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Football Ramble

5 Jul 2026 · 29m · 11 chapters

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England vs Mexico Preview: Tuchel is activated | 2026 FIFA World Cup

In short

The Football Ramble episode previews England vs Mexico at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium in the 2026 World Cup round of 16. Hosts Marcus Speller and Dushin’ Hunter Raja discuss the Azteca’s altitude and England’s history there (including England’s 3-0 win over Paraguay and the famous Maradona handball context), arguing the biggest factor will be how the teams start rather than conspiracies about altitude.

Key claims

England should weather Mexico’s early “waves” and likely defensive-then-counter approach; Thomas Tuchel is “activated” and will be ready for the counter-attack. They expect Mexico to blitz early, then manage pragmatically.

Notable examples

Quinones as a difference-maker; England’s earlier vulnerability vs DR Congo’s early pressure; Rhys James likely out, with Gerald Kwanzaa or Spence at right back.

Guests

none—this is just the two hosts.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes.

Chapters

1:42

Previewing England vs Mexico

Discussion about the England vs Mexico match at the Azteca Stadium.

“The biggest stage in soccer is set, and the U.S.”
4:04

The Azteca Experience

Reflections on the significance and history of Azteca Stadium.

“Yeah, because the pubs are open until 5am.”
7:28

Game Strategy and Conditions

Analysis of England's approach and potential strategies against Mexico.

“But the players, you would hope, would just be like, oh my goodness, like, what an occasion to play in.”
11:42

Match Dynamics and Player Roles

Insight on player roles and dynamics expected during the match.

“Weather the early storm, and there are a lot of storms.”
14:00

England and Mexico Tactics Overview

A discussion on the tactical expectations for the England vs Mexico match.

“I think England, the idea that they're going to go, right, well, Mexico, they're going to sit deep and put nine men behind or ten men behind the ball, blah, blah, blah.”
15:27

Key Players and Their Impact

Analysis of key players like Declan Rice and their potential impact on the game.

“The feeling out that you were talking about is spot on.”
19:09

England's Defensive Dilemma

Exploration of England's defensive strategies and challenges for the upcoming match.

“So, you know, there's been a lot to work on for England, but again, this game, you can't really have too much margin for error.”
21:28

Altitude and Its Effects on Performance

Discussion on how altitude affects player performance, including humorous references to Viagra.

“I think we are where we are now in the tournament.”
24:46

England's Accommodation Challenges

Details about England's accommodations in Mexico and how it affects their game preparation.

“was with England, apparently he unknowingly took a Viagra before training and he said that he was the quickest on the pitch and running with three legs.”
28:00

England's Preparation and Challenges

Discussion on England's preparations, the challenges they face, and the potential impact of external factors during the match.

“because of things like that, people would tag themselves in, because it was quite a nice hotel to take photos.”
Show all 11 chapters
30:31

Confidence in England's Performance

Hosts express confidence in England overcoming obstacles and reacting to challenges during the match.

“a lot of not letting the moment affect you, dealing with the crowd.”
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Transcript

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2:37Wear your passion, your wear. Available now at boss.com or at your nearest Boss store. There may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning, everybody. Welcome to the Football Ramble! England are up against Mexico in the Azteca Stadium tonight. I'm Marcus Speller.

2:53Marcus Speller: And I'm the Dushin' Hunter Raja.

3:07Hello, everybody. Here we go again. England versus Mexico. Vish, you're back in the pod. I am. It's England time, baby. How are you feeling? I'm feeling... Out of breath.

3:20Marcus Speller: ...weary. I'm worried about, you know, the effect on my lungs. I'm worried about the tiredness. And the fact that I'm not even playing is jarring. Because I feel like I'm feeling all the things that they're feeling, but at sea level. Yeah. And so it's exciting. You've got to be excited though, haven't you? You've got to be excited about this stage of a World Cup. Got to be very excited. And in a stadium like that, I cannot wait actually. I think it's going to be a great either bringer together of the nation at a strange time at 1am. Or this could be the fall of us. We tear each other apart by about 4am when this goes awry.

