Press and possess is the method of many leading teams but Didier Deschamps’ side in Russia and Real Madrid before them picked up the biggest prizes playing in their own mannerThe same basics everywhere: it would be easy to believe that football in 2018 was about the victory of press and possess. Manchester City do it, Liverpool do it, Tottenham do it, Chelsea do it, Arsenal do it, Barcelona do it, Juventus do it, Napoli do it, Bayern Munich do it, Borussia Dortmund do it, even Paris Saint-Germain have been showing signs of doing it under Thomas Tuchel. Manchester United didn’t do it and José Mourinho was sacked after a grim opening to the season in which his ideas had...
The stats show Southgate’s men have reached the semi-finals through hard work, organisation and playing to their strengthsEngland are in the World Cup semi-finals and the question remains: how did they get there? Gareth Southgate’s men have undoubtedly benefited from good fortune but their success has also been down to hard work, organisation, playing to their strengths and the contributions of individuals, as a statistical breakdown of their tournament shows. Note: these stats take into account Belgium and France have played one game more. Continue reading...
There is admiration for Gareth Southgate and his team across the globe but most experts do not see them going on to win the World Cup in RussiaIn the last 25 days we learnt that this World Cup is like Eric Cantona crossed with Mario Balotelli crossed with a 1970s Mick Jagger. It is disrespectful to authority. Unpredictable. Maybe the craziest tournament, ever. Continue reading...
Tories, let’s be clear – distracting everyone by bringing down the government this week, of all weeks, is unacceptableThanks to David Davis and Boris Johnson, England are now one of those World Cup sides that can be described sympathetically as “playing on despite the political turmoil back home”. As the old saying goes: dance like no one’s watching, love like you’ve never been hurt and play a World Cup like your shitshow of a government is about to collapse itself and plunge your country further into the mire.And you know what? Depending on how much barely charted territory you can handle – England are in the semi-finals of the actual World Cup, after all – it feels great to be...
Wednesday’s semi-final brings to mind when the nation came to a standstill watching Bobby Robson’s team in the knockout stages 28 years agoThe dustbins! I went outside with the dustbin, and that was the moment I realised that my country had changed. For ever, as it turned out.It was Sunday 1 July 1990, England’s quarter-final against Cameroon in Naples. I watched at home and at half-time remembered that Monday was dustbin day. I lugged mine on to my north London rat-run street. And there was silence. Related: Why Italia 90 was not beautiful to everyone, but will always be special | Amy Lawrence Related: England's performance at Italia 90 World Cup is venerated too much | Jonathan Wilson Continue reading...