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Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble. It's time to focus on England. It's Thursday, 20th of March. I'm Marcus Speller. And I'm Luke Moore. Hello, everybody. It's a Thursday thrill at the Football Ramble and it doesn't get more thrilling than focusing on England. It's a Thursday thumb up. It is. It's a Thursday Thomas Tuchel. But where's the thumb going?
Find out at the end of the show. Hopefully. Where this thumb is going up. No? Let's just leave a bit of room for the listener's imagination. All right. Take your trousers off. What, again? That's what Thomas Tugall said when he turned up. They rolled up in their cars to St. George's Park. Great to see you. How's it going? Take your trousers off. They did say it was quite intense. Yeah.
They weren't intense. They're in the complex. All right. Will it get any better than this? I hope so. I sincerely hope and think so. We've got a lovely listener question inspired show for everybody today. as we focus on England ahead of their first game tomorrow night under Thomas Tuchel. Because I think it's important that some of the listeners start to do a bit of the heavy lifting for once. I think so. We do a lot of the thinking of the ideas over here.
I'll tell you what, though. Ethan on Instagram. He started off well. He started off very well. He's got the show off to this start. He said, what do you think Thomas Tuchel's most likely formation in starting 11 will be for these qualifiers? Cor blimey. So... It's tough to say. Okay. I'll have the first one. Jordan Pickford in golf. Oh, well done, mate. Excellent. That's the only one I've got written down here. Oh, I wish he's going to win again. Ah, he's over here.
I think it's always really, really difficult at the start of a new manager's regime to understand what they're thinking. He's thrown us a couple of curveballs anyway, hasn't he? The game tomorrow night is Albania, right? Yes. So Albania first up, who Andy said yesterday. is going to be probably the trickier of the two teams. And I would go along with that. But the point is that he hasn't...
He hasn't delivered a team a first XI before. There'll be a lot of people excited and anticipating what it's going to look like. And the curveballs have come already. We weren't expecting one or two additions that we've seen. We weren't expecting Henderson to be in there. There's one or two that perhaps are lucky to be in there. There's one or two that I'm fortunate to miss out. I think when I looked into this, I thought I'm fairly confident it'll be a 4-2-3-1. Yeah.
You might think it'll be a 4-3-3. We'll come on to that. 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3. Yeah, it doesn't really matter, does it? I don't think we need to get into too much detail on that. I think I can guess six-ish players. Yeah. I mean, all you need to know nowadays is, is it a back four or a back three? Yeah. Although, again, different phases of play. But that's it. And presumably it's one up top. You know, that's...
You know, the midfielders, again, you can start talking about this, that and the other. Do you want to hear the five or six players? I think we'll definitely start. Yeah, go on then. So 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, whatever you want to call it. So first of all, I've gone for Aaron Ramsdale in goal. The first of your Southampton picks. Yeah. I just think Albany are a good size, but he's someone who's used to picking the ball out in there.
I've seen him do it with such panache. I was going to say, somebody's not going to let the head drop if the ball gets put past them. So come on, pickers in goal. I just want to check as well if England have got more points in their UEFA Nations League group than Sir Hampton got all season in the Premier League. They would have done. I think they did, yeah. They would have done, yeah. No, Pickford in goal, obviously. Now...
Do you want me to go from left-back to right or right-back to left? Well, I tend to go from left-back first, but I think the general consensus is you go from right-back, so go with me. Okay, left-back first. Because that's the trickier pick. I think you'll play Miles Lewis-Skelly left-back. I think so as well. Yeah. I think Gaye will be one of the centre-backs. Yes.
I don't know who the other one will be. Oh, okay. I'm just giving you the five or six I know. And the reason I've gone five or six is because at right back I've got Walker or James. He's going to go with James. Okay. Loves Rhys James from his time at Chelsea as well. And let's be fair.
Rhys James is the best candidate for that job right now I agree totally yeah I mean I think he's asked to do a different job for Chelsea at the moment we don't see him overlapping and doing all that good stuff which he would have done
A bit more maybe under Tuchel. I think he might be able to overlap a bit against Albania. I think he'll remember how to do it. Yeah. Rice, obviously, will play. Yes, in the centre. And Kane will play. Yeah. Other than that, you've got to answer who the three players are going to be behind Kane. Who is going to play alongside Rice and who's going to play alongside Gaye? So I think that's quite difficult to call for a first 11. Chief, partly because there's two main reasons. One, because...