4:05Yeah, because the pubs are open until 5am. Yes. Okay, so a mixed bag there.

4:10Marcus Speller: Yeah, mixed bag. I'm just putting it all out there. and putting it on the table that mere moments ago was covered in pickle. Yeah. And Swedish. No, sorry, Norwegian cheese. Norwegian brown cheese. Norwegian brown cheese. Well, England, of course, are playing at the Azteca for the first time since Maradona's handball. Well done. Well done. People forget that England did win a game at that World Cup at the Azteca. It's not fit for purpose, really, is it? England be paraglied at the Azteca in the previous round. on there, within its stadium walls. Yep. Corruption. Yeah. It's too high. It is too high.

4:48Marcus Speller: I've never been there, but it's too high. I've been there. Brave England covering journalists are putting their bodies on the line by running 5Ks in times you wouldn't post on Strava, but they're doing it anyway. And you know, I feel like they're war correspondents now. I quite liked it though. Bring them home. Bring them home. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, there was one on the BBC, I forget her name, but she was running through with the camera on a selfie stick. Obviously Ireland's Miguel Delaney, who covers England, of course. Ireland and Spain's Miguel Delaney. Yes, yeah. The Declan Rice of the press pack.

5:29Sean Miguel would love that. We both know him and love the man. They were doing that, but do you know what? I quite like that people were deriding that, and I thought, well, let's...

5:37Marcus Speller: No, I mean, it's a way of showing a very real thing that is literally governing the logistics of how England are approaching this very important game. Yeah, because I thought to myself, like everything in the modern era, I thought there was so much made about the altitude. I thought, are we going to have some little sausage go, actually, you know, this is all the conspiracy theory, and then a culture war breaks out about the altitude of Mexico, the Aztec Stadium. I just want to know, if the earth is flat, why is it so high? Well, exactly. Where are they trying to go? No, I don't know. They're not playing on top of the stadium, are they?

6:10Yeah, exactly.

6:11Marcus Speller: Imagine if they were, we'd be fucked. We would be in trouble. We wouldn't even bother turning them off. Have we brought our harnesses would be my first question. But yes, England, of course, this stadium is very, very famous. We all know that. Thomas Tuchel said, though, karma will come back for us. This is a good moment to make peace with the stadium and turn things around. Like I say, my go-to at this stadium with England is actually that 3-0 victory against Paraguay when Gary Lineker got, I think, one or two, got a couple of goals in that game. on his way to the golden boot. And he clinched the golden boot in the quarterfinal of that game.

6:43And without that goal, would he have won the golden boot? I can't remember if someone scored five goals or not at that tournament as well. But anyway, you can prove anything with facts, can't you? But an awful lot has been made of the altitude and Mexico's record at the stadium and so on and so forth. I ultimately think, though, that the two teams who take to the field, that is the biggest factor involved in this game. And England have a better team. And I think England will get through this. But I think it is a great tie for England. I think, you know, I love the way Joe Hart spoke about it on the BBC, going, oh my goodness, I would love to play in this game.

7:23And that's where you've got to remember. We are mere fans, is what we are. And we are bricking it. But the players, you would hope, would just be like, oh my goodness, like, what an occasion to play in. A knockout game at a World Cup in the Azteca. That is how a competitive sports person thinks on these lines. You would hope anyway. And that's exactly, again, the psychology of it and so on and so forth. Tuchel, Tuchel's licking his lips. You know, when England qualified for the World Cup, he was like, guys, you've made my dream come true to get to a World Cup. Thank you so much and so on. And you see that wry smile he has.

7:58And he's like, these are the games that you want to be involved in.

8:01Marcus Speller: Yeah, 100%. Paul Robinson on the BBC former Spurs and England goalkeeper he said that he walked in to the Azteca and looked around and was wowed by it in a way that was like Paul Robinson had a good England career Paul Robinson has played big games and it's like you were saying about Joe Hart it's the knowing you're on a good thing is so much better than wishing you were there and all these players have the opportunity to walk into that stadium and create a bit of history to regard. And I don't mean that in the first team since whoever to do this. I mean in terms of you go down in the annals of history when you win games like that.

