Good to see a manager calling players out and not just mouthing platitudes. https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/2030858/Thomas-Tuchel-England-Albania
However, it's relatively easy to pick up sheep in all the countries in the group. Wellies are a major contributor to all of their economies and cheap. No need to pack any if visiting there.
The world cup qualifiers, as always, are split into confederations, so we compete in the European qualifiers to win one of the European qualification spots.
I can see his point regarding Foden in particular. I had his comments about being front-footed at the forefront of my mind whilst watching and it was clear at times that Foden in particular was too passive on a couple of occasions where we'd got him into a good position but he hesitated instead of going for the kill and it allowed them to regroup and get men behind the ball again.
That’s the way to play now. You don’t play in the front foot or go for the kill anymore. If there’s even a 1% chance you might lose possession you turn back and do something else instead. That’s how all the top teams play.
Yes true and I think Newcastle not doing that and going for the jugular in last week's final was something Liverpool struggled to cope with . 2 v 1 completely flattered Liverpool and 4 v 1 would have been a more fair reflection of Newcastle's domination .
I doubt we’ll see Foden start again anytime soon, he was really poor last night, as he usually is for England. Obviously it would be Saka normally anyway, but in his absence, Bowen should start.
You're taking the piss but there is truth in it. It is inevitable in the modern game that there will be games like last night. They're more common than ever and people struggle to believe that it isn't necessarily down to a lack of ambition from the attacking side. You can't just wish away the challenge of a packed defence by saying you'll be attacking. And I think when you do say things like that, you invite additional scrutiny and look even sillier when you inevitably do struggle to break down defences, like City under Walter. A lot of it comes down to how you capitalise on moments. I don't think for a second that Foden was told never to run at his man when we'd isolated him 1v1 high up the pitch. But maybe he's lacking confidence recently and went into his shell a bit. As we've seen at City, getting players to take these opportunities consistently is the hard part.
I just don’t think Foden can start out wide. He doesn’t beat his man, just recycles the ball. Tuchel wants more than that.
Always talking sense What a lot of people forget sometimes Is just how good the coaching across football is now Long gone are the days teams like albania lose 6-0 They are very very hard to break down Theres almost no space to play in and sometimes it needs that moment of magic like bellinghams pass for the first goal Its pretty obvious albania set out to nullify the wide areas
I do think there are shifting sands towards a more dynamic style of play, and getting the ball forward quicker. I think the tippy tippy style of Pep maybe coming to an end, or certainly reducing in its popularity.
For most of the match last night England had all ten outfield players in Albania’s half with Burn and Konsa about ten yards past the halfway line. Hard to know, or even see the point, of being more attacking than that!
Foden is 24 and Rashford is 27, both peaked too early, a big challenge for Tuchel to mold them into the great internationals they promised to be.
I know that...The board should have said 'World Cup Qualifiers'. As did the little logo on to the screen, saying the road to the World Cup 2026, or something on those lines. PS...I think it will be a complete new XI for Monday night.
