S2.E4 - England Unleashed

In this episode we discuss England's win against Croatia and ask the question - what exactly happened at half time? 

Transcript

Welcome And Match Snapshot

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Yeah, howdy folks, and welcome to episode four of Football Eterno, the greatest podcast the world has never seen. This episode is titled England Unleashed. England Unleashed, and that was absolutely what what happened against Croatia, certainly in the second half, and certainly in the beginning of the second half. So much to talk about. It was a great game. Obviously, as an England fan, it was a great game to watch, but sure I'm sure as well it was a great game to watch for the neutral. Terrific match, lots to talk about. Um, it's a couple of days now after the game, so the dust has settled a bit. I've watched a fair bit of footage online of some of the media, the comments, interviews. All that information's been squished into my brain somewhere, and so we'll see where it lands on this episode. Couple of things, first of all, it was Jordan Henderson's birthday, I believe, on the day of the game. So happy birthday to Jordan. It was great to see there's a great shot of him celebrating on the sideline after Rashford scored. So Rashford's celebrating and Jordan's there, just basically loving it. Great celebration. So happy birthday to you, Jordan. Also, it was Luca Modric's 199th cap, which is an outstanding achievement. Normally that's reserved for those sort of numbers are reserved for goalkeepers. But that's a great, that's a great achievement. So well into Luca Modric. Obviously, not a great day for him or Croatia giving the penalty away. He looked a little bit sleepy. He looked a little bit sleepy, and you know, he looked a little bit sleepy, didn't he? So lucky for him, give the penalty away wasn't great. But anyway, Croatia was still a very good team, and they had a great game, didn't they? I mean, coming back to two-all, that was super interesting because it was like it was kind of like England didn't really look like they were in trouble. It was like they felt like, okay, here we go, we've got this game, no worries. And then kind of out of nowhere, Croatia just just got us with a couple of jabs, a couple of sucker punches. And I was thinking, like, we don't we don't underestimate them, you can't underestimate, you can't under you don't want to underestimate anybody, you never want to underestimate them. And maybe just the way the game was going, that we looked like we're in control, but we looked like we were it just looked like we were gonna win and dominate. That's just my sense of it. But then you never know, like they just came back with two great goals, a great strike, and then a great great goal for the second goal as well. Great header by Perisic, just to redirect it there, and a great finish. And look, that's world football, guys, that's international football, but a tremendous response from the England team at half time, and that's going to be the main talking point, guys, is what happened at half time. What happened at half time and what can we what can we read into from that that um certainly very encouraging for me and very encouraging for the England fans and for the England team. Very, very encouraging for a number of reasons, but we'll dig into that. And so

Who is Anthony Barry?

SPEAKER_00 3:13

I did mention on the last episode that I'll do a feature on Anthony Barry, the assistant manager, he worked with Thomas Tukot at Chelsea. Interesting career, Anthony. I watched an interview of his when he just got the job. Scout's guy, I believe, because accent, so he must be from that area. Wasn't a top, top, top, top player, but some of us have got our main skills in coaching, and so he certainly when he played for Coventry, Accrington Stanley, which always makes you think of that that that advert. Acclinton Stanley, Yeoviltown, Chester City, Wrexham, Forest Green Rovers, who my mate managed for a bit, Ian Birchnall, back to Accrington Stanley, obviously got an affinity with that club, and then at Wrexham 2016 and 17, obviously pre-Ryan Reynolds days. But yeah, he was at Everton as a trainee, Anthony Barry. And his coaching career started in 2015, managed the under-16s at Accriton Stanley. Then he went to Wigan, then he joined Chelsea as first team coach under Frank Lampard. So how does that happen? Well, is it Wigan Athletic under Paul Cook 2017? Obviously, not can't remember when that Wigan did have a stint in the Premier League, so I don't know where they're at now. But then he gets a move to Chelsea under Frank Lampard. So obviously something's happened there. He's his reputation, obviously, at that level in the game, it's it's not like the media covers the media covers coaches and their reputations and their connections. Certainly doesn't certainly nowhere near as much as the managers or the players, but he gets his chance at Chelsea under Frank Lampard and then remains in that position under Thomas Tuchel. So Thomas comes in, sometimes it comes in, obviously they bring in their team, but Thomas kept him on. Obviously, got a strong bond and a connection because Thomas has brought him into the England to the England setup. But in between that time, Anthony replaced Damian Duff in Stephen Kenny's Pullik of Island coaching team, and he did that whilst part-time whilst doing the Chelsea role. Then he's left Ireland to work with Rami Roberto Martinez at Belgium, and they were the world's number one ranked team at the time. And then he and then he joins Thomas Tuchel at Bayern. And now England. So an amazing, amazing coaching journey there.