We've got quite a lot of good attacking players. And two, because he's picked Walker and Henderson. And you think, if you're really confident that James is going to play instead of Walker, it makes me just think, well, what's the point of... picking him then why have you I mean and I suppose he might say you know what I'm new to the job I'm not culturally that similar to
to these guys because I'm having a different background on the rest of it. I need some senior pros in there who are going to help smooth this over for me. And so that's why he's picked Walker. That's why he's picked Henderson. But I would kind of argue that Pickford and Kane and Rice, just to name three. are all kind of senior pros with lots of caps you know they can kind of
Maybe they're not the right kind of character. What are they like around the training game? Kane's the captain, for God's sake. Yeah, I know, yeah. But I think, yeah. So can you fill in those blanks then, do you think? Yeah, I think I can give it a damn good go. Because I would have been like, you know what? For me, the best player this season behind a front man has been Morgan Gibbs-White.
But he wasn't in the squad. Yeah. He only added him later on. So I think... So is he really going to start him? No, I don't think he's going to start him. Not against Albania. I think against Albania, he'll go for more obvious choices. And then in the second game... against Latvia, I think you might see a few faces coming into the side, at least the subs, maybe one or two starters, who he's going to have a look at. And I think he's told us why he's picked Jordan Henderson.
There's no need... I get that, but I'm asking you whether that means he's going to play or not. I don't think he's going to play. Not against Albania. Because if you want to boil down the Henderson selection to a little bit of detail, you say, well... He's playing quite a limited role at Ajax. Just shielding the back four. That's all he's really asked to do. A resurgent Ajax who were top of the league last year. They're top of the league. But it's not a great Ajax team. No. And I listened to...
the radio on Sunday night and it was Danny, Kelly and Andy Brassel. I've heard, I know Andy, yeah. Yeah, our mate Andy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he talks a lot of shit. He's a bit annoying, but yeah, sometimes he gets it right. He said, yeah, they had the guy, the... editor or the sports editor of The Telegraph which is the big a big newspaper out of Amsterdam who said all this stuff about Henderson he said no one really likes Henderson I'm paraphrasing here no one really likes him because he has
conducted himself quite badly. In the media. Yeah, and he kind of basically gaslit us in that press conference about going to Monaco. But, but, he's done what he's done and he's been... He's reliable. He's fit. He's been captain for ice. Yeah, he is captain. But he also said, Marcus, he said everyone in the office fell off their chair when they saw him in the England squad. So if he's picking him for those reasons... Is he going to play him? I've got two questions.
How wobbly are the chairs in that office? We'd like to know that. I would like to know that. Every single one falling off at the same time. Yeah, I was going to say. It seems like unlikely to me. The office is in Amsterdam as well. You know what I was thinking? That's a prank. That's a prank, that. I'm just, I'm, yeah.
I'll leave that there. So fill in the blanks for me. From the back to front. So you need to find me another centre-back. You need to find me someone apart in the rise. You need to find the three behind Kate. So those in contention for centre-half, really? I know who's in contention because I know who's in the squad. Tell me who's going to play. No, because I don't think... Conza's going to start. Who would be a centre-half? I think... I...
I think he may well start either Dan Byrne or Esri Konza. I know some people might say Levi Cole will. You just named all the players? No, I didn't because I just said Konza to one side. Okay, fine. I don't think he'll play Byrne.
because of his lack of experience at international level. I think Bern could start against Latvia. But in this first game, I'm looking at Carl Will and I'm looking at Konza. So I'm just kind of narrowing it down for everybody. I suspect it'll be one of those. Konza is... the man in that position with the most experience. He got minutes, not many, but he got minutes at the Euros. Now, Konza's often been deployed as a fullback. So I want to say Konza...
But then I go, but he's often been played. So if I'm going to have a go, I think he'll start. Gay still is the left-sided centre-half. Because Konza can play as the right-sided one, right? Exactly. And I think he'll go for Konza in the centre. And I think he'll go with Rhys James at right back. That would be what I would think. Next to Rice? And now we move on to the midfield. Exactly. What I would like to see, I think that if England had a midfield three of Rice...
Curtis Jones and Bellingham, I think that's very strong. Because Bellingham played off the left against Spain in the Euros. Oh, but that was a specific game plan for a specific match. And he did well, though. He did. I mean, limited as it was obvious.
