The mighty win over France last night for the Netherlands means that they are set fair to be named tournament favourites this morning. 7 goals in two games against the World Champions and World Cup Finalists ensures that opponents will be quaking for the next few games when they face the Orange tide.

Raven from OleOle talks of the fashion in which the Dutch managed to ‘demolish’ a French side that were much-vaunted pre-tournament, but appear to be in freefall. He praises the attacking substitution at half time, when everyone was expecting France to beef up their front line is was the Dutch who brought Robben on. The ‘unbelievable teamwork’ displayed for van Persie’s goal caught Raven’s eye too, and he can’t wait for the next Netherlands match.

Over at The World Cup Blog (in their excellent Euro 2008 section), Jeff puts the French perspective forward. Suppose you hadn’t watched the game, he says, and were told that in a major competition, with their best side out, France got beat 4-1, you too would be ‘shell-shocked and numb’. He praises the ‘fantastic finishing’ and ‘quality’ forward play, but wonders where Benzema was.

For those of you as fascinated by stats as we are, Daniel Finkelstein has provided an explanation of how the CPI ratings work in a piece in the Times. The pitch is divided into zones, and moves starting in each one of these zones is rated as to how likely it will be to result in a goal. There are many variables – it is football, you know – but the higher scores are gained when there is less probability of that action being successful. A long range pass, a goal that is started from your own penalty area, a save from point blank distance will all score highly. Get over to the article to get a more detailed view from a professional.

Yes, we’re brilliant, we even clap ourselves.