8:48Marcus Speller: Exactly. In a stadium like that, you become part of its law and the law of English football as well. And I think what I've been quite impressed by is how calm they all seem. I know, you know, we've mentioned all the time, but the behind the scenes videos, the fact that Tuchel, for the first time in his England career, I think, you can see like something in his eye where it's not hope. It's a bit of ruthless. This is my time. Yeah. It's a bit of ruthless, like bastardry. Yes. Is that what I'm going to call it? Yeah. Because we've seen a lot in club football with Tuchel. We have. And this is the first time I'm like, oh, okay, he is now activated.

9:30Marcus Speller: whatever that gene is in his head is done he's activated is the word you're absolutely right he's like yes because that's why if you want to win you've got to go through these games as much as I am on record as saying and I will say it again I would like England to play teams that have already been eliminated from this World Cup on the way to the final we've said that for ages if you're going to make a big World Cup and it's a conspiracy that FIFA won't let us do it quite frankly so if you make a big World Cup if you think about it like the Wimbledon bracket, and we always talk about tennis on here.

10:02Marcus Speller: But the ones at the very top play the ones at the very bottom at the start, and then they go, you know, funnels into the final. Yeah, before we play anybody good, we've won the trophy. But we, as creators of the game, who have been wronged by the Aztec stadium, should be able to be like, right, we'll go with you, and it should be like Subway. Absolutely. Hearty Italian. There you go. Honduras. Yeah. Haiti. Iran. Love that you've put Italy in there. Iraq, not Iran. I love that you put Italy in that. I'm so disrespectful. Wonderfully disrespectful. Of course, Italy involved in the game of the century in that stadium against West Germany.

10:38Marcus Speller: Watch it on repeat on whatever their equivalent of Eurosport is. A Euro-esporte! But the other thing about this is... It's called... No, no. This is the... The serious point. Alright, let's get it out of the way then. Is... They're playing a fucking good Mexican team. A good Mexican team who are... Not according to Brad Friedel. No, well, yeah. I did see that. But they're playing a Mexico team who know how to play with each other, who are very quick out of the blocks. Who are acclimatized. Who are acclimatized. Acclimated. Yeah. Quinonez, like we've spoken about him before, but he is such a difference maker to the side of the field that England are struggling with at the moment.

11:29Marcus Speller: and, you know, I appreciate we're probably going to get into how we think England should approach this, but, like, I suppose straight out of the door for me, England have to almost keep it calm and probably go defensive right the way through to that first hydration break. Weather the early storm, and there are a lot of storms. There are a lot of storms, yeah. From Quinones himself, or indeed the actual weather. So I think if you watch them play, Javier Aguirre is actually a much more pragmatic coach than maybe we realize because we see Mexico and again, we're completely Seduced by the whole idea of them playing at the Azteca in a World Cup I know they had what one game in was it Monterrey?

12:09Anyway, they played the majority of the games at the Azteca and And when that stadium erupts the fans everything you're just like oh my this is this is incredible but they are, you know, much has been made of the fact that they usually go for about a 20-minute spell where they just hammer it and score an early goal against, was it South Africa? They scored an early goal in the knockout round and that's what you're going to, that's what will be highlighted in that game. It's like, oh my goodness, they're relentless. They're going for it. Bang, bang, bang. You know, you can't stop them but that's actually not how they approach the 90 minutes because, I mean, very few teams can do that.

12:52So if England... It'd be fascinating to see how that opening 20 minutes goes and as regrettable and as so, like, horrible as we find this, you are right to say up until that first hydration break. I mean, it's so destroying to say it, but this is this World Cup and that is the dynamic of these games, sadly. But if England think, right, they're going to come at us, then England have got to approach the game in a certain way. But I think Tuchel, and I certainly hope he is ready for that counter-attack, because England have players, in particular the two wide boys, whoever it will be. I think it will be Gordon and Madueke who start, because I think Madueke is clearly fitter and sharper than Saka.

