The Elliot Anderson secret tactic which might mean England are not ‘pretty much f**ked’ against Mexico | OneFootball

England are ‘pretty much f**ked’ against Mexico – unless Elliot Anderson proves he is worth £116m by taking some low, driven pot-shots.

Thomas Tuchel’s side weren’t even that bad against DR Congo on second viewing. But they need something else at the Azteca.

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The Ronaldo Show

64 minutes into the Portugal Croatia game and BBC radio commentary has spent at least 59 of those talking about Ronaldo.

We get he isn’t what he was, but is he the reason my beloved Bruno Fernandes hasn’t hit a decent pass all game and has just been hooked? Is he why Martinez’s tactics are to get two wingers that can’t cross on the ball, make them stop so a first-time cross isn’t on, then cut inside and smack the ball at a massive Croatian centre back? Don’t get me started on Vitinha and Neves playing 20 yards further back than they should.

Oh, he’s just scored. Simon MUFC

Altitude training

I’ve seen two mails from Ben Teacher in the last couple of days talking about the altitude in Mexico City (circa 2000m above sea level).

He suggested England hot-foot it to some un-named location and try to acclimatise to the increased altitude but it doesn’t work like that physically at all.

It takes several weeks, which is why athletes go to ‘altitude camps’ before championships to get used to the the thinner air, so they can gain an advantage when their competitions are nearer sea level.. You can’t do it in 4 days (trust me I’m a doctor!).

England have at best five days before playing Mexico, who have probably been together for 2 or 3 week, training at this altitude, which should give them a physical advantage.Thomas Tuchel has said this himself, so the whole altitude thing is bullsh*t, presumably because they assumed they would avoid it. Otherwise they could have based the team at a location more like Mexico City (in altitude terms) but they didn’t.

Couple that with the Mexican home support, and England being pretty sh*t in every game so far, they are pretty much f**ked. A, LFC, Montreal.

I love all the altitude talk because paranoia about the weather conditions is a classic part of the “England tournament cycle” , along with:

the new,-fangled methods that will work this time (“heat-proof game model”, anyone?) key players facing a “race against time” the hoo-hah over the squad selection the team base being too exciting or not exciting enough the mid-tournament clamour after a group stage bore draw/narrow defeat the scapegoating of individual players the dramatic exit the tedious inquest about whether there’s something systemically wrong with English football or whether the team just needed to be a bit better and luckier at the crucial moment.

It’s like a script and I always enjoy it when all the key beats are hit. Matthew

Hi Ed,

It’s best not to worry about oxygen deprecation at Azteca. The thing that the midfield ought to do is take plenty of low driven shots. The thin oxygen and generally thinner air chemistry mean that the low driven shot that Anderson specializes in would be a perfect way to pin back the Mexicans to their goal.

Send in low Thunderbastard shots and the ball might just slip through the goalkeeper’s hands. The ball doesn’t dip at the end of flight in that climate/atmosphere.

Wide lens

What are we expecting from our wide players (I can’t really seriously call them wingers, as it stands) in the current set up?

Is the vision that they put in crosses with their weak foot? Is it to drive into the centre – where Kane, Bellingham, Rice/Eze/Rogers plus likely O’Reilly are already lurking along with the opponents?

Playing inside forwards is a tactic great for counter-attacking; they have space and pace and the ability to shoot. Against a low block, they have little-to-none of that. Yet I see plenty of comments and articles about how Rashford and Madueke failed to deliver. Yes, they did both fail to deliver much end product (though it could easily have been at least one goal from Rashford and an assist each), but it strikes me that it’s not that surprising when you consider the reality outlined above.

If you want them to cross and provide effective width, put the left-footer on the left, and right-footer on the right, then challenge the guys in the middle to get on the end of the balls in. If you want them to make driving runs in-field then you need fewer players standing there, and not play a full-back that will always underlap but instead block the runner (as O’Reilly did many times against Congo). Otherwise, don’t be shocked when it doesn’t work, and don’t blame the players but the manager who can’t seem to understand this pretty basic logic. Badwolf

Negative feedback

I am absolutely aghast at what I am reading in the mailbox recently (and this whole season to be honest). I am going to gloss over the positive correspondence for a moment to address the sheer volume of negative messages.

Looking closely, the majority of these complaints currently seem to fall squarely into three distinct themes (I’m going to focus on England but you can apply this at club level also):

1) The Anyone But England Crowd Seriously, lads, imagine focusing so heavily on your resentment of another nation rather than finding joy in the success of your own team. From a psychological standpoint, this is a textbook example of out group derogation. Defining yourselves entirely by who you hate rather than who you support, and relying on schadenfreude (deriving pleasure from another’s misfortune) for entertainment. It completely drains the fun that so many people are genuinely trying to have.

2) The Deluded Fans Brigade England fans are deluded; let’s laugh at them. What an egregious crime it is to want your team to win and do well! This attitude reeks of cynical detachment, a defence mechanism where people mock the earnest enthusiasm of others to protect themselves from vulnerability or disappointment. Stop invalidating people’s emotions and taking the fun out of dreaming. Let the fans enjoy the sport exactly as they see fit.

