Euros Continue To Serve Up Goal Fest As Playing Styles Collide To Dazzling Effect | Jonathan Liew

And frankly, person you not been entertained? If, of course, we are consenting to agelong our meaning of “entertainment” to see immoderate of nan different celebrated sensations. Suspense. Terror. Existential despair. Cold sweating. Temporary breakdown of nan tense system. Loud screaming astatine inanimate items of electrical equipment.

But arsenic we attack nan last week of this operatic Women’s European Championship, this tourney has a adjacent declare to beryllium 1 of nan astir thrilling successful caller memory. And not conscionable connected nan much intangible metrics: noise, punishment drama, side-eye, flying saves, players singing unprompted into pitch-side microphones, value of instrumentality walks. With 3 matches remaining, Euro 2025 has surpassed Euro 2022 successful position of goals, averaging a staggering half a extremity much (3.57 against 3.06).

This is connected people to beryllium nan highest-scoring European Championship successful history, excluding nan constricted four-team mini-competitions that were held earlier 1997. Only 2 tournaments ago, Euro 2017 averaged conscionable 2.19 goals per game. A 63% emergence successful goals constitutes a seismic and really rather abrupt improvement successful nan sport, 1 that raises a fewer supplementary questions. Have attacks sewage better? Have defences sewage worse? And, you know, what if immoderate of these players really learned to return a penalty?

Perhaps nan cardinal uncovering present is that possession is nary guarantee of control. If you exclude blowouts specified arsenic England 6 Wales 1 and see only matches betwixt teams of astir comparable spot (say, wrong 10 places of each different successful nan Fifa world rankings) past nan squad enjoying much possession has won conscionable six games retired of 17. The Netherlands had much of nan shot against France and were demolished 5-2. Meanwhile, Norway’s 2-1 triumph against Finland was secured pinch conscionable 41% of possession.

The Netherlands mislaid 5-2 against France contempt having much possession. Photograph: Marcel ter Bals/MTB-Photo/Shutterstock

Winning games without possession mostly requires 1 of a fewer to beryllium true: a preponderance of set-piece goals, a reliance connected accelerated nonstop attacks aliases a knack of being capable to burgle nan shot successful nan last third. None of which appears to beryllium a disproportionate facet here. Set-piece goals are down compared pinch 3 years ago. The number of “direct attacks”, arsenic defined by Opta, is astatine a akin level.

Pressing, meanwhile, remains a potent limb successful nan women’s game, possibly moreover much truthful than successful nan men’s game, wherever elite teams are now overmuch much adept astatine playing done pressure, possibly moreover baiting nan property to create space. But astatine this tourney nan number of successful tackles successful nan last 3rd is really down 23%. There were 708 precocious turnovers astatine Euro 2022 and conscionable 495 truthful acold astatine Euro 2025. Mis-controls per crippled are down from 38.1 to 35.2, which suggests an wide emergence successful method quality. So where, exactly, are each these other goals coming from?

Dig a small deeper into nan data, however, and a much revealing image emerges. The number of precocious turnovers whitethorn person dropped sharply, but they person go vastly much businesslike successful generating goals (one successful 33, compared pinch 1 successful 54). The number of errors starring to a changeable has much than doubled. All of which indicates that teams are becoming acold much surgical, blase and ruthless successful their attacking tactics, targeting them successful areas of nan pitch, phases of nan crippled and possibly moreover peculiar opponents wherever they will person maximum value.

Underpinning each this is possibly nan biggest displacement successful nan past 3 years: nan value of finishing. The 87 non-penalty goals astatine Euro 2022 were scored from 98.4 expected goals (xG); nan 92 non-penalty goals astatine Euro 2025 person been scored from an xG of conscionable 84.4. Simply put, teams are getting amended astatine converting from virtually each situations, and arguably amended astatine identifying nan situations champion suited to their style.

Ella Toone follows up to people England’s 2nd extremity against Wales aft her first changeable was repelled. Photograph: Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock

Direct one-on-one dribbling has been a peculiar speciality of France and Sweden, nan only teams to make much than 10% of their shots done this method. Italy person created much shots from dormant balls than anyone else. And England stay nan undisputed queens of penalty-area chaos, generating almost 3 shots per crippled from pursuing up connected shots that person conscionable been taken.

The broader picture, however, is 1 pinch which anyone who has watched nan improvement of women’s shot complete nan past fewer years will beryllium familiar: a crisp emergence successful attacking value and tactical sophistication that has not – truthful acold – been matched by a akin emergence successful protect skillsets.

What, if anything, does immoderate of this show america astir this week’s semi-finalists? Perhaps nan cardinal instruction is that – heroic German rearguards speech – keeping it tight astatine nan backmost is little important than being capable to make shots. England, Italy and Germany are only nan sixth, seventh and eighth champion defences successful this tournament. Italy person nan 5th lowest mean possession, but compensate pinch their lightning velocity of attack. Crossing remains an important tactic, pinch nan 8 quarter-finalists each successful nan tourney apical 10 connected this measure.

In galore ways, though, Spain are nan unicorn squad astatine this tournament, possibly moreover nan unicorn squad successful women’s football, nan only broadside reliably capable to walk their measurement retired of problem anyplace connected nan pitch. Spain aside, nan teams who person gone acold successful this tourney are those who person been prepared to wantonness nan crushed crippled and spell agelong aliases nonstop erstwhile necessary.

And truthful progressively this tourney is boiling down to a conflict betwixt 2 models: nan passing crippled pioneered by Spain, and nan much pragmatic style practised by everyone else. There whitethorn beryllium galore ways to entertain. But ultimately, location will only beryllium 1 measurement to win.