Servus Syndicate Members,
A fine tournament thus far and we're only just getting started. Five days in and we've not yet seen an unexciting match. No goalless draws. In point of fact, five of the eight fixtures have featured four or more tallies.
Bookie has no fear that conveying that stat will somehow jinx the next round. Once tourney football gets rolling, it generally doesn't stop.
These girls have absolutely brought it in their opening matches.
Do tune in as all signs point to quite the show.
In the event that you are just joining us, your friendly bookie is most happy to help get you caught up on all the action via a set of hyperlinks. Though I haven't delved into the tactics of the entire field just yet, full scouting of all the games has us well ahead of the game in terms of assessing where these squads stand.
Day One Recap: England and Austria
Day Two Recap: Norway and Northern Ireland
Day Three Recap: Spain and Germany
Day Four Recap: Sweden, Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland
Day Five Recap: Italy, Iceland, and Belgium
Why wasn't there a draw up for France in the latest daily? Look. What more could I possibly add to that dominant performance? I can't very well explain tactics that were already projected and give the entire team top marks!
I can invite French captain Wendie Renard to present these Lines with me.
Would you believe that--with her team up 5-0 at the half--the skipper played as if every last touch mattered throughout the entire second 45? You wouldn't believe me. You needed to see it. Reason #4,539 why you need to be watching this competition.
Monday, July 11th
Austria vs. Northern Ireland
Bookie sincerely hopes there will be enough takers for the early Monday kickoff. The Northern Irish girls most assuredly deserve your time. We had a spot of fun with them in the daily, noting that some of the "pay-to-play" amateurs on this team appear starkly out of place when juxtaposed with the elite conditioned athletes who compete professionally.
That's precisely what makes women's sports, at least in this context, so much fun. There exist great stories within the ranks of players who must dig deep against supreme disadvantages. Girls working full-time jobs at the local retail outlet have to square off against opponents sculpted by professional nutritionists, fitness coaches, etc.
It would truly be some story if the "non-bod" girls furnished us with something sensational here. Much has been made of their spirited second-half performance against Norway and the manner in which head-coach Kenny Shiels identified specific target/prep issues in the aftermath. Guess he's capable of saying the right things sometimes too.
Nah. Not without Simone Magill. The feared nightmarish injury being confirmed means that it should well and truly be over for the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. I know we talk a lot about squads rising to the occasion after a star player gets a funeral send-off in these competitions.
Perhaps Kirsty McGuinness can surprise us all. Perhaps not. The Ulster Irons didn't look properly prepped no what what Shiels said and the bookie very much likes what he saw from the ÖFB XI.
THE LINE: Austria +2 Goals (holding)
England vs. Norway
vs.
It already seems like an eternity ago that we were discussing England's slow stutter-start to this tournament. Thankfully for all of us who may have perhaps oversold this competition, every match since has delivered us vindication. It's fair to say that us proponents of the sport came down a bit hard on the Lionesses, who exhibited some understandable nerves under the pressure of debuting as hosts.
When one takes another look at the slender 1-0 win over Austria, it becomes more of a forgivable opening tourney fixture. Surely too many misplaced passes, tactical mix-ups, and general misunderstandings amid the squad. The calculated xG stats nevertheless give the hostesses a comfortable 3-1 win. Plenty of bright spots in terms of the individual performances as well.
Some of the particularly encouraging signs your friendly bookie failed to highlight in his Daily include very sharp distraction from keeper Mary Easrps. She's no Karen Bardsley, but still has a good sense of how to get her team's build's rolling. Also, for all the talk of how moving Leah Williamson back to center-halve impeded the flow of the charge, it should yield long-term benefits once the midfield axes get caught up.
Let the girls sing "Sweet Caroline" and have a spot of fun. They shall play looser. Hopefully not too loose as the wizardry of the Norwegian team's opening performance should keep them appropriately fearful and alert. We''ll masse the assumption that Sarina Wiegman has direct answers to Caroline Graham Hansen, and Guro Reiten.
Bookie still fears that Wiegman's inchoate 6-7-8 midfield might play directly into the hands of a very in-form Ingrid Syrstad Engen. We'll let that fall by the wayside for the time being and tip the Lionesses to pull this one out. Should be a very exciting affair in any case. Don't miss out!
THE LINE: England +1 Goal (holding)
Tuesday, July 12th
Denmark vs. Finland
The Danes aren't nearly as bad as the Germans made them look. Of that the bookie is convinced. With Friday having been an especially busy day mostly devoted to analyzing Spain and the bookie's home country, we didn't really have time to get into the tactical conflagration that was Lars Søndergaard's back three in the daily. We did mention it, of course.
Not a damn think went right for Germany's northern peninsular neighbors on Friday night in Brentford. Something else we didn't have time to cover concerns the embarrassing sending off on double-yellows for this team's exciting young phenom Kathrine Møller Kühl. My Mädels so thoroughly demolished this team that play ended up getting very dirty late on.
Odd substitution choices from Søndergaard. If, as I had projected in my preview section, the Danish trainer had rolled with Simon Boye to anchor his back-three, we'd likely be discussing a different result. Søndergaard ignored his defensive corps descent into meltdown mode and didn't turn to Boye until the 70th.