3) The Premier League vs. Other Leagues Debate The Premier League must be rubbish because England aren’t France. Sure, England aren’t France, and realistically, it’s probably not coming home. However, the Premier League is intensely competitive with a massive global fanbase. Engaging in this false equivalence and zero sum bias, the flawed belief that one league’s quality must directly diminish another’s is entirely pointless. What can we conclude from these comparisons? Absolutely nothing. Why should we even care which league is objectively “better”? People gain immense enjoyment from Lens vs Marseille, just as they do from Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd. Football is supposed to be fun; if the fans are enjoying it, the league is doing exactly what it is meant to do.

Life is infinitely better when we build each other up, celebrate our shared enjoyment, and focus on the positives, rather than getting bogged down in constant, cynical negativity. Maybe let’s stop with the constant negativity and instead focus on positivity for the good of us all. Adam – whatever happens in the Azteca let’s hope for a fun match. 

On second viewing

I watched the game in a bar in Dubai with a friend, and a decent England contingent of fans. The atmosphere was very reflective of the mailbox this morning.

However I caught an early flight to the UK and they were showing the game on repeat. Knowing we were going to come back and win meant I watched it less emotionally.

The right side defensively in the first half wasn’t great. But the performance as a whole wasn’t as sh*t as I remember, nor were we saved by individuals as much as the narrative seems to be. By that I mean Kane obviously dug us out a hole with some individual brilliance but we actually kept our nerve going forward and had lots of chances and there goalkeeper played exceptionally well.

I’m not saying we’re going to go and win the tournament, far from it. Or that some of the squad omissions with hindsight don’t reflect well on planning, or  that the defence was anything but shaky. But a second watch without the emotion made me think we weren’t as crap as my initial pessimism. JC STFC

After the beer break

The Premier League is the problem? Makes English players look better than they are?

I don’t think so. About 180 prem based players have already been eliminated from this World Cup.

Guess our players are just too knackered to carry the weight of the jersey.

Can we play the star 5 from the 70th minute please? Bring on Kane – Jude – Saka – Eze & Gordon for the ‘fourth quarter’plus extra time – opponents won’t know what hit ‘em ! Peter ( are england spursy ? ) Andalucia .

US of eh?

What are the press smoking when it comes to the U.S. performance against Bosnia?  Down to 10 men, it looked like men against boys with the U.S. athletes imposing their physical dominance on the tiring Europeans.

This World Cup is going to be won by a team who can deal with humidity, heat, and 2,000 meter elevations — sorry England.  Sure, maybe a smart technical team (Spain/Brazil) beats a pressing team like the U.S., but dealing with the elements is going to be key.  Did you see how fresh the U.S. players looked at the end of the match?  That was something to behold because I’d barely be able to walk after 90 minutes and 10 men in summer in the U.S.

I’ll predict 3-1 over an old Belgium side — Congo and Senegal may have lost, but this World Cup is only the beginning of the revenge of the colonies against the former masters. The parity is wonderful and why any team would scout in countries like England or Holland is beyond me when the talent pool around the world is so deep.

The Premier League may suck the joy out of football for everyone, but luckily we can just turn it off because it’s such an abysmally crap product. Or maybe it’s still all about Messi, but either way, 48 teams is bloody brilliant, hydration breaks are fantastic for coaching skills to shine, and the game has never been better. Niall, Annapolis

Gutted about Toonali

That will do me.

When a team that has finished 17th in the last two years, just outside the relegation zone, benefits from financially imposed embargoes on 14 other Premier League teams, simply because they can sell more tickets to Ariana Grande concerts at their football stadium, I’m out.

PSR/SCR is a cap on ambition.

Look at Villa who are in the champions league this season. Villa’s  owners wealth is  twice the size. of Tottenhams.

However, Villa’s  owners  can’t make any  type of investment like Spurs have done just in  the last week.

Villa, Newcastle or any other team can’t kick on.  They  have to tolerate.

The message is clear: the cartel 6 remains intact, and everyone else is expected to know their place. Todd

Boycott Israel

The FAI have cited ”operational issues” as a pretext for moving their Nations League match to Serbia, which UEFA has accepted, and have issued a statement which I’ve lifted from some site and pasted the following…

In the letter to members, the FAI board indicated that it respected alternative opinions on whether the matches should be played but said a boycott would “result in Uefa disciplinary processes” which would include automatic forfeiture of six points, loss of income and potential disqualification from the competition.

The letter went on to claim that not playing the games could also lead to Nations League relegation and affect future qualification to World Cups and European Championships.

The FAI also estimated a financial loss of 10.3m euros which would lead to reduced investment across every level of the game from grassroots upwards.

The letter went on to state that a boycott would set a precedent for all other Ireland teams, men and women at all age groups, should they be drawn against Israel.

The whole point of taking a stand against an Apartheid State that is engaging in an ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing, aggressive Wars of expansion and countless crimes against humanity, is to set a f***ing precedent, you cowards. You stand up, say NO, show solidarity, take the brickbats and carry on, knowing that you’re doing what’s morally correct. The fact that they also cite a €10m loss reflects badly on the grubby c***s.