Yeah. I think he did all right, didn't he? Yeah, I don't think there's anything to go on. I mean, there was the left side of a four. I think that Bellingham, nine times out of ten for England, has been playing almost like in that number ten role. Yeah, that's what I'm just watching here. Supporting Kane or whoever's up top. I want Bellingham to play further back. I know you do. And I wonder if we may well see that in time. But I think that he will probably keep Bellingham in that position.
What, in the number 10? Yeah. In the jam role? In the jam role. Absolutely right. Because if you look at the other candidates in midfield, Eberechi Eze is down as a midfielder. I don't think he'll start. He may well come on maybe against Latvia or something. Surely he's going to play off the... off the wide position. Well, you would think so. I'm saying on the website, that's who they've got in midfield. On the website?
Just say in the squad. In the squad. On the website. It's not like a 2002 episode of Tomorrow's World. Just say in the squad. No, but on the official website. Oh, the official website. Sorry, that's what I meant. Sorry, yeah. I thought you... some kind of hooky fan website. It's a blog. MySpace blog. On margusspeller.com. He's down as a midfielder. You've only got .co.uk, haven't you? Someone else got .co.uk, didn't they? Did they? Crypto guy, yeah. I don't know. I haven't done any of this.
defer to Pete on that. So I think... As ridiculous as it would be, I think there is a slight chance that he may play Henderson against Albany. I don't think he should. But if you look around, Luke, help me out here, because Bellingham, who actually is listed as a forward, interestingly enough, Bellingham will play in that midfield three. Then who do you go? It's not going to be Ezza.
It's unlikely he would start Gibbs White because he would probably step on Bellingham's toes, presumably. And also Gibbs White has just been called up because of Palmer. Palmer's not there. Declan Rice will be in. Morgan Rodgers, Curtis Jones, Jordan Henderson. To me, if you are talking about a 4-2-3-1, the only person that could play next to...
Rice would be Henderson or Curtis Jones I agree Curtis Jones can play in all sorts of positions in the midfield so I understand Liverpool fans that he's not always played there but I think he's that good a footballer he can do it so I'd like to see him go with Curtis Jones in there. However, you've asked me a question. What do I think he's going to do? I actually think he's going to do that. I think he's going to play Rice, Jones and Bellingham. Okay. And I'd like to see that.
Because if you think about any other candidate I think that Jones is the most suited there. Okay. I don't have a problem with that other than the fact that I, you know, kind of an extension. What do you think then? Because you seem to be slightly hesitant. I don't understand why. Just because I... It's Jones or Henderson, I think, if you're going to...
Yeah, well, it probably is. All I was going to say was that I think, is it, ask you if it's a problem that Jones, you know, doesn't always start for Liverpool. No, I don't think it's a problem. And he's also almost one of those players who's like, he's such a good... um like tall he can play in so many different ways like and and i think sometimes the way slot uses him is to be like right he's on the bench 50 of the time
and whatever we need, he'll do for us. I mean, he nearly changed the cup final. Yeah, I think that's an exaggeration. I think he was decent when he came on, but I don't think they weren't going to be denied. Yeah, fine. But I think he's played enough football and I think he's involved enough.
If we go with what you're saying, because otherwise we're going to talk about it all day, we just need to find the two wide forwards that are going to play then. Yeah, and I think he'll play Anthony Gordon on the left, which is, I think, what he should do. And then I think he'll probably play Phil Foden on the right, just because we know... that Phil Foden's ceiling is higher than that of Jared Bowen, for example.
And I think that's what he'll probably do. Foden's not had a great season. Nobody has, but he's had a few moments. He's still Phil Foden, though. I understand. Yeah. And so I think that's probably what he'll do. Well, we'll see. So do you want to just summarise it? So Pickford. Yep. Mars Lewis Skelly. At left back, obviously. Gaye, Consa, James, Rice, Jones, Bellingham, and then... Gordon Kane. Gordon Kane and Foden. Yeah.
You did pick the easy positions there. I only picked the ones I felt like I could pick. Yeah, well, obviously. Or you went for Pickford and Kane and Rice. You know more about England than me, though. No, we've watched them the same. Stop that. No, you've watched them a lot more than me back in the day. I watched it over and over again.