Half time and its impact

SPEAKER_00 5:47

And now he's back at the now he's in England team. I didn't see any interview at half time, and I didn't realise they would only just realize they were doing interviews with players and people at half time. They do that a lot in Australia in some Australian sports where they'll just whack a mic in a player's face as they're going off the pitch. Anyway, it is what it is. It's new. I haven't seen that before in in football, but there we go. But Gary Neville on ITV talked about how basically Anthony Barry was fuming. They were his words, but you could tell they were basically gonna he was disappointed, and they both him and him and he and Thomas Tugel talked about how the first half was complicated. They mentioned it was complicated. But what I've really liked, I mean you saw it, it's essentially whatever happened at halftime, you saw it. You saw it in the game. Because that first that first 15 minutes in the second half, we literally just absolutely battered them. I mean everyone was just everyone was just it was like a a stampede of roaring lions or a stampede of just stallion horses, and it was just it was just we overwhelmed them, we peppered them, peppered them with shots, goals, chances. I mean, we could have had five or six. Obviously, you say you could have had five or six, obviously the games don't always go that way when you sc if you scored a few. But essentially, we absolutely battered them. One thing that I did like from the England team, which I saw, was after we scored, we were right on them. And that was it that obviously is a strategy that's been discussed, is actually like when teams take kickoff after they've just conceded, they can be a little bit a little bit rocked by it, right? You've got to get your mentality right and switch on, but you rock by a goal, and England would would would would would go at the press, would go at a high press, or just basically an intensive press after we score because there's a window there, there's a window there to strike again. So I like that. That's just a lot of thoughtfulness and intelligence about you know individual and collective psyches and what and the the momentum swings that happen in a game and when you can slightly teams can slightly switch off or switch on or when when when the when there's an opportunity there. So I really like that. But yeah, that 15 minutes in the second half, I mean, we're absolutely brutal. And that for me, that's principally what I think everyone is so excited about and just has wanted to see for a long time. Just that we're gonna go for it and what will be will be. We're not gonna be too, we're not gonna be, we're not gonna hold back, we're not gonna go one foot in or 0.8 feet, you know, or 1.5 feet in, we're gonna go both feet in, full pelt, full power. I mean, Harry Kane said after the game we went full gas, and that's essentially what we saw is full gas. We're gonna try to win, we're gonna try and just steamroll this team and we'll see what happens. Now, when we do that, I think that's when we're at our collective best. I think that speaks to our strengths as a team, as a nation. It's not so much gung-ho as carelessness, there's still the tactics and the strategy because these guys know what they're doing. They're coached, they're coached being coached at the highest level in the Premier League and in other countries, uh, and so they know what they're doing. And then if you add that ferocity, that ferocity and that fearlessness, then we're we're uh we're forced to be reckoned with for sure. And I think that's what we saw. I was I I was I I felt it was going to be a good thing that we were playing Croatian the first game, a decent challenge, a an opportunity to to put a marker down. And the word that was flowing through me before the game was England unleashed, a partly because of the weight, you know, um with the weights and watching all the other nations and just how much you just you you're itching to get out there and make a statement. You just you want that first game, you want that opportunity. And this is the right mindset to have. There's no point, there's no point being fearful or reserved, or hope we don't, there's just zero point in that, it's never going to get you anywhere. The Bible says um worry cannot add one qubit to your life. It just it just doesn't add anything to your life in any way, shape, or form. And so there is a pointlessness to it. It happens, of course it happens. We understand that. We know we know how the brain works, we know that there's appropriate levels of you know, we talk about anxiety and and the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system, the amygdala, the limbic brain, you know, we've we've broken down and studied how you know fear and anxiety and it's in its impact, it can how it can cripple, and certainly how it can impact you know, performance, performance anxiety, it you overthink things, you're not in natural flow, you're not in that flow state, all that kind of stuff. Sometimes the best way to do that is to just like go, right, I'm just gonna just pick a lane and go for it, be decisive. And Thomas Tukos talked about that. Said, this, this, and I'll come to this, this was really, really interesting. And I think this is something which something's broken off the team here, which has been a lag, a lag of different of I don't know how many years, decades, world cups. It's just been this story and this narrative that has got into the psyche of the England players and the England team in tournament football, and we'll come to that in a moment. But yeah, that's a bit about Anthony

