The semi-finals of the EuroHockey Championships get going later on today (Thursday) which means there’s just enough time for me to squeeze in some more things that caught my eye in the closing matches of the pool stage. So here we go.
England are sort of fun to watch.
Ten goals scored in three pool matches, eight goals conceded.
Head Coach Paul Revington might prefer England to shut up shop a bit better defensively but you can’t deny they are a hell of a side to watch. In attack, they seem to be playing with the handbrake off and really going after teams. At the moment it seems goals are a guarantee in all their games.
Back in January Sam Ward drew parallels with England cricket’s ‘Bazball’ approach and it seems they are sticking with that philosophy.
James Oates told The Hockey Paper “We do feel like when we win the ball and go forward we are unstoppable at times” and I’ve got to say, it is very enjoyable to watch. The ‘sort of’ part of the heading of this section comes from me not being sure my nerves can take too many more matches like the Spain game.
Belgium women are an impressive team.
We all know about the Belgian men’s team and what they’ve achieved but something that’s been bubbling away in the background is the emergence of the women’s team.
The models are pretty similar – a good blend of experienced players (six of the squad have over 200 international caps) and some rising stars (eight of the squad are 22 or under) working together to secure a semi-final spot. Obviously the Netherlands are still the gold standard in the women’s game, but the way Belgium demolished Spain was really impressive and makes me think they are very much heading the right way.
Tess Howard sure knows where the goal is.
Not much more to add, really. She’s an absolute menace in front of goal. Which is good news for England.
Elite athletes are just like us, you know.
“You don’t see goalkeepers get cramp very often” says Simon Mason on the commentary as Germany’s Jean-Paul Danneberg hits the deck in agony. Well, I can tell you that during Summer League at Timperley this year, this goalkeeper (me) probably got cramp at least once a week for about a month. Leaving aside the concerns about my aging, creaking body, it’s nice to see elite athletes falling victim to it, too. Well, perhaps ‘nice’ is the wrong word, but you get what I mean.
Every time they put a TV camera into the pre-match huddle, someone swears.
Again, not much more to add to this apart from the fact that no matter how old I get and how “mature” I’m supposed to be, this, and the subsequent apology from the commentator will always amuse me.
Germany’s corner options are pretty, pretty good.
“Gonzalo Peillat is off the field? Thank goodness for that…” I’d imagine the defenders think. Until they see Tom Grambusch and Lukas Windfeder are still on. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Goalkeeper Appreciation.
I can’t write one of these without a bit of love for a goalkeeper. I like it when goalkeepers save penalty strokes. So here’s one of those from Arthur Thieffry. Look at that Mercian kit in action. Beautiful.
Right then. Onto the semi-finals. Enjoy.
The Top of the D 
“Mature”… I like to think of you as ‘evergreen’
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