I only started Washington because I thought there was money in it on this show. It's a great time to go for a break. Coming up after this, we try to identify the potential surprise packages for Thomas Tuchel's England. Do you belong here next to me building an overseas field hospital in a disaster zone? What's she saying? Are you just gonna turn the radio off? Oh, are you going to stay here and get stuck in? Still listening? Good. You belong here. Army recruiting no. Search army jobs.
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Live score bet. Total betting. 1.5 minimum odds. Settle in first 14 days. Free bets valid. 7 days. £10 for bet builder only. Tees and Cs and deposit exclusions apply. Bet responsibly. 18plusgambleware.org. Welcome back to the Football Ramble, everybody. We've got a question from Brady on X. Which players do you think are the most likely candidates to be surprise packages under Tuchel? For example, it could be players who suddenly emerge as really important to the squad, maybe as starters.
that we weren't expecting. It's really difficult to say. I mean, I understand why Brody's asking that question, but I do think it's almost an impossible one to answer. Why don't I answer it this way? I think... There's a real opportunity for a good handful of players here to really stamp their...
position down. And we've got a situation now, particularly with attacking players, because I think the credentials are slightly different when it comes to attacking players. You're looking for different things. When you're looking for defensive players, you're looking for reliability, not making mistakes, not letting you down, being available.
not being injured, that kind of stuff. With attacking players, can you make something happen? So I think the two best candidates to be quote-unquote surprise packages for England in this period... bearing in mind they've got nine and two caps respectively, probably Anthony Gordon and Morgan Gibbs-White. And the reason for that is they always try and make things happen. And at an international level, I believe, particularly when you're playing against 90% of the opposition you play against.
These guys are going to be used to playing out a much higher standard against much tougher defenders in the Premier League every week. And these players always look to make things happen. They don't hide. They really kind of...
force themselves to do positive things, which is why I was so surprised that Gibbs what was left out, the initial squad. And if you look at the age as well, 24 and 25, exactly the kind of point where they can start to really push on. Particularly when you think about a player like... You could argue probably that Rashford has probably had more caps than maybe he deserves.
given his inconsistency, 60 caps for England. He's now in a position where he's been given a... It's more than Paul Gascoigne, for example. He's been given a... More than Hoddle as well, I think. He's been given a position... a position in this squad because he's had a little bit of resurgency at Aston Villa. I understand that. But it's not unreasonable to suggest that, you know, it won't last. And his next move that he does next is really important. So I think someone like Gordon...
Someone like Gibbs White could have a real opportunity there to really stamp their authority. If I were to say a couple of players it's hard to do that with, it's going to be people like Ramsdale, people like... Henderson and Trafford, for obvious reasons, play someone like Dominic Solanke. He probably deserves a bit better. He probably deserves to be the best of the rest and being bled in now, but I don't think he will be. Even though Kane's a declining force, he's still good enough.
And so he's not going to get that look in, whereas I think Gordon and Gibbs White may do. We always look at attacking players, don't we, when we think about surprise packages and important players. I think so, yeah. You know, there may well be defenders, like someone like...
Tino Liveramento you know like play left back or right back you know I think that can be a problem though sorry to cut in but just to build on that I know I've said that Gibbs White you know he's probably not going to play in this Albania game and I think we agree on that
what what gives what benefits from in a way that say Morgan Rogers doesn't is he always plays in the hole he always plays in that position where he can make things happen if you look at Liv Marento look at Rogers look at some of these other players
we've seen players in the past ring and not put a Nella specific roll down. You could argue possibly Curtis Jones might suffer from that as well. So you've got to look at, Gordon always plays in the same way, but he's good at it. Do you know what I mean? I do know what you mean. Yeah. I mean, I was going to mention Gibbs White as well.
I think a lot of people are very excited about him. The only other one I was going to mention who did go to the Euros was Eberreche Eze, because I just think he offers something...
He's great at carrying the ball. He can shoot. He's better shot than, say, Anthony Gordon, for example. And he would be after that position. But with Ezra as well, I think he can fit into... slightly more different places than say Gordon can now I know you just said that goes against I don't think it's wildly different but I know I just I love watching him play and his temperament and his the energy he can bring and the explosiveness as well and I think
We didn't see that at the Euros for obvious reasons because England were very, very constrained at the Euros. I keep going on. It's hard to hit your straps at England as well because you don't play as often. Yeah, and I will mention this point time and time again and bore everybody to tears. The heat of North America is going to be something that England are going to struggle with. Can I also just add a bit? So someone coming on with a bit of energy.
energy and a bit of dynamism I think will be vitally important. I agree. Assuming England qualify for the tournament. I always have to put that caveat in. True. I remember 94. I think this should be a... qualification caveat for his own actually. We're celebrating on this show. But one thing that may completely undermine what I've just said maybe about someone like Gibbs White when it comes to Eze.
