoy a Successful Stay at Euro 2016

Before the flying plastic chairs and marauding Russian ultras, before the pleas from Roy Hodgson and Wayne Rooney for England fans to behave themselves, and before the name-calling began with Gareth Bale, there was a football match in Marseille, France, last weekend.

And in the dramatic four days since then, it seems to have been forgotten that England actually played rather well in their opening game.

At the final whistle at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday night, Russia celebrated as if they had won, while a shattered England sloped away as if they had lost, but of course they both shared a credible point after the 1-1 draw.

In the instant Vasili Berezutski’s looping header hit the back of Joe Hart’s net in added time, the narrative of England's first game transformed from promising opening victory to the same old story of the Three Lions disappointing in a major tournament.  

England’s fragile football psyche was once again laid bare, and the task that occurs every two years of raking over all the old insecurities began anew.

But this time, it seemed self-indulgent—and ill-advised. The truth is England outplayed the Russians, and they should have won the game long before they conceded that late goal.

The story of the game was not the disappointing and undeserved final score but rather the promising nature of England’s overall performance.

It is never about how you start a tournament, but how you finish it, and England played with more than enough attacking flair and intent to suggest they could still be in France when June turns into July.

In the modern era, England’s two most successful tournaments were when they reached the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 European Championship, and both efforts began with a draw before momentum started to build.

And so here at Euro 2016, England started with a positive display that hinted they will only get better in the coming games.

Hodgson made a series of encouraging and attacking selections, and England immediately responded in the first half.

In those first 45 minutes, England had nine shots. The missing element was that they failed to convert any of them into goals.

It was all about fine margins: England had shots that either hit the post or were directed straight at the Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.

Yes, Harry Kane was largely quiet and didn’t even get to touch the ball in the Russian penalty area, and Raheem Sterling obviously offered no final product, but these are players of true talent—too good not to take out their frustrations on the Welsh in Lens.

England also still have the considerable talents of Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge and Marcus Rashford waiting to be unleashed from the bench.

The concern about where to play Rooney was banished in the south of France, for the England captain had a brilliant game in midfield, offering presence, control and intelligent passing. In fact, the Manchester United captain did a good impression of Paul Scholes at his very best.

The mistake was withdrawing him in the second half for Jack Wilshere, which exposed England and allowed Russia to put them under greater pressure.

In his first-ever game in a major championship, Eric Dier was similarly impressive as a holding midfielder, and he scored England’s crucial goal from a free-kick.

Buoyed by this goal and performance, expect the Tottenham Hotspur man to grow in confidence and get even better at Euro 2016.

There will be inevitable talk about changing England’s starting lineup for the second game against Wales on Thursday. It should be ignored, and the same XI should be given another chance.

Bold in selection, and mostly bold in performance, maybe England just need to be bold with their substitutions as well—for in Marseille, Hodgson’s changes seemed to quell rather than inspire his players.

In the aftermath of the draw with Russia, a naturally disappointed Hodgson could still see that his team performed well.

“My hope is, my dream is, that we will play as well in the next two matches and go on to do well in this tournament,” he said, per Jason Burt of the Daily Telegraph.

It might really be that simple: If England can repeat their first performance, but with added ruthlessness in front of the goal, they will progress and should go on to pose a threat to any team at Euro 2016.