With the quarter-finals of EURO2024 lurking just around the corner, the tournament is slowly approaching its climax.
For all of its entertainment, multiple big-name upsets, and already iconic moments, this summer’s competition has been dominated by both a phantom goalscorer and a phantom club: ‘Own Goal’, and ‘Free Agents FC’.
There have been an impressive nine own goals so far at a tournament where the most represented club is… no club. Manchester City and Inter Milan both have 14 players in their respective nations’ EURO2024 squads, whilst a whopping 29 players are free agents this summer – a list featuring famous names such as Toni Kroos, Olivier Giroud, and Adrien Rabiot to name but a few.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs far as the Premier League is concerned, the aforementioned Manchester City lead the way in terms of representation, followed by Arsenal with 10 players, and Liverpool with nine. Perhaps surprisingly to some, Brentford sent eight players to the tournament, as many as Manchester United.
Bums on plane seats are important, but it’s what you do once you’ve touched down on German soil that really counts. Here at FromTheSpot, we’re taking a look at which Premier League club has had the best EURO2024 so far.
5. Brentford
The west London club’s representation started off eight-strong, but has since diminished to seven with the permanent departure of goalkeeper David Raya to Arsenal for £27m.
It’s another ‘keeper, though, who had somewhat of a quietly good EUROs campaign for his nation. Albania’s Thomas Strakosha may have only helped his team to one point in Group B, but his performance in their 2-2 draw against Croatia was one for the books, with a whopping eight saves under his belt.
Strakosha is not the preferred choice between the sticks at Brentford, and was perhaps the beneficiary of an umtimely injury from Etrit Berisha to be given the chance to shine at EURO2024. He definitely took it, though, and may have just proven to gaffer Sylvinho that times are changing.
Embed from Getty ImagesBees talisman Ivan Toney has featured just the once for Gareth Southgate so far this summer, but his assist off the bench made all the difference as Kane fired England into the quarter-finals. He may not get many minutes in what is a star-studded squad, but Toney has already made a big impact on the Three Lions’ tournament advancement.
With Thomas Frank in charge at the Gtech Community Stadium, it is no surprise than four Danish players were also called-up from Brentford. Mathias Jansen, Christian Nørgaard, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Zanka. The Red-White had a disappointing time in the groupstage, musturing up just three draws before falling at the hands of host nation Germany.
Brentford’s impressive roster of talent on display at EURO2024 is a testament to how far they have come as a football club in recent years; let’s not forget they have only been playing Premier League football since 2021.
4. Liverpool
There is one Liverpool player alone who warrants the Reds being fourth in this list: Cody Gakpo. What an unbelievable campaign the 25-year-old attacker is having for a Netherlands side looking to go all the way to the final in Berlin.
He has managed an impressive three goals and one assist on Oranje‘s way towards the quarter-finals and is receiving ‘Player of the Tournament’ shouts from fans and onlookers across the continent. With a further four big chances created, 2.8 key passes per 90 minutes, and even 3.5 ball recoveries per 90, it’s hard to argue against Gakpo when you’re having these conversations.
Embed from Getty ImagesAside from Gakpo, Liverpool captain and fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk has also quietly impressed at the back. The defender re-found his blistering form of years gone by for the Reds last season, and has continued his steadily good performances for his country. Van Dijk is keeping the talented likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Micky van de Ven out of the equation for the Netherlands at the age of 32-years-old, and he doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, a natural right-back, was experimented as a central midfielder during England’s opening two matches of EURO2024. Two undistinguised performances later, the Liverpool man was dropped for Conor Gallagher. It has been a frustrating summer for a player who no doubt wants the chance to shine in his best position at a major tournament for his country.
Fellow defenders Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez are yet to feature for their respective countries this summer, and forward Diogo Jota hasn’t quite found his best form for a Portugal side so desparately chasing the ultimate potential send-off for Cristiano Ronaldo.
3. Arsenal
With the second-most players present at the tournament, Arsenal have had a mixed bag in terms of high performers and low performers. One bright spark for the club though has undoubtedly been the continued form of William Saliba at the back. He was expected to be Didier Deschamps’ third-choice centre-half for France this summer, with the manager having previously said: “He is having a good season, but he also does things that I don’t like so much.”
Deschamps’ decision to start the Arsenal man over Konaté has led to impressive performances from Saliba, oftentimes overshadowing his partner Dayot Upamecano to prove his worth in the starting lineup. This level of performance shouldn’t come as a shock though, with the 23-year-old being one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.
Arsenal’s midfielder-turned-striker, Kai Havertz, has also had a decent time at his home tournament. With two goals and an assist in four matches, the versatile forward had lead the line effectively and boosted Germany’s status as one of the favourites to win EURO2024.
