Euro 2024 Daily | England forging disparate elements into the most harmonious whole

BUT I KEEP GOING ON

“Of course I [effed] up,” sings Black Sherif in his classic single Kweku the Traveller. “Who never [effed up], hands in the air … no hands.” And, though he wasn’t singing about England he could’ve been, because if there’s one thing of which the last couple of weeks have reminded us, it’s that we all make mistakes, all of the time – sometimes massive ones which unnecessarily and gratuitously harm ourselves and those around us. This, though is part of what it means be human – the trick is to be honest and brave in evaluating our lapses before being honest enough and brave enough to leave them behind in favour of something better.

But enough about austerity, cutting public services, Brexit, the hostile environment, the “go home” vans, proroguing parliament, the Windrush scandal, the A-level scandal, the Post Office scandal, Grenfell, Covid parties, the Rwanda scheme, dumping effluence into rivers, the two-child benefit cap, the food banks, impoverished children, the homelessness crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, freezing working-age benefits, tripling tuition fees, the ailing NHS, the institutional racism and all who knowingly voted for them. Bada bing! Pick that irony out!

England’s recent story has, though, been one of trial and error, a solid but uninspiring leader lacking imagination, personal magnetism and an animating philosophy finding a way to succeed in circumstances so favourable it was almost impossible for him to fail. But enough about the centrist prime minister with the socialist name and on to the football manager with the rugby union name. Gareth Southgate has, over the last couple of weeks, been responsible for some major oversights: a right-back who has to be accommodated at right-back suddenly relocated to midfield and expected to learn on the job during a tournament; 4-2-3-1; Conor Gallagher; Jarrod Bowen; negative tactics; negative substitutions. Bit by bit, though, he has remedied them all, his team improving through the tournament such that they are now in the final and the rest is … a lucrative series of podcasts.

Ultimately, the skill is in taking an all-the-pieces-matter approach to leadership, forging disparate elements into a whole so that they represent the best of England: a harmonious balance of ages and abilities, ethnicities and personalities. Except the fight is not over, not by a long chalk: up next is a ruthless, cynical, opportunistic opponent in a winner-takes-all battle, the losing of which could be catastrophic. But enough about the 4,106,661 people who, just last week, voted for a hard-right party run by a multi-millionaire posing as a people’s revolutionary. Because now is a time to celebrate: on Sunday, England face Spain in the final of the European Championships and, like an overwhelming mandate to improve quality of life for those who most need it, there’s absolutely no eff up about that.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“As a former defender myself, what could he do in that position? He tried to block the ball … To penalise that is to tell him we cannot properly play football. I think that we cannot properly play football and this is due to VAR. It really breaks football” – Ronald Koeman rails at the VAR’s decision to give England their crucial penalty. Either way, 1993 wants a Nelson Muntz-sounding word.

EURO 2024 DAILY LETTERS

So, it’s come to this. That long-awaited time for fatuous national comparisons is here. Sunday night is all about pie versus paella, Rioja to enduring Rio’s analysis, the rain in Spain measured against the flow from Old Trafford’s roof, Flamenco countering cries of ‘Flamin’ Nora’, the Costa Blanca or the cost of living, olé against Ollie and loads of bull on both sides” – Mark McFadden.

Betteridge’s law of newspaper headlines states that ‘any headline that ends in a question mark can simply be answered by the word no’. Apropos of nothing, in The Scotsman …” – Noble Francis.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Noble Francis. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Join Max, Barry and co for the latest Football Weekly Daily podcast as they ruminate on England’s win over the Netherlands.