Day 11: Now Agger can rest

With all the action taking place in Ukraine yesterday, many miles from my base in Warsaw, Sunday was a day for preparation and planning for the time ahead. How some of the more 'high profile' figures at these Championships must wish they could have done the same.

It's recrimination time; the stage of the tournament where some rejoice and others begin a deep investigation into what went wrong. Let's call it Group R - it currently includes Poland, Russia and now Denmark and Holland.

The Polish coach Franciszek Smuda was the first to fall on his sword, a victim of over-hyped home team expectations and grave disappointment. According to the FIFA rankings, Poland were the worst side in this competition and realistically probably wouldn't have even been here had it not been for their co-host status. Smuda has taken charge of just three competitive matches and lost just one, but some negative press and a nation in despair has done for him.

Russia are also knee-deep in questions with few answers. How can a side, who many tipped as possible winners of the tournament, go out at the first stage? A side in the easiest group with such talent at their disposal? Their manager Dick Advocaat is already gone and had planned to before the tournament, to PSV. Perhaps there-in lies the problem, the players all too aware that their boss was not for the long-term. Luckily Andrey Arshavin has tried to smooth things over in the team hotel by rowing with fans."If you expected us to go through and we haven't, then that's your problem, not my problem," were his alleged comments.

Denmark are probably only one of the four countries who can feel genuinely hard done to. Lumped in the 'Group of Death' they beat the Dutch, lost out to a late goal against Portugal with pretty much the same story against Germany. Go and get those feet up Mr Agger.

The problems, questions and hysteria that surrounded the departure of the Dutch would take me days to write about. But the absence of the 'man for the big occasion' Dirk Kuyt may have played a small part.

Today is all about the Spaniards, the Croats and the Italians but sadly not the Irish - now just a bit-part player in Group C. Jason McAteer - who turns 41 today - is considering getting his boots back on.

A final nod to the group of Polish Liverpool fans that I met yesterday who sadly I do not have any pictorial evidence of. Their reasons for supporting the Reds? Like so many others you speak to in far-flung lands, that game and that goal against St Etienne in 1977. If, by some amazing chance, you don't know what I'm talking about, Mr David Fairclough will delight in talking you through it second by second.