Embed from Getty ImagesEngland mainstays Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have had a mixed campaign for the Three Lions, with the former outperforming the latter on every matchday so far. Rice’s shift against Slovenia last time out showed his doubters exactly why he cannot be dropped by Southgate. Criticised for passing the ball sideways and limiting England’s build-up play, the midfielder responded by completing all seven attempted long passes.
As for his teammate Saka, it’s been a tough summer down the right-hand side of a conservative set-up. The exciting winger has managed zero goal contributions so far at EURO2024, although it was his deflected cross that created England’s first goal of the tournament.
Italian regista Jorginho was consistently good for Luciano Spalletti’s side, with the manager rotating the lineup for their eventual loss against Switzerland; these rotations included benching the Arsenal midfielder. The 32-year-old is always a reliable midfielder for club and country and, despite the Azzurri‘s disappointing early exit, proved his quality once again.
A handful of other Gunners had summers to forget. Leandro Trossard was such a key player for Mikel Arteta’s side last league season, but failed to offer up anything of impact for Belgium at the EUROs. Left-backs Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Kieran Tierney were all a part of the early exits of Poland, Ukraine, and Scotland respectively.
2. Crystal Palace
Palace caught the surprise of onlookers all across the country at the backend of last season, finding a brilliant vein of form under new manager Oliver Glasner and climbing up the table to secure a 10th-place finish.
As a result, there were plenty of players hoping for a perhaps unexpected call-up from their respective nations, and for five of them to make the cut is nothing short of exceptional.
The stand-out star of this group has been none other than Marc Guéhi. There were concerns surrounding the centre-back going into the tournament after likely starter Harry Maguire pulled out of the squad through injury. Many questioned whether Guéhi was the man to fill Maguire’s boots, and whether England could go far at EURO2024 with a makeshift defence.
The Palace man has arguably gone on to be England’s best performer at the tournament so far. When the rest of his teammates have underperformed, Guéhi has stood out like a sore thumb, proving his doubters even more wrong with every match he plays. If it wasn’t for him, the Three Lions could possibly have been knocked out of the competition prematurely.
Embed from Getty ImagesHis centre-back partner, Joachim Andersen, has had a slightly less straightforward time with Denmark this summer. Having already solidified himself as a nailed-on starter for his nation, his inclusion into the squad was a shock to nobody. Andersen proved himself with solid defensive displays to keep the likes of England and Serbia at bay in Group C, but had a really poor match against Germany as his side were sent packing.
For the other Englishmen, a lack of minutes has been expected, but simultaneously has oftentimes felt undeserved. Adam Wharton, for example, did so well to earn his seat on the plane this summer with his outstanding breakthrough season for the Eagles, and many were hoping to see him continue his form in Germany – but he is yet to make an appearance.
Eberechi Eze has had some bright spells off the bench when called upon, and goalkeeper Dean Henderson has been benched in favour of England’s number one, Jordan Pickford.
1. Manchester City
When putting together prospective rankings before writing this, one thing became apparent to me: no Premier League team has had an outstanding EURO2024 so far. I was reluctant to put Manchester City first: they may have the most players at the tournament, but to say it’s been a mixed bag in terms of quality would be an understatement.
Phil Foden has struggled for England, just like the aforementioned Saka on the opposite flank. Joško Gvardiol was excellent for Croatia at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, but this time around was a major disappointment. Jérémy Doku couldn’t put in the performances Belgium needed to avoid an embarrassing third-place Group E finish, and Kyle Walker has been a shadow of his dependable self in an underwhelming England campaign so far.
On the flip side though, Belgium’s round of 16 exit was no fault of Kevin de Bruyne’s. The 33-year-old Blues star was top-dollar, particularly against Romania where he managed one goal, three key passes, eleven successful ground duels, and 75% dribble success.
Embed from Getty ImagesRodri has also been his usual self for Spain this summer. He is widely accepted to be the best midfielder in the world for Manchester City with his incomprehensible consistency and reliability being second to none. La Roja have been the most impressive side so far at EURO2024, and Rodri has played a big part.
Rúben Dias has been the heartbeat of a Portugal back four to have conceded just one goal at the hands of Czechia on matchday one. Other City defenders have been impressive in Germany too, with Nathan Aké solid for the Netherlands, and Manuel Akanji helping Switzerland go on a deep run ahead of their quarter-final tie with England.
John Stones, Bernardo Silva, and Joao Cancelo have all put in good displays for England and Portugal respectively, too. For every player that has performed poorly from City this summer, others have bumped up their overall efforts – and that is why they are my number one Premier League team at EURO2024.
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