The psychology of new behaviours

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Barry. What I liked was that he he talked about how it's not our character. So they're basically, and the Thomas Tugel talked about that. It's not our character, it's not our identity. In my last podcast, the previous podcast, I used examples on the corporate world with ARAP and the football world with Germany and Jürgen Klinsman when he got that job, and the importance of having that identity and that direction and the clarity over it. This is what we're doing, this is where we're going, we're committing to it. And whatever happens, whatever happens, happens. But remember, guys, this is who we are and this is what we're doing. Now, Anthony Barry talked about that's not a character. Clearly, the team has done enormous work around clarifying who they are, what their identity is. And that's very, very helpful because it it filters down to on-the-pitch behaviours, essentially. It filters down to that on the on-the-pitch behaviours. Oh, you know, in a moment where you might think, do I, do I not, whatever? Oh no, we're courageous or we're decisive and courageous. And so that ends up getting wired into your nervous system. And when you do it on the pitch, like we've done there in that second half, and we've got the result, that gets wired into the nervous system and it becomes it starts to become automatic. And that's our default where if we're the game's not going away, or we're or we're teetering off a little bit, there's somehow we are we get reminded of that. Either a player or somebody it took Thomas Tuchel at half time. That's fine. It was the we had half time, it's a corrective, a corrective opportunity, a corrective moment. And he simply and very effectively reminded everybody about what they'd been doing and who they were and what we were talking about. That got accepted by the players, it it and they made a decision. They their behavior straight away was decisive, and then they started seeing results from it, chances, goals, bang, bang, bang. And so what that does is it reinforces it and it and it it makes it stick and it lands and it's it's accepted on all levels, basically. The the you know, mind, body, soul, whatever you want to call it, it's integrated and bang, and it's it and it that's what that the team now has that. The the work now is going to be, or the importance is gonna be in games when it might be tight or whatever it may be, there's nerves coming in, we've got to go back to that because that's what we've decided to do. And it and what Thomas Tuchel said was if we lose, let's lose our way. And I think that is what freed up the team because what he noticed