13:35And I think that is going to be very important, particularly in this game, because of the altitude. And I think Gordon is better at doing his doggies than Rashford. And I think Rashford is a better closer, as we now say, starters and closers. and so I think England so much has been made of teams sitting deep against England well DR Congo from the off didn't sit deep against England and caught England cold and that nearly cost England very very dear so I think Tuchel will be expecting them probably to come out of England at the first 20 minutes and then Mexico sort of then go into their pragmatic management of the game which has served them very very well at this World Cup and before that if Mexico don't do that then England might be a bit like oh okay we weren't expecting this and then it becomes a bit alright there's a bit of cat and mouse what's what you're trying to sort of figure it out but Mexico I'd be I would be surprised if they don't do that and just go right let's blitz these guys you know they've not been able to adapt Alchie blah blah blah blah it's served us well in this tournament so far and again because of that hopefully because of those lessons that have hopefully been learned from DR Congo.

14:45I think England, the idea that they're going to go, right, well, Mexico, they're going to sit deep and put nine men behind or ten men behind the ball, blah, blah, blah. I can't imagine that's going to be those opening stages of the map.

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15:35Marcus Speller: The feeling out that you were talking about is spot on. It's early stages of a boxing bout, knowing that it's going to go 12 rounds. Declan Rice, though, he's a fascinating part of all this. The injury that he's holding, I suppose, is it really an injury? But, you know, the nerve damage. It's an ongoing thing. I mean, it's the kind of thing that... It's holding him back rather than preventing him from playing. It's holding him... We're not seeing the Declan Rice that we saw in the league season for Arsenal. Probably not. Not as dynamic. He can't get around the pitch as well as he can. Which is not to say that he doesn't get around the pitch, but certainly at that level.

16:10But on that, if I may, if that's the case then, Rice can sit and Elliot Anderson... Say it. Say it. And we put Bellingham on the left.

16:21Marcus Speller: Yes. Yeah. But Anderson is not a holding midfield player. He's all things to all people in the centre of the pitch. Therefore, if you want to play with that double pivot, as we say, which I think England bloody well should, by the way, and I've no doubt that they will. But if you do think, you know what, Rice actually, even though we had plans for him to play like he does for Arsenal and get up there. If we think, do you know what, that's maybe not the best use of him because of what's going on, then Anderson can do that. Yeah, I think the problem with tagging in and out for both of them would be because, say, in a situation where Mexico go hell for leather from kickoff.

17:08Marcus Speller: The situation that draws you into is you get no chance to cycle through which one goes chasing, which one sits. But Rice then just becomes the sitter. Yeah, but I think that's impossible to do in this scenario because Mexico just come at you in waves and you don't get the chance to hand over that responsibility, that job. And I think that's what we saw a little bit with DR Congo, with Spence in particular, because there was a number of times where the back four just couldn't get lined up. They were almost slanted all the way through and bunched. And that was a little worrying because I don't think Spence is as bad a player as some other people do.

17:50Marcus Speller: I think he's very good one-on-one, which would be interesting actually coming into this encounter in terms of Mexico's left. Yeah, yeah. But I think he's someone who sometimes gets too committed in his one-on-one battles and does end up chasing people and you kind of need it probably requires anderson to drop in there or at least you know pull him into line and maybe maduweke who doesn't quite do this but even telling him to like right you you go i'll go after the man but then you know you don't need to be so out of position um and i think when teams are constantly coming at you it is so hard to maintain order really and that is the thing i think that is the thing i'm worried about with Rice is if you can't then go and do that thing you've got to be so vocal and you know alert people to the danger because that is it's been a weakness in England's World Cup so far that I didn't see coming.

18:48No and this might be the first game where we we see England out of necessity especially in that early period where they are more compact and they are a little bit more conservative at points and then try and hit on the break because there have been gaps all over the pitch for England, which is quite alarming, let's be honest, between the midfield, the defence, and the midfield and the forward players. So, you know, there's been a lot to work on for England, but again, this game, you can't really have too much margin for error. At right back, the position, which is a bit of a conundrum for England, you might say, at this tournament.