Eze does his best work through the middle. Eze does his best work from a starting position through the middle. He's always involved. If you look at his statistics for starting through in the hole...
I think he's played 23 times for Palace there this season. It's nine assists and four goals. In any other position that he's played in, in the Premier League, no goals, no assists. He has to be involved. He has to be on the ball. And I think sometimes we think of him as a wide... forward but I think for Palace a lot of time he starts through the middle and that's important so as ever with England
particularly in these positions, in this generation of talent, a lot of competition for places and it'll be whoever really grabs it and shows themselves to be reliable. Yeah, indeed. We've got a question from Paul on email. How much importance should we put on Tuchel's first squad?
That is a good question. Joe Hart, Gary Cahill and Ryan Bertrand all played in Gareth Southgate's first match. Is it likely that we could see a similar turnover of players before the World Cup next summer? I think that is a good point from Paul there. I think sometimes... We can really scrutinise this and we have done. And somebody said to me recently with regard to Jordan Henderson, he went, you could just be having a look at him. Now, I would say with regard to Henderson,
Tuchel then said all that stuff about him. Yeah, but he embodies this and that and so on. I suppose Tuchel would say that, wouldn't he? He's not going to go, yeah, I think... He's a busted flush. I couldn't figure anyone out. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So, you know, Tuchel has managed many a press conference.
in his time and when the going got tough at Chelsea he was very statesman like wasn't he when it was obviously very very different circumstances so he knows how to handle himself how much importance should we put on this first squad I think the reason why we are putting a lot of importance on it is we always do that. We're excited. But also he's here for quite a short time and he's made a lot of noises about, right, this is my first of...
only a handful of camps before. So it's six camps in total and 60 days of working with the England players. Which is why maybe that you and I are scrutinising it a bit more than perhaps we might. I think that's why we should. My answer, Marcus, would just be it's much more important than the Southgate.
example um that um Paul used because for two reasons right one England were in the absolute mud when Southgate took over and so he could afford really to do what he wanted and he had a lot more room to to go look, I want to know what I think of these players. And there was much less interest. Yeah, there was. Anything was better than what came before, essentially, was the position with Southgate. And two, Southgate had more time. It was open-ended.
Southgate was given an assignment where it was like, look, reimagine what it means to play for England, which to be fair, he did. Don't embarrass us on the stage. As well as that, yeah. Tuchel was on a much tighter schedule.
You know, six camps, 60 days of working with him. Every squad training session and game counts if they're going to try and achieve their stated aim, as you've touched on. So he hasn't got a huge amount of time. On the other hand, the time he does have... is kind of easier in a way than maybe some other nations would be in this situation because really, at the risk of getting all the Scottish people listening to this to turn off, England are better than most of the teams they play.
So he can experiment within that high-pressure environment to an extent. But I do think, you know, you can't say things in press conferences like, we've got X amount of time to work together so the pressure's on, and then just go, oh, you know what, I'm going to have a little play around with it.
I just don't see how those two things add up. So he does need to be careful. So I think it's a different situation than the Southgate example that Paul uses. I think that's a good, yeah, I think that's fair. Next question from Liam on Insta. Is winning all that matters? Or are we also expecting attractive football? Depends who you ask. It does depend who you ask. But what about for us? I think for me, if you... I mean, look at the Euros, for example. England would die to watch.
Quite frankly, they really were. Had we got past Spain, which of course we didn't, then that wouldn't have mattered. but we kind of knew it was Southgate's last tournament, et cetera, et cetera. But people were really, really disappointed, though, that England at times really stank that tournament out. And I think with Tuchel, because of that...
I think they want to see a little bit more. He's already said, hasn't he? We're going to be on the front foot. We're going to be intense. Okay. Again, mention the weather in North America. But, you know, that's what he says. I don't want you to mention it anymore.