Bookie still considers the Danish team to be laden with enough talent to bounce back. The head-coach's head-scratching decisions obviously remain in the way. Let's give Søndergaard the benefit of the doubt here. Irrational though it may seem, bookie backs the Scandinavians to top the Russo-Nordics here. If we learned anything about Finland from the Spain fixture, it's that they've got massing marking problems.
THE LINE: Denmark +1 Goal
Deutschland vs. Spain
What an incredible match this shall be! Genuinely a shame that it has to come this early, prior to the peak in public interest. Put a fat circle around this one. Advice to the ultra-nerdy: print out the lineup cards from round one as well. Both of these heavyweights are essentially set-up precisely how their respective coaches want them to be. It thus becomes all about the individual battles.
The duels to watch closely, insofar as the bookie is concerned, remain those between fullbacks Gwinn/Rauch and Battle/Ouahabi. So much of the flow of the match will be determined based on how this quartet interact with each other. German midfielders Däbritz and Oberdorf will also have to establish themselves early should they wish to gain an edge and Guijarro and Guerrero.
FrauenNationalmannschaft enthusiasts could not have been more pleasantly surprised by what we witnessed in the opening round. That doesn't mean that all concerns about this team have abated. On the contrary, we never did get a chance to see if the center back duo of Hegering and Hendrich are up to snuff. They were never really tested.
Matters can always take a dark turn immediately and without warning. Okay. That might have been way to German. Let's try again. The shadow of heart-wrenching doom looms over every last hard-fought piece of optimism. Dammit. That one was even worse. Another effort. Abysmal emptiness typically engulfs the soul whenever......
Ah hell with it.
I'm making this a pick.
That's all that matters.
THE LINE: Pick em'
Wednesday, July 13th
Sweden vs. Switzerland
vs. 
Something of a lukewarm debut for the bookie's anointed favorites to take this tournament. Overall, there isn't all that much to be concerned about, however. Stina Blackstenius' absence (and Peter Gerhardsson's overcompensatory tactical response) threw the Blaugults off. Both the Dutch and the Swedes were actually noticeably derailed thanks to the interruptive nature of the start to Saturday evening's encounter.
Even if Blackstenius is once again not deemed fit enough to start, I don't really see Gerhardsson's girls having too much trouble with the simmering dumpster fire that is this Swiss team's wayward constellation. Here we have almost a perfectly exploitable opponent ripe for the taking. The Swedish steamroller can flatten them out rather easily.
Asllani has it covered. She can flatten out these "Swiss Misses" all by herself. Bookie stands so confident in this assertion that he will take some prop bets much earlier than usual. Straight up odds on another "magical nutmeg" from the Kosovar? You've got it if you want it.
THE LINE: Sweden +2 Goals
Netherlands vs. Portugal
Man, do we ever have a bunch of injuries to keep tabs on here. The Dutch dressing room resembles a hospital ward with Sari van Veenendaal and Aniek Nouwen having to be subbed off early in the round one fixture. Lynn Wilms, Stephanie van der Gragt, Jackie Groenen, and Lieke Martens also picked up knocks and will be day-to-day. Yikes.
We'll have some catch-up draw-up work to do in any case. Unfortunately for our would-be Cinderellas, it doesn't look as if Francisco Neto's Belles receive much of an opening team. Mark Parsons could replace his entire XI with the Dutch second-string and they would still be heavy favorites for a lopsided win.
After all four teams came out of the first round with just one point apiece, there is some talk of Group C being "wide open". If only that were true. A draw does neither Switzerland nor Portugal much good in light of the caliber of opponents they must face next. Probably the case that there are no more surprises.
It's all going just fine for Lieke & Co. Apart from the fan-scene snapshots, that's also your friendly bookie's favorite photo of the tourney thus far, by the way. Benjamin van Leer is the luckiest footballer alive, or maybe tied with Servando Carrasco at least. Best wishes to this beautiful couple.
THE LINE: Netherlands +2 Goals
Thursday, July 14th
Italy vs. Iceland
vs. 
Having had some time to catch up on a bit of Azzure post-mortem in the daily, I'm becoming more convinced that Bertolini's disgraced girls can at least nick a point here. Iceland remain a notch below the Italians on a talent level. A draw would actually be a fair tip for many oddsmakers. The Italian defensive line must play better. The likes of Linari and Bartoli cannot possibly play worse.
On the other hand, still a tad miffed that tip involving the "dottirs" from last round didn't work out, I think we're going to have to go with the team that could constitute (though barely) our first "upset special. Decide for yourself if the bookie plays one of his notorious mind-games with you or if he just wants to hit his button.
I'm hitting the button in any case.
UPSET ALERT!
THE LINE: Iceland +1 Goal
France vs. Belgium
vs. 
Ahem. There isn't exactly a cordial way to put this. We're looking at a potential bloodbath here. Scouting Belgium has led me to the conclusion that the Red Flames barely edge out the Swiss as the worst organized team in the tournament. Diacre's scorching charges look to have a field day in this one.
Note that I'm absolutely not trusting this woman or this team to assume the mantel of tournament favorites just yet. There can be no trusting a national program that has never advanced past the quarterfinals of any major tournament before.
We can likely forget about the combustible elements within this team so long as everyone is scoring and winning. They'll keep winning for now. Every match nevertheless remains different. Those problems can still surface again.
THE LINE: France +3 Goals
GENTLEMEN, ENTER YOUR WAGERS