19:21Marcus Speller: Self-inflicted conundrum. Yes. Rhys James missed England's final training session ahead of tonight's game, so you would think he's probably not going to play. not back in time for this one. Gerald Kwanzaa is fit though. He's returned to full training. So it's probably going to be Kwanzaa or Spence on that right side. And Quinonez is a huge consideration with regard to that. I wonder who he's going to go for. I think it might be Kwanzaa. So what do you think it should be? If I'm honest with you Vish, I don't know. I'm going to put my cards on the table here and say, usually as you know, I have an opinion on who I think should play and so on.

20:01I honestly don't know what I would go for.

20:04Marcus Speller: Yeah, I mean I'd go with Spence because he's quicker because of the one-on-one defending I said before. It's not gonna make me more comfortable than if it was Kwanzaa. Yeah. Because as soon as it starts, all bets are off really. But yeah, I'd go, I just, the Kwanzaa thing. Or, could he potentially move Esri Kwanzaa to right back and then play Stone? I've thought that and I don't think they're going to do that now. And I think if he did, I think that shows... I mean, he might well do, goodness me. Maybe Stone's a bit older. Maybe you're saving the old Gimmer for this. Get you up altitude, lad. Jordan Henderson comes in as well.

20:45Marcus Speller: Oh! There we are. Get the old boys there. Get the wise heads in there. Yeah, exactly. They don't need much air. This is how you breathe, boys. Yeah. You know, when you get to my age. Yeah, your lungs don't have to deal with that. So I was calling for maybe Esri Kondo to go right back and John Stones in the centre of the defence because Stones and Gay, I think, have got that understanding. But I think at this stage in the tournament, Tuchel clearly after that Croatia game where Stones did start with Konza rather than Gay, I'd be surprised if he switches to that. And I think that it would seem a little bit desperate if he did.

21:19Marcus Speller: Oh, I mean, I don't. Surely he's not thinking about that. No. Surely he's not thinking about the optics of it. Yeah, I don't think he is. Yeah. So maybe I shouldn't as well. I think we are where we are now in the tournament. I think to make a big change in defence, usually you're trying to cement those partnerships. So... Do you think we're... I think Gay definitely starts left side of the defence for me. I think that is nailed on. Nico O 'Reilly, but I mean, it's a shame that at this stage in the tournament, you're thinking, well, two of the back four are definitely there. I think everyone would start as Rikonza.

21:52Some people would think this is ridiculous. No, this is the partnership. This is what we're going with now. Now, John Stones has not been pulling up trees all season. He's not played that much this season. And he did play in the Croatia game and didn't look great. I don't think any of them did particularly at the back, but he certainly didn't. So I think some would say, no, you can't do that. Whereas others would say, well, if you think that's the best way to get a tune out of them and that's the best defence we have, then you've got to do it. I mean, Konza doesn't like playing right back when he's at Aston Villa.

22:20At England, it's probably a different thing. He has played right back for Villa. He hasn't done it for a little while now. he can do it I wonder if with Tuchel when he talked about specialists in positions ahead of the tournament that chat to me would suggest that Konza is going to be a centre half and a centre half only

22:36Marcus Speller: I would love it if Tuchel goes up to Konza and says right big game round of 16 Azteca you're going to play right back I don't want to do that I don't like doing it Thomas you know I told you before I told you I'd do anything but not that. Yeah, exactly. Well, please, no. Yeah, well, then you're on the bench. Yeah. Yeah, no, I don't think he'll do it, personally. But one thing that England aren't going to do is that they're not going to be taking any Viagra for this game. Because there was a bit of chat, wasn't there, that Viagra could help. Imagine if Karl Walker was still in the squad. I don't know how that about.

