He’s the TV star of the Euros. But why did Sportsmail’s columnist jump on the desk?
I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE SHOWN ON TV!
I THINK you have seen my passion for the game on ITV in recent days — but I will try not to stand on that table again, there could have been a nasty accident!
I know it has caused a bit of a stir back in England and I was a bit embarrassed about that. I didn’t know they were going to show it on TV. I wouldn’t have done it if I had known that!
All three of us around that table, Ian Wright, Christian Karembeu and myself, showed our emotions when we watched the game and when West Ham’s Dimitri Payet scored that fine goal, I just reacted; it was natural.
I didn’t really want to do it but every time Albania had a chance Mark Pougatch and Ian were getting really excited so I just waited for my moment!
I am enjoying the experience of working on TV during the Euros, especially because my family are with me in Paris and we have some free time together in this great city.
I would of course be watching the games anyway. OK, I am not watching them with my mates back in Split, in a local bar or at home with my son — but I am watching them with football people.
During the game we talk about the action and you can always learn from people like Ian, Christian, Lee Dixon, Emmanuel Petit and Glenn Hoddle. When I see the coaches of the teams going through agonies down on the touchline, I can empathise, having been in that situation myself in 2008 and 2012.
When I have to say something about the coaches on TV I’m trying to be sympathetic. I want to defend them because I know how hard it is for them and how easy it is for me — and other pundits — to talk at half-time or after the game.
On TV, we talk about the coach after the game and ask: ‘Why did he do this and why did he not do that?’
I can tell you that quite often the coach is asking himself exactly the same questions, but he has had to make decisions before the game.
It is a great job to coach your country but it is also hard because there are thousands and thousands of ‘ managers’ who are watching your every move.
I have also talked to my friends back in Croatia. They have been very positive about our team. The people and the media were not happy during qualification and the manager, Niko Kovac, was sacked before the play-offs.
Everything looks positive after the Turkey match, but you know it can all change after one game.
EURO 2016 HAS REALLY BEEN TOO DEFENSIVE
MY over-riding feeling following the first round of Euro 2016 is that it has been competitive, interesting — but quite defensive.
It is exactly what I expected, but I am not happy because this is the Euros!
Every team has been organised but, for me, that is the minimum you should expect. This is the European Championship, it should be the creme de la creme, and there should be more quality, more risk-taking.
I’m not slaughtering those teams for being organised and defensive, but that is a minimum. It hasn’t been a surprise but I hoped for a little bit more.
I think there are two reasons why it has been like this. The first is the change of format. With 24 teams in the competition, finishing third still gives you a chance to go through to the knockout stages. It was the same in qualifying and some have stuck with the same pattern and what worked for them during those two years to get them to France.
The second reason is that the system here also allows you to dream that, if you make three draws or have a good goal difference, you can go through. This influences a coach’s approach to games.
Also, some of the teams have been waiting a long time to qualify for a major tournament. They are happy to be here, to be well organised and not take the risk of being hammered. It’s understandable.
As for the big guns, they are struggling to break down the teams who are defending with 10 men. All of that means we have seen only a few good, open games so far. I haven’t seen every match but of the ones I have watched, the best in the first round were Italy v Belgium and Croatia v Turkey because all four teams played to win.
Make no mistake, when I was Croatia coach my philosophy was to be compact and solid, but when you have the ball you have to do something, you have to keep it, you have to penetrate.
Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don’t, but it is not easy for the smaller teams.
It is hard to try and change the philosophy of a team, especially when it has been successful.
Teams such as Albania have qualified by being solid and nicking
a goal here and there so why should they change?
I am not even sure if it will open up that much in the knockout stages because, yes, you will have the better teams, but the space won’t be there.
How many open games do you see in the Champions League knockout stages?
The games should be more even though, rather than being totally dominated by one side.
Of the teams I have seen, I have been most impressed with Italy, Croatia and Spain after their first games. I would have also included England, had they beaten Russia.
Of course you have to add Germany and France but I have the feeling since the World Cup, Germany have lost a little bit of energy. Then again, they are a tournament side and they know exactly how to pace themselves.
Some people did not expect much from Italy, but Croatia were in the same group as them in 2012 so I saw a lot of their games.
They also played with three at the back then and their whole system starts from defence.
The four of them, goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon plus Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Georgio Chiellini, are all Juventus team-mates. It’s like they were born together.
They know exactly what to do, they have been doing it for years and they are playing like a club side.
They play by the book, if you like, but it’s very hard to stop.