European players with recent experience of facing Ukraine, Sweden and France, talk about their strengths and weaknesses
Henrik Ojamaa on Ukraine who beat Estonia 4-0 on 28 May
They are a strong side. They don't have many men playing abroad because their domestic league is financially quite good and a decent level, so they mostly play in their own league.
They line up in a 4–3–3 that defensively turns into a 4–5–1 or a 4–4–1–1 with one of the strikers playing off the other. In the middle is Bayern Munich's Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, who is running things, and I think their main threat is out wide. They play the ball out there so quickly and come with pace down the wings, where they have pacy, tricky players who put a lot of crosses in.
Andriy Voronin is one of the threats to England. He is a very experienced player who has been on the scene for a long time and he links up very well with their No11, Artem Milevskiy, with whom there is a good understanding. Also on the bench they have Andriy Shevchenko, who came on and really had an impact, which seems to be a move they can use maybe when they are 1-0 down with 20 minutes to go. He played as No10, off the main striker and dropped a little bit deeper to take possession and thread balls through to the striker and the wing men.
Defensively, one of their centre‑backs is quite tall and he was winning all the headers but then again I think with the way they play with their full‑backs always really high supporting the wing men, a lot of teams will find space down the wings to counterattack.
It will definitely help Ukraine that most of them play in same league together – its one of their key factors. They seem to have a really good understanding: it looked like a team that has been playing together a long time. But England definitely have a chance to beat them.
Sure, they are a good team but with the players England have they should defeat them because if Ukraine play the same sort of risky attacking style it will be very difficult for them not to concede
Gunnleifur Gunnleifsson on Sweden who beat Iceland 3-2 on 30 May
Sweden have a very physical, strong team. Much of the ball goes through Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is a fantastic player. He doesn't run a lot but he is absolutely fantastic with his technique. The team in general are playing better now with the ball – a few more touches – than they were some years ago, so they are better technically. But mainly their threat is that they are very physically strong and well organised.
Against us they played four at the back, two holding midfielders, and two wing-men behind the striker Markus Rosenberg – Ibrahimovic has a free role, so he could do anything he wanted. So expect Sweden to line up at the Euros in a 4-2-3-1 with Ibrahimovic in behind the main striker.
We did manage to score two goals against them. Olof Mellberg is a world‑class defender, of course, but on the right they had Andreas Granqvist, who is not really a right‑back – we were told he is a better centre-half. And on the left side of defence you have Kim Kallstrom and Behrang Safari [the left-back], and our strategy was to try to get up their flanks.
We scored two headers that the Swedish couldn't defend, so they have some issues dealing with crosses. Andy Carroll could cause problems against Sweden – if you take a look at how our game unfolded.
We scored one with a simple cross in from the left-back that our striker finished with a header. And our second was from a corner – our right-back scored. So they were either over confident or sloppy at defending the high ball.
I know Ibrahimovic has a reputation for not turning up in the big games – whether that be in the Champions League or for Sweden. But as a professional player I can say he did win the league, wherever played, for eight years in a row, which was absolutely fantastic, and if he decides to play well I think he can, against whoever he wants. If I was the England manager I would not underestimate Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Aron Gunnarsson on France who beat Iceland 3-2 on 27 May
The French have got a lot of technical players in their squad. What we planned to do was frustrate them by sitting back and counterattacking them, which did work in the first half. They give you time on the ball which will be good for England because they will be able to keep the ball and pass it – they drop off a bit in midfield, so we had a lot of space in there which is unusual.
They have quality in their squad and team. Against us, Franck Ribéry and Florent Malouda came on and changed the game, so they have players like that. It was a hard game for us, especially at the end when they just chucked people forward and we couldn't handle it.
Regarding Samir Nasri and Karim Benzema, I don't know if they were 100% focused on that game, and you know the French attitude – it's not the best when they are thinking of a friendly. But Nasri's and Benzema's movement is brilliant and it's hard to defend against because they play a lot of quick football. One-two, one-two and all of a sudden they are in, one against the keeper.
We went 2-0 up. The first goal was a bit scrappy – our striker won a header and their right-back played our right‑winger onside and he was one on one with the keeper and scored. Our second happened because they dropped off a bit and we had time on the ball to play, and I think it was a good move from us.
We got the ball into the midfield with two or three short passes, and then our right-winger had a lot space and he went up the wing and passed it into the box, and our striker was there.
I don't know if there were any particular weaknesses. They've obviously got [Patrice] Evra at left-back who is quality and [Philippe] Mexès at centre-back, who is also good. But they are not the strongest in the air – they're not the biggest team in the world. They're a good side but I think England are more than capable of beating them Read More
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