An interesting read on the weekend of England's first major final since 1966.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/09/how-pep-guardiola-and-marcelo-bielsa-primed-england-for-glory
How Pep and Bielsa primed England for glory
posted on 10/7/21
Great minds think alike, Sgt! You didn't get the extra dig in about Brexit though!!!
But it's a thought-provoking article though. It was always a riddle why England have the best league in the world and the most consistently underwhelming national team. These changes we're seeing aren't down to Southgate's management - I was gutted that he took Grealish off against Denmark and parked the bus. We were tearing them a new one at the time.
posted on 10/7/21
Kalvin Phillips, the Leeds midfielder who has become the ticking heartbeat of Southgate’s side.
posted on 10/7/21
Finally read this. All a bit tenuous for me. The author said himself, all teams are more or less playing the same way. No mention of some mangers of squad layers cos he doesn’t know their level of acknowledgement to the two quoted managers? No recognition of any British names cos that’s not sexy? No recognition of opponents? No recognition of Klopp because he is the proponent of a similar system but it has its own name. No mention of any links with Mourinho cos that wouldn’t fit the story? Too much l8ke a column filler for me.
posted on 11/7/21
Fair enough, Silver - it's true he doesn't mention Klopp or Mourinho.
And it's also true that football in England is now being shaped by Europeans, by others who are not British, to its obvious benefit. That's extremely ironic, given what's been going on in English political culture.