You've already done it now. Okay, I've done it to death. You're thinking about Jack Charlton with his cap on. I am, yeah. I'm thinking of him saying, I've got to give me lads some water. Which is how they sound in Tuchel's hometown. So I think... Wasser. Wasser. You can only really answer this with hindsight after the tournament in that if England win the World Cup, it won't matter. Yeah. But, of course, we don't have that. So I think it needs to be...
Not necessarily attractive like, say, a Pep Guardiola or a Spanish side, because England don't have that. And Tuchel's going to lean in, as he says, to kind of English footballing culture and how we kind of traditionally have played football a little bit here, which is kind of what Klopp did, actually.
Klopp was inspired a lot by teams in the 70s and the 80s in England. But anyway, getting back on track, I think it does matter how England approach things and I think they've got to be proactive and they've got to play more attacking football. Let me answer this. Let's answer this in an interesting, creative way. What do you think are the two main reasons that Gail Southgate left the job of England manager?
I think that he felt that he'd outstayed his, or would have outstayed his welcome. He realised that... So, got to the end of a cycle. Got to the end of the cycle. And what's the second one? And the second one, I think he was probably so exhausted, personally. I think the second one is the football was shit.
as the pressure became higher well I think the reason why the football was a bit poor he said didn't he we're not telling them to drop deep he said that in a pressure but what I'm getting at is that if England had got to two finals in a row in the Euros and had life or death with France in the World Cup, which can happen. And that was the record and it was based on a foundation of playing good football as well.
would he have left his job? I think that there would have been more of a clamber by the fans for him to stay. I think the answer is he wouldn't have left his job.
So I think that what that leads me to believe is that even if it's just one of the three main reasons, if you're saying personal exhaustion, come to the end of the cycle as the other two, we can have three. One of them is definitely the football that was being played. You can't say it didn't affect it. So in that case, the answer is it must be important. It must be important.
to play extractive football. It has to be. Yeah, so he based his England campers and he looked at Portugal in 2016, which was drab football, but they won it. And France in 2018, which wasn't drab football at times, but they chose to be very pragmatic under Deschamps.
but at times they could mix it that 4-3 against Argentina they scored four goals in the final for crying out loud and that's what he looked at and he said that's the kind of the recipe that we're going to try and serve up here and it nearly happened but I think as well though When he tried to be a bit more expansive, which he did in Qatar, they lost at the court final. And then in Germany in the last Euros.
Bellingham was exhausted. Kane was playing on one leg. You know, there were circumstances... But he didn't have to pick him, did he? No, he didn't have to pick him. And that's... Yeah, so there's other reasons. But I think your point is... goes into this that means we both feel that Tuchel has to be more, whether it's attractive or exciting or attacking, he can't do what Southgate does unless he wants to get...
people and public opinion turn against him very quickly. Yeah, it's a really funny situation. He's had the Lee Carsley buffer. The Lee Carsley interrenium makes it really tough to answer a lot of these questions because you're looking for the most recent evidence of how England have...
and what they've done, but actually it's such an anomaly that it's difficult to read much into it under Carsley. And then you go back to the later stages of the Euros, which is quite some time ago now, and it all becomes a bit unhelpful. But what I would say is that clearly... England fans who are able to exert an amount of pressure on a manager, and they've shown that time and time again, and they did exert a pressure on Southgate.
Expect England to play good football because a lot of England fans see the fact that we've got good players and that's the calculation they make. I remember speaking to a couple of journalists at an event in the summer and they were really down on... on how England were playing. And I said to both of them, if England win the Euros here, what are you going to do? Are you going to change your narrative? Are you going to change how you write about them? Because...
Ultimately, the end justifies the means. And they both said no, because it's still inexcusable. So I said, well, hang on a bit then. So you still wouldn't really be happy if England won it? Not really. Because the way they're playing. So for me... It comes down to the idea that that conversation between winning on one hand and playing good football on the other hand, they're quite uneasy bedfellows. And one of the reasons for that is because we can't even agree...
as a football-watching public, what, quote, unquote, good football is anyway. It's different for different people. A lot of people say they thought Barcelona on the guard. It was boring. Yeah, it became boring because they won all the time. No, I don't think there's a discussion here like there is in the Netherlands, for example, about...