The ghost of Christmas past

SPEAKER_00 13:45

it, what he noticed was was that after we scored, we went into like a defensive protective mode, like we don't want to give the lead away, and we want to protect the lead. So we were scared of losing the lead, right? And and in pr in some previous games, that's in tournaments, that's what's happened. And there's that that there's the almost when you score, you've got something to lose. And sometimes we played our best football when we've gone a goal down or we've needed to go forward and get a goal because we've had to go for it to the best of our ability in a game. Whereas we were, we were, we'd scored, and you go, right, okay, second, third, fourth, like just keep going. But we didn't do that now. Thomas, what Thomas Tuchel said after the game was he said, we became indecisive, we were confused, we dropped too deep, we played too many backwards passes. So we'd gone, we'd gone in the lead and we just went nervous, defensive, confused, played a long ball when we should have played a short ball, played a short ball when we should have. So basically, our decision-making. We were fearful, anxious, defensive, negative, yeah, fearful and anxious, essentially. We don't want to lose this lead. And we got punished for it twice. Thomas Duke said we got punished for it twice. So actually, we invited a goal. We got punished for it twice. So it's like, guys, there's no point doing this because A, that's not our identity and that's not who we are. We're way less likely to score another goal doing that, and we're way more likely to concede a goal, and that's exactly what happened. So it's a point, there's no point doing that. It it it it it freed them up to just to just not do that anymore. So he basically made the team aware of that. So firstly, he saw it, spotted it. Now he said, I've never seen that in this team in the friendlies or the qualifying. And the reason why is because it never it never exists there. We always we always pretty much qualify and we're always off decent and friendly is because there's no jeopardy. That the thing that we're scared of isn't there, and it's the tournament football where the fears come in. And so what Thomas Tuchel witnessed in that first game that he'd never seen before was the essentially the impact of the the the lag, the the the shrapnel, if you like, or the the what's in the collective psyche, which impacts the players on the pitch somewhat unconsciously, by default, because of past tournaments, right? The pressure to win creates a fear of losing, uh, instead of a desire to win, it it's it it it it inverts things and becomes unhelpful. Then when we don't win, it's more pressure, more fit, so and it goes that way, right? It's a negative spiral. But he he saw that, and for him, I don't know. Like obviously he's been in the UK, Thomas Touch, but he's he's German, and they've won, they've won tournaments, and that so the he comes essentially started his creating German football that have won World Cups, European Championships, won Champions League by Munich, stuff like that, right? So they've they've got they've they've done that, and so that's there. He's won stuff himself personally. And whilst he might be aware of that the England and tournament football and the whole hoo-ha around that, he had it isn't it hasn't seeped into his DNA. Do you know what I mean? And so he was surprised by it, but what he experienced was what was what normally can happen to us, right? And so he saw it, spotted it, called it out, and he basically snipped it because he said to the players, look, guys, it's it's in some ways, I think it's it's like it's on me. We've made this collective decision, just go and do it. And he freed them up. And so that got broken off. That that that fear-based anxiety defensive pattern got spotted, got broken off. The players went out. Now, if the players went out for the first 10 minutes and we didn't get a breakthrough or something like that, let's say, then who knows? They could have gone, oh, because the thing, I don't know, we're doing it, it's not working. And so when you when you're learning a new style or approach, you ideally want some results quickly because you want to lock it in right. And so, but Thomas, in that sense, is a really good leader because he's he's saying he's got broad shoulders in that regard, and it and it he almost said, look, it's my decision, we're playing like this, I'm gonna I'm gonna take took the pressure off. I don't think he necessarily, I don't know, maybe knew what he was doing, but he also was just being decisive and saying, Look, look, guys, this is what we've committed to. So that would have taken pressure off the players, freed them up. They went and did played that way, got the goals, got the win, and now they've really reinforced that that that behaviour. It might take more than the Croatia game, but the pat the new pattern, the new pattern is there. So that's my breakdown of basically what happened at half time, and I think that's super, super important. I think I don't think that game could have gone any better, actually, because if we didn't concede and have that pattern in the first half, we might if it might have come up in this, it might have come up in this in the quarterfinals or the semis, and maybe we don't recover as well, but it happened in the first game. So for me, that's the that's a breakthrough game, a breakthrough moment for the England team at an international tournament because we played the way everybody wants us to play. The players want to play that way, the fans want to play that way, and that's why I think there's such a collective positive spirit and attitude towards it and a and a joy and a positivity because we played really, really, really well. That that is what gets the fans going. We can all be proud of our team and our players for that performance in so many ways, and so I mean it was even somewhat emotional. I mean, you saw Jude, Jude's somewhat emotional after

