England news: Bizarre Uefa technical report, led by Sir Alex Ferguson, praises England's performances in France

The report, compiled by Sir Alex Ferguson and a team of technical observers, even applauded Joe Hart for his 'accurate distribution' from the back

England at Euro 2016 ahead of their embarrassing 2-1 loss to Iceland in the Last 16 (Getty)

Uefa has released a bizarre technical report from Euro 2016 which has praised the English national team for their performances at the tournament and even singled out Joe Hart for his “accurate distribution” from the back.

The report, compiled by Sir Alex Ferguson and a team of ‘technical observers’, examined the technical and tactical performances of all the sides involved at Euro 2016.

But despite losing to minnows Iceland in the last 16 stage of the tournament, the report has painted an overwhelmingly positive picture of England’s performances in France.

In particular, the findings specified England’s “emphasis on building from the back” and Joe Hart’s “accurate distribution” - even though the keeper was snubbed by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City for his apparent deficiencies in this department.

The report also praised England’s “neat, high-tempo combinations”, their “varied attacking options” and their “youthful, energetic team”.

In terms of possession, technical observer Peter Rudbaek stated that: “I would say that only Germany, Spain and England genuinely wanted the ball.”

The report found that England had an average of 59% possession per match – a figure bettered only by Germany (63%) and Spain (61%).


 Joe Hart endured a woeful campaign in France 
 (Getty)

As for Wayne Rooney, the captain was applauded for "dropping deep to act as a catalyst for attacking play” – something which was called into doubt by many critics.

Indeed, Rooney's positioning as a midfield player has been repeatedly questioned on both the international and domestic stage in recent weeks.

In light of these findings, future generations of England fans could be forgiven for assuming the nation's Euro 2016 campaign was not nearly so calamitous as it really was.

The report's full analysis of England's 2016 performance included:

• Possession-based game with patient passing through thirds
• Strong, athletic centre-backs; aerial power in set plays at both ends
• Emphasis on building from back; accurate distribution by keeper Hart
• Good passing, reading of game by screening midfielder Dier
• Constant overlaps, crosses by full-backs, notably Walker on right
• Rooney dropping deep to act as catalyst for attacking play
• Neat high-tempo combinations opening play to wide areas
• Varied attacking options (Sterling, Sturridge, Lallana, Vardy and Rashford)
• Youthful, committed, energetic team; technique in all departments