23:15Marcus Speller: It's the one thing we didn't want to happen. Well, yeah, apparently Viagra helps you with altitude. You know what? Yeah, that is true. If you're out of breath, do you pop a Viagra fish? Yeah, sometimes, yeah. So I had a group of mates who, for a charity, for a charity, rather, went up Mount Kilimanjaro, and they heard about the Viagra thing, but also, strangely, the people who didn't get altitude sickness, most of them, if not all, were smokers. It's odd. So who's on the tabs? There we go. Almost have a bit of an amnesty. Look, I'm not gonna have a go at you. I know you're all finely tuned athletes and do whatever.

24:02Hydration break.

24:03Marcus Speller: Smokers. Hydration break. Smoky break. Tuchel's just there. Yeah. You know, talking this out the other. Can you imagine? And Anthony Barry's like, anyone got a light? Quickly! Get over here! I'll get back to you. Just come on. You need to do that whole one before this is out. The Aussies would have loved that. Marble and Reds! Marble and Reds! fucking hell. Ozzie's would have been on Smoko, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So look, if we see England players smoking, don't worry about it because according to Vish, that gets you, that gets around the altitude. But yeah, so they're not going to use Viagra.

24:38Tuchel was asked about this and he said the information and the support didn't reach me. That is not true with regard to will England players be on the Viagra. When Carlton Cole was with England, apparently he unknowingly took a Viagra before training and he said that he was the quickest on the pitch and running with three legs.

24:54Marcus Speller: Carl and Carl, they're a professional footballer, just being given tablets and taking them randomly. Well done. What is that about? It made him the quickest on the pitch, apparently. How about that? Well, we've got an email from Ed with regards to all these with all this anatomy and physiology that we've been talking about around this fixture. And Ed says, I'm confused and surprised why nobody has mentioned the gravitational time dilation effects associated with playing at the Azteca. Yeah, absolutely, Ed. This is music to my ears. At that altitude, gravitational force is weaker, which means teams playing at that height will age faster than teams at sea level.

25:32So basically, Mexico now have aged faster than England. Could this be a competitive advantage?

25:38Marcus Speller: Yeah. Is this the fixture for Jordan Henderson? It might be, although do they now actually, you know, quicker than England, have they now got more experience? True. Are they now wiser? Is Harry Kane going to look like Barack Obama pre-presidency And then after this fixture When he came out the wild The two term presidency I don't really know what to do with this Beyond like What if there's like a Benjamin Button situation It's like oh He's old but he looks like a baby Or he's a baby that looks old Would you rather play football Against an old looking baby or a babyish looking old man. Yes, you did say before answering, I don't know what to do with this and I think that you've very much backed that up.

26:25England's hotel in Mexico has been surrounded by an impenetrable... A ring of old babies. An old baby would be what, like 11 months and 11 and three quarter months or something, wouldn't it? Could be a seven year old. Could be, fine. Yeah, it's been surrounded by an impenetrable ring of steel. That keeps out the noise, apparently.

26:48Marcus Speller: reverberating off the steel bouncing back onto the hotel. Oh no, he's steel drums that they put around. we've been absolutely done here. The England players got booed as they got off the coach to walk to the hotel with some fans. Really loud off the steel there. some fans chant in Mexico. All the old babies like, ah? They've got their noise reducer headphones on. But the Mexico fans, yeah, of course, they've got a history of this. Alan Shearer said, this sometimes happens. in Premier League games. Yeah. So, um... Where? So, in Liverpool, some teams used to... So, I only know this randomly because I stayed at one of these hotels.

27:33Marcus Speller: But I was looking through... I think I tagged in the hotel. I looked through who had also tagged through the hotel. And Asmir Begovic had tagged himself into this hotel. Okay. And I met... met... So I knew, he was playing for Chelsea at the time, and I knew someone who works at Chelsea, and I was like, oh, quite funny, I was... You know, I stayed at this hotel that you usually stay at, and he was like, yeah, we don't stay there anymore, because of things like that, people would tag themselves in, because it was quite a nice hotel to take photos. And so people would see that, realise the team, the opposition team were there, and fans would go outside and just like, create all kinds of noise all through the night to keep them up.

28:16Marcus Speller: And it obviously doesn't happen to like that degree, but it's like setting off fireworks and that kind of stuff. Because this is clearly