Well done Jude

SPEAKER_00 19:20

the game when the fans were seeing his songs, and I just want to moment uh talk about Jude for a moment there. I mean, it has for a young, you know, it these are people, right? And no one has necessarily an amazing gift to be thick skinned or to deal with tough times. Sometimes tough times can come for the the strongest of us, let's say, and a tough time instead of difficult time. Whenever you're in a tough time in a difficult period, it doesn't matter what's it doesn't matter what you've done previously, it can be just it it for you it's a difficult period, Ryan. So we can all understand difficult times, difficult moments. He's had a fair bit of stick, a lot of pressure on him. Yeah, someone can say he gets paid billions, but I understand all that. I'm just saying that's still the case. And so for him to come out that first game, play that, play like he did, score, amazing, really, and so and really contribute to the team. So um that was great because that's gonna, I think that's gonna free Judah a bit. It's a bit of a weight off his shoulders, and I think maybe the maybe he had a bit of a release after the game moment there, and well well done to him and uh and and his family and his circle around him because there were moments there with him how the media could do things where he could have, you know, you can and what they want is you to snap and do like a Kevin Keegan moment and you know, and just lose it a bit. That that sometimes they want that because they all look click oh look what's happened, it's news, right? So in that sense, that can be challenging, but he he speaks well, he carries, he holds himself well again. He vet a young man, and he's come through that and he's got himself a goal and a great performance, and so well done. I kind of feel like I don't really feel like he needs to keep necessarily answering everybody. I mean, if questions it let's say if questions keep coming, it's like well, just crack on now, like don't even worry about that. For me, it's been put it some questions shouldn't some questions don't really deserve airtime because when is he not? He's just done it again, and so he might not do it every single game because it's because it's real life, but to be fair to him, he's done it again in the first game against Croatia, and there was there was a number of great performances. So I hope that just settles Jude down, and because the more he relaxes and just gets into his a deeper groove of his like positive swagger, like Zidane for France, when he's in his swagger, it it he's not trying to be he's just he's just mint and he's it's sensational, he's off the charts, and he obviously really helps the team. And Zidane would have that balance where he doesn't try and do everything, but he's also a magician. And so again, I think with with Jude, it again striking that balance between. Showcase bringing your best of your skills and your talent and your abilities to bear and helping the team. I think for someone like Messi, he's obviously an like historic level talent and execution and delivery of that talent. He still walks the line well. Like he still is a team player, but and he's just an exceptional player on the team. Ronaldo, some of the criticism comes in Ronaldo, where it it for me, he he goes a little bit too team wolf in terms of it's all about me. Now, when you're the Ronaldo Real Madrid, you kind of go, okay, there's other great players in the team, but he's still the standout. Things I haven't liked, for example, as when he's frustrated when a pass doesn't come or someone else scores and he looks a little bit disappointed, like I'd rather score. I think you've got to get that balance right because I don't know. For me, it's like you've got to you've got to um whereas I don't I don't feel messy, I feel like Messi is made up when the teams score. I think he gets that balance. I don't think he's trying to get that balance right, it's more so just how he is as a person and his the posture of his heart and what he's all about. But for me, if you've seen the movie Team Wolf, the players don't they win stuff, but they they're a bit like we don't even want to win like this, it's just not satisfying for them. I don't think Ronaldo's got the the the talent ability to do what to to do what he used to do. I think humility is a great thing. Um but anyway, that's that's that.

Kane et al

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Harry, Harry Kane. I mean, what there's what else is there to say, really? I mean, what a top bloke. I mean, he's humble, extremely professional, like, you know, like he carries himself so well, gets his goals, goes about his business, speaks well. I mean, he's just he's just you can break it down in so many ways, but he's just a great captain and a leader, great ambassador for for the team for England. Just carries himself extremely well. You know, he's definitely a king, king of the team, one of our lions. You know, penalty saved, steps up, puts it away, it's just brilliant. I just love that. I don't I personally I don't like the stuttered walk, the stuttered run-up. I just think it invites problems. I just think for me, nowhere you're gonna hit it. Run up, strike it, try and put it there. If it goes, if keeper saves it, at least you haven't done a stuttered run up. That's what I think. That's me personally. If I do a stutter stuttered run-up and he saves it, I don't know how he can get as much power as like a decent run-up, you know, Julian Julian Dick style. But I just prefer that. I just think I don't know, I think you're asking for I just think you're asking for trouble with a stuttered run-up. And there's plenty of penalty take penalty takers in the history of taking penalties that haven't needed to do that, haven't even bothered doing that. That it's still extremely effective, Matt Latistio being an example. I don't think he missed one, or maybe he missed one. But yeah, if you strike it well, the keeper ain't saving it basically. So but yeah, well done to Harry. Great goal, great header as well. Anderson, I haven't actually watched Anderson play full game yet. And so that's my first time watching him, Elliot Anderson. I thought he was terrific. Thought he was terrific, he's positive, wants to go forward, he's busy, he's fit as a fiddle. Like there was there was some pressing, intense pressing he was doing, I think, in the 89th minute, and he just looked no different from the first minute. So he's got a great engine on him. Great engine on him. It just worked, didn't it? I mean, also Noni Manweke for me gets a bit of stick. I I think he's still finding his feet. To be fair to him, I think he's still finding his feet. I think he's still got growth, he's still got an enormous amount of growth to do as a football player, which is a positive which is a good thing. And I think he's got also some growth to do physically as well. If you look at Saka, he's just he's filled out of quite quite a bit then over the last few years. And also Saka's experience, like when he came on, he just he just knows what to do, when to do it. Great impact for the goal for Rashford. But I think those guys work really well together, they know each other really well, they're very close, obviously. And I think that's just a great asset for the team. Those two combined there. I think part of the reason why they're both there is because of because of their relationship. But Arsenal just works really well, and yeah, well done to Nolaniman Wake. He was a he was a real threat, he's really positive. He's obviously got he's got he's got a set of afterburners on him. He put a really good crossing with his right foot, which he's been working on. I'm left-footed, and sometimes when you're left-footed, you've really got to work on your right foot. It's like 90% of your football skills credit are just deposited into your left foot and your right foot. I've I noticed this more with left-footed players. I look at Ryan Giggs, King Cladzay. Just have a look at left-footed players. They're very right-footed players, I think, sometimes can have a better left foot than left-footed players have with a right foot. It's like there's more skill deposited into your left foot, and your right foot is basically a lot weaker. That's an observation, other than Paul Merson, who seemed to have everything in his right foot. Like he used the outside of his boot lows, hardly used his left foot. But that's what that's something you often see more so with a left-footed player. And so he's obviously got to work on his right foot because you've got to try and do some bilateral transfer there. And practice, practice, practice. So it was a great cross with his left foot. Sometimes when he runs because he's so fast, the ball can get stuck under his feet a little bit. So he's got to work on that, which I'm sure he is. But he was a threat, he was dangerous, his pace stretched them. They wouldn't have liked him being there. And um, I thought he played really well. I've got a I've got a sneaky suspicion that he's gonna grab a goal. I reckon he might get a brace or something. I just feel like also a goal for him, obviously, as a as a fellow believer, like he's very humble, loves the Lord, and I think that you know the Lord exalts the humble in time, and so I I've got a I've got a suspicion he might get a goal or two this tournament, but he did really well this game, and so I thought he played terrifically. I just I just like his attitude, his work ethic, his work rate, his humility, and there's more to come from him for sure. There's more to come from him. Marcus Rashford is just a threat. I mean, I think he's I think he has come on since his time at Barcelona. He's just got he just knows that he's a dangerous. I think he's just got more confidence, he's more settled in his ability, just knows he's a mint. I think he's a terrific footballer. I think he's a goal scorer, he's hungry for goals, he loves scoring goals, got a great strike on him, his technique's mint. I just perhaps don't think that, partly because he was a striker, I don't think you maybe coaches don't get what they want from him tracking back. I don't know. I haven't looked into the data and haven't looked into it to be fair. I could do some additional research that shows that his tracking back is is off the charts, but he's certainly an impact player. I'm sure he wants to start games and be there for be there the whole game. And he's an in and he's certainly an impact player for for Barcelona and for England. Anthony Gordon, I think, was disciplined, did his job, didn't get a lot of the ball, the ball didn't really, it just wasn't it was coming more on the right side, but he did his job and he was disciplined. For me, as soon as Marcus came on, he nearly got nearly nicked it off the goalkeeper. But after that, his first touch, he got it on the halfway line. I could just tell you could just tell when he got he was just more confident in possession. The defender was about five yards, another five yards off him than compared to Anthony Gordon. So I just think there was like a I'm not gonna get as tight on this guy just because of who he is by reputation. And so yeah, I just he's just got more he's got greater technical ability and he's got a better eye for goal, a better striker of the ball. When we need a goal, when we want to when we I think when we need to look more dangerous, I mean it's a great option for us. And like I say, people are talking about those substitutions bringing on Saka Rashford. I mean, yeah, as I said, perhaps only only France can rival us in terms of who they can bring off the bench that's dangerous, threatening. Jed Spence. I mean, I've watched some footage where he is he is factually the fastest player in the team. Thomas Tucker confirmed that. Obviously, they they tracked that and they measured that. How was he down the down the wing? I can't remember, it was for the goal or something before the goal. Yeah, when he nearly scored. I mean he's lightning. And so we've got pace everywhere. Yeah, we looked to real threat, we looked to real threat. It was a great game, great to

Centre halves

SPEAKER_00 30:30

watch. Centre halves. I listened to Rhea Ferdinand talking about how important it is what side of the centre half pairing you play. Because if you're used to being on the right and you're right footed, the ball comes to you open out to the right, you open out. It's easy for you to play it to the right back, the right winger, or roll it into the forward. Basically, you're playing on your right side, whereas if you then go onto the left side of the centre, centre half pairing, your your right foot naturally opens out. You you you've only got a small section of the pitch. Whereas if you're on the right side, you've basically got way more way more way more of the pitch to choose from. With your right foot, you've got to change your whole body position. You can feel very uncomfortable, like you're um you've got your left foot on your right foot. And so he was talking about that in depth actually on his podcast, which was really interesting. Because I think it was John Stone's that basically John Stone doesn't play there for Man City. I think Mark Gahey does play on the left side of the centre-half pairing. When he came on, he just looked really comfortable. I think he's got well, he has a considerable amount amount of experience, plus he's now knocking at Man City, knocking about Man City, which makes a difference. Apparently, I heard that he had a slight knock. Someone I heard this was just a social media company had a slight knock, and that's why he didn't start. But I still think, yeah, maybe working out centre-half pairing. The goals, I'd have to look at the footage again. I think maybe Declan Rice Declan Rice gets drawn into the play, into the box for the goal, but the ball's played back, and then he's picked the guy, the lads pinged it. So maybe there, but sometimes the goal's good goals, good goal. I'll have to watch that back.

More question marks over VAR

SPEAKER_00 32:05

And then the second goal, the second goal. I mean, I don't know about you guys, and I recorded this on my phone, but the the way they showed the VAR footage here. For me, when they showed the VAR replay, they just had one line, and it was the line of the defender. It seemed to be drawing the line of the defender, in which case it showed the attacker as offside, with basically his art most of his arm offside, and then it just had the sign saying onside. Whereas if that was VAR in the Premier League, it's got two lines of where they draw the line. If it's the knee, I don't know. This is what I've got, I'll have to double check this. I'm probably suffering from a lack of understanding here, but it looked offside based on how Varn works in the Premier League, but it was different. They just drew one line and then said, which looked like it was it made it look offside, and then they just said onside. Anyway, there's some issues there. I don't know what the answer is with with how they do some of this, because there was another game. I don't know the game that Gary Neville spoke about on the ITV. He said it was a contentious issue and offside, either it was a goal was offside or it was scored, and it should have been one of those contentious decisions: either the goal was disallowed or the goal was given, and it and it it looked very likely that the opposite was true, and they didn't show the VAR, they didn't show it, and so that's where you've got to ask questions because you go, Well, if they if they're using the technology and it's just a case of the can the system draws two lines and it's just it just tells us, then why wouldn't you show it? Because that's surely that's what's been used to make the decision. We had this in the opening game at Qatar with Qatar themselves, I believe, in the pre- in the Qatari Qatari World Cup, where I think a goal was given, or I think it was only African teams, or they scored a goal was against Qatar and then it was disallowed, but they didn't show the they didn't show the the VAR replay, they just moved on, didn't make did just didn't show any of it, moved on. And the natural footage of the of it was like, I don't think so. And so obviously what people do from that is they draw a conclusion that something dodgy is going on, which is the last thing that we want. We know there's corruption in football, there's corruption and corruption in the world, right? There's corruption everywhere. We don't want to see it infecting the game. We certainly don't want to don't we don't want to think about the possibility that there's corruption around actual decisions in the pitch, which will be which would be systemic corruption uh that's filtering through the officials and the use of technology, that would be horrific. But we also don't want to put two two together and get fired. We need to, but you know, anyway, it's one of those things where everyone moves on from it because there's more games and away we go, it kind of gets brushed under the carpet and away we go. But I for me, if we're only asking questions based on it's a fair question, that it's especially in this tournament as well. Why didn't you show the replay of that? Why have you not released the VAR the VAR footage from that? Because let that satisfy, let that let the question be asked and let the answer be given, and then away we go, we can move on, whatever it is. So if you withhold it, you withheld it, looks dodgy, doesn't it? Don't really like it.

Episode wrap up

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Alright, guys, I think that is it. This episode was essentially a look into the England game and England unleashed. And so I look forward to seeing how we how we go in our next game. I obviously want to see a continuation of this unshackling of this forward thrust, this driving force, this uh yeah, this uh this this this the the the freedom to attack, the freedom to go forward and the the the liberation of fear and anxiety in our play. Yeah, uh it was great to see it was great. Couldn't I don't like I said, I don't think it could have gone any better, so praise God for that. Shaping up to be a great tournament, the games galore, and uh yeah, I'll see you guys on the next episode.