style of football and winning and all that kind of stuff I think people want to win here obviously because it's been so bloody long it's not a memory for the vast majority of us but they don't want it to be conservative and drab and that's what England were during the summer we you know we did a ramble watch along against Slovenia and we tried to have a bit of a sing song and a cheer after it and there was a little bit of
a little something there but it was how different it was between the Ramble fans are very dour though aren't they nonsense absolute nonsense they're a great bunch actually they are an excuse to have a good time indeed and a nil-nil against Slovenia funnily enough does put
A dampener on the evening. Yeah. But, you know, again... people were myself included you can go back and listen why would you I'm going to tell you now that I was wanting Anthony Gordon in the side during the Euros because just a bit of something I called up for him as well well done you I started him in my first 11 yes
ours were raised Marcus there we are you and Ancelotti that's just what we do but you know just a bit of something a bit of titillation on the pitch do you know what I mean and it was and I think people were People got a bit fed up with it. You know I love Southgate, but...
As I say, the football in the tournament, you can't defend in the name of attractive and fun football. And that Spain side won that tournament playing beautiful attacking football. I don't think England can necessarily emulate that because, again, Spain is... At the moment, the...
And I would extend that to Portugal. Iberia is really the brain of football at the moment in that part of the world and the players they produce and all the rest of it. There's no point in trying to emulate that per se, but to make it a bit more exciting and a bit more eye-catching. I think can be achieved. You know, Newcastle under Howe are not, say...
attractive in a sort of a ticky-tacker sense or whatever word you want to use. But they play in a way that gets you off your seat sometimes or certainly gets those fans off their seat. And I think people want to see that with England. Tuchel has said that's what he wants to do as well.
setting his stall out that way yes of course as time goes on if it's kind of oh we're in the latter stages of the tournament we're in a tasty quarterfinal semi-final let's just get over the line kind of thing but I don't think in the lead up to that
people want to see. It'll feel different because it's not going to be as long. People will be just counting the days if it turns out to be shit. He's going to play, he's going to, obviously providing they qualify, he's going to be the manager for the World Cup and that's it. And they want to see our young attacking flair players released a little bit, I think. But we're not answering the question. The question is that they've stated they want to win the World Cup.
They've not stated how they're going to do it. So maybe that tells its own story. I think people are expecting a bit more attractive football, is what I would say. Compared to the last summer, they will be, yeah. There you go. We're going to finish with this question from Stuart on Blue Sky. Are we prepared for having an England manager wearing a baseball cap? Is there any other headgear he could wear that is a bit more English? A top hat, perhaps? I think a bowler hat.
I think if he doesn't turn out in a pinstripe suit, a bowler hat and an umbrella with a roast beef under his arm, he needs to have a look at himself. I think a bowler hat he'd look really good in. I think the cap suits him. Imagine him coming out in a bowler hat with the England badge on it. And your Sven waistcoat. That'd be lovely. It's your Sven waistcoat. It's an England waistcoat. Gareth Southcoat waistcoat. Yeah, true. I think it'll be really tediously interesting, if that makes sense.
to hear how he's received when he comes out for the first game. If he's going to take his baseball cap off when he's going to have the anthem, is he going to whistle it? Is he going to do something disrespectful? People are just desperate for shit to happen because he's German. Yeah, I don't think... I always just get really disappointed when you see the Super Bowl and the NFL coaches are wearing their track suits and stuff. For the Super Bowl, you should be wearing a suit.
But it never happens. And same with a cup final. Wear a suit. Tuchel loves to raid the club shop wherever he is. He does. And I think as part of the deal as being a manager, I think you do get like an outfitter and stuff like that. So I wonder if he'll break with tradition. People are expecting him to wear his apparel.
he might not wear his apparel. Is he going to go M&S like Southgate? I don't think it'll be M&S. Hugo Boss, maybe. Yeah, well, whoever's the England suit provider or whatever. Yeah, exactly. We'll see. He's going to be interesting. Is it disrespectful to wear a baseball cap with your England manager? Not if you're not English. Okay. There you go. If him or Tony Pulis ever, if Pulis ever manages England, he can wear the baseball cap. Welsh. What a thought that is to end on. Right.
Big announcement. Next thing you can imagine. It is Pulis, actually. Is it Pulis? Great. We go for a pragmatic Welshman. He's picked Henderson again. And Rory DeLapp. Oh, dear. Why Rory DeLapp? I know he's not English. He's Irish. His son is, though. There you go. You could have gone for him. Thanks for listening to the Football Ramble, part of the ACARS Creator Network. I'll be back tomorrow alongside Pete and Jim.
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