As the sun sets on another major international football tournament, it’s time to take a look back on the month of frenzied football action with a calm head and a reasoned mind. So I’ll be borrowing someone else’s for this week’s column.

Joking aside, I have a few takeaways I felt needed sharing, so share I shall…

Deserved winners

There is no doubt in my mind that Italy totally deserved to go home with the trophy. They were unquestionably the better team in the final and, for my money, the best overall team throughout the tournament.

I’m not saying I wanted them to win it, especially considering the final was against England. But I would be lying if I said they were lucky or underserving of their triumph.

It would be entirely wrong to describe Italy’s squad as a ‘sow’s ear’, but with slightly limited resources at his disposal Roberto Mancini has certainly crafted a delightful ‘silk purse’.

This second European Cup success, combined with their four World Cups, must surely make Italy the best international tournament team that has ever existed.

That’s not disregarding the likes of Germany and Brazil, but Italy achieve their triumphs whether or not they have a team packed with superstars.

If they have a Paolo Rossi, Andrea Pirlo or Franco Baresi on team, all the better. But if they don’t, then they make up that deficit with collective responsibility. And that, when it comes to performances at tournaments, must surely make them the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT).

England’s penalties

Historically, England players have always been crap at spot kicks.

In fact, you could make a pretty fine team out of the players that have missed crucial penalties over the years: Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Paul Ince, David Batty, Stuart Pearce, Darius Vassell, Ashley Cole, Ashley Young, Chris Waddle and Gareth Southgate.

There was a slight glimmer of hope with recent wins over Columbia and Switzerland at the World Cup and European Nations Cup respectively. But it seems they were just exceptions to the rule and normal service was resumed last Sunday.

I have massive sympathy for Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka (who should never have been put forward by Southgate for the job, in my opinion). That young trio of lads were under immense pressure in such a crucial game and they will have to live with their misses for a long time. That they are then subjected to racist abuse is outrageous and unforgivable.

But this latest penalty failure does raise one question: why do some players try to be so clever when taking a penalty? Why do they overcomplicate such a simple process? For example, what was Rashford thinking with his sideways shuffle and his tippy-toe run up?

Lads, just kick the ball as hard as you can in the right direction!

Look at Harry Maguire’s penalty. No fuss or fanfare, just a belter into the corner which even broke the television camera. If the Italian keeper had got in the way, it could have damaged him as well.

That’s how it’s done.

VAR

If I was allowed to drop the point size on this section and make this a printed whisper, I would. But the truth is VAR was almost entirely flawless during Euro 2020. Not something I want to shout about, but undeniable.

There were, of course, some questionable incidents and a few occasions when it was, if anything, too anonymous. However, overall it didn’t interfere too much and was there when it was needed.

If the Premier League can copy this model, and stop looking for the occasional offside pubic hair, then it actually can be workable.

Not necessary, of course, but at least workable.

The fans

For the most part the fans at this scattered and disjointed tournament were superb. Although the vast majority of games were played in front of reduced crowds, those fans that were allowed inside the stadia did their best to create an intense atmosphere. And they absolutely succeeded.

Why do some players try to be so clever when taking a penalty?

The only blemish on the fan side was, surprise, surprise, the England supporters who decided making it to the final was an excuse for barbaric and moronic behaviour. It was only a small group of idiots – as always – but the damage they did the overall reputation of English football was considerable – as always.

Any hopes the English had of hosting the 2030 World Cup probably evaporated the moment that gang of ticketless yobs stormed Wembley. If the authorities can’t control a reduced capacity Wembley with very few opposing fans in attendance, what would happen if they had an entire World Cup to manage?

Gareth Southgate

Before the tournament I thought he was a managerial accident waiting to happen. By the semi-final victory over Denmark, I was almost entirely convinced I had been wrong about him.

Now the whole thing is over, and in the wake of his tragic tactical display against Italy, I am not sure where I stand.

There is no doubt that (Sir?) Gareth did some fine work in getting England to their first final in 55 years. But the display in that final highlighted everything that is wrong with his approach. It’s just too negative, more so when you consider the attacking talent England are blessed with.

If Southgate can somehow find a way past his fear of losing games, he might just realise his team has the ability to comfortably win them. He needs to stop thinking about how the opponents can hurt England and more about how England can hurt the opponents. He tries to adapt his game to the opponents, when a bit more confidence would see the opponents adapting their game to England.

He is very good at man-management and he is obviously excellent at sound bites and saying things people need to hear when they need to hear them. But, for me, the jury is out on his tactical skill and ability to read a match. I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now on the basis of reaching an actual final, unlike all the previous coaches I have seen. But the negativity must end, or next year in Qatar will just be more heartache and pain.

Booing the national anthems

I’m not in favour supporters booing the national anthem of their opponents. I don’t think it is a particularly attractive way to support your team, and I wouldn’t do it myself.

But my, how the world went overboard when England fans booed the Danish and Italian anthems!

It’s all part of the pantomime-like theatrics of high-level international football matches. Is it respectful? Probably not. Is it overly tribal? Quite possibly. But it’s not the diplomatic disaster the woke brigade would have us believe.

And let’s be straight about one thing, this isn’t an English-only thing. It doesn’t take long on YouTube to find examples of many national anthems being booed by opposing fans.

Including, for all you Italians who slammed the English booers as barbaric, Italian fans booing the Swedish national anthem (to Gianluigi Buffon’s shame and embarrassment).

A little perspective is needed on this one.

Multi-country format

Holding the tournament all over the continent probably looked like a fantastic plan when the idea first came up over a glass or two of Merlot at a UEFA board meeting.

In practice, though, it was all rather stupid, and saw some teams travelling thousands of miles for their games, while others only had to fall out of bed to get to the match. That wasn’t fair at all.

Had fans been able to travel freely for this tournament, bouncing from Baku to Rome to London, then the carbon footprint of Euro 2020 would have been an utter disaster.

Luckily for UEFA, the ongoing pandemic and the travel restrictions that go with it ended up reducing the environmental impact. But never again should this format be attempted – pick a country, two at most, and let them host the whole party.

e-mail: james@quizando.com
twitter: @maltablade