Euro Vision: Germany looks anything but formidable

Gulf News

Gulf News’ Sports Desk looks forward to the key Euro 2016 matches over the coming week. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

Transcript

00:00It may have been ugly off the pitch but it's been anything but on it. Opening

00:09wins from France, Germany and Wales have brought a much-needed feel-good factor

00:13to Euro 2016. Joining me again is Golf News deputy sports editor Duncan Hair

00:19and sports reporter Ashley Hammond. So guys the first thing I want to talk

00:23about is England's clash with Wales. Wales the surprise winners in their

00:27opener against Slovakia and England well a dominant performance but they

00:32couldn't quite convert it into three points. How is that clash going to work

00:35out? In an already high-pressure match England have put themselves under a lot

00:40more pressure and this it was I mean Eric Dier is already saying this case

00:46not going to be an international match it's gonna be like a Premier League game

00:49England versus Wales and it really could be England have put themselves in a huge

00:54danger here by simply the fact that Wales have got three points England have won.

00:58I think it's a blessing in disguise in that they've drawn the first game

01:01because that's sort of if they had won the first game easily they might have

01:06gone into this game complacent and against Wales that's probably not what

01:09you want to do because that could be the trickiest game in this group

01:11potentially. I think that's actually been a good thing that they've drawn the game

01:14you're looking at the positives they now know what they need to do they need to

01:19be more clinical basically and that could stem from a change in formation

01:23namely bringing on Vardy they definitely need to like two out-and-out strikers

01:29because at the moment from what I've seen they've had too many attacking

01:32midfielders who aren't necessarily goal scorers they're more playmakers I felt

01:36like we had like almost six playmakers on the pitch the other day. The strength

01:39that Wales had the other night was they've got a lot of togetherness

01:42they've got a lot of team spirit and it's questionable as to England as to

01:46whether England has the same sort of spirit. Okay guys now moving on to

01:50Germany and despite let's face it a makeshift defense they looked quite

01:54formidable in their 2-0 win over Ukraine next up in their fixture list is

01:59Poland do you think Poland are going to offer more of a threat than Ukraine did?

02:03I wasn't impressed with Poland against Northern Ireland I wasn't actually that

02:06impressed by Germany against Ukraine makeshift defense they gave chances away

02:11to Ukraine in the first half where they most certainly were impressive the

02:14second half they totally killed the game I mean the Germans really kept possession

02:17of the ball and then got the sucker punch at the end I think Poland will need to

02:21step up I think Poland can step it up against Germany I think they'll need to

02:24as well. I don't think they're anything but formidable Germany I think they

02:27looked beatable they look weak I think Poland as well like with England and

02:32Wales you've got a local derby with Germany and Poland you know the history

02:36between those two teams doesn't need to be highlighted I think obviously it's

02:41going to be a grudge game Poland beat them in qualifying so they can beat them

02:45Germany didn't didn't look invincible by any standard and I think Poland might

02:51raise their game for this one I could I could possibly see this as being the

02:55first upset. Okay guys now lastly I want to quickly talk about France and their

02:59clash against Albania France obviously won their opening game

03:03Albania have a lot to prove and they also desperately need those three points

03:08if they have any hope of progressing to the next stage how much of a threat are

03:12Albania to France? Not much. I mean it was an impressive first game

03:19against Switzerland well they sort of held their own against Switzerland but

03:22these opening games you can't really tell much everyone's going to be a bit

03:25sort of shaky in the opening games everyone's gone in nervy I don't think

03:30you've really seen the the top quality of all teams yet because it's just an

03:34opening game you can't you can't tell anything from that. Parts of the French

03:37team looked disjointed you know elements of the defense midfield it was a silly

03:41penalty kick they gave away but you saw enough of them particularly in the final

03:45third to think that you know they will be a threat in this tournament I think

03:49it was just a nervy host nation opener all the games have been very tight but

03:53they came out trumps in the end France I think they'll comfortably dispose of Albania

03:57Yeah Dimitri Payet really took it out the bag for them didn't he really

04:01he really saved them but I should think now they'll be a bit more sort of

04:05composed and really they'll get down to business and they should do it quite

04:09easily against Albania. They've so much quality in the final in the attacking

04:13areas final third of the pitch they are a real force to be reckoned with. And by

04:17the same measure Albania will be a bit tired from that opener because they sort

04:21of gave their all and this is where you now start to see the the smaller teams

04:25sort of break down a little bit so I can't imagine they'll hold up much of a

04:29fight. Okay well thank you very much gentlemen and we're looking forward to

04:32another week of top-class international football. As ever you can stay up-to-date

04:36with the latest news, pictures and results on golfnews.com and don't forget

04:40to join us on Twitter at Golf News Sport using the hashtag Euro 2016

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