As I write this (Tuesday 14th) all the teams in Euro 2016 have played one game and, for the most part, I have enjoyed the tournament so far. Pleasing aspects include that in general the standard of refereeing has been good with many allowing games to flow rather than blowing up for soft frees or dives.
The standard of football itself has also been quiet good and open. We have been witness to no scoreless draws so far and wouldn’t it be great if that could be the case until the end.
With 24 teams involved, some will inevitably disappoint but others during the first round of matches have put in some sterling performances. I am thinking of Wales, Hungry and Iceland in particular.
The Irish team have played their part and were unlucky not to secure full points against an over-hyped Swedish team. The North, Ukraine, Slovakia and Albania have easily been the worst and most boring teams so far with Belgium, England and Austria among those failing to live up to the expectation generated in the media and largely by their own fans.
In terms of the commentary and analysis of the games on terrestrial television, RTE and TV3 are sharing the coverage. To my mind Giles, Brady and Dunphy are still the best in terms of analysis, with George Hamilton the best commentator.
However football aside, the banter on the RTE highlights show is boring, contrived and not funny despite their best efforts. The segment with the dog that sets about predicting the results is just cringe-worthy!
To my mind TV3’s commentary and analysis over the past week has been bland despite the best efforts of the likes of Graham Souness.
Co-commentator Keith Andrews seems to just have this compulsion to shout, whilst the sight of Paul McShane in studio makes me constantly want to reach for the remote control.
He has been rarely credited with playing a good game, so it’s a bit rich expecting us to believe that he’d be able to talk one.
However as the cliché goes, at the end of the day it’s all about the football and thankfully with only a week gone, there’s a lot more to watch. After all, the mute button allows listening to the commentary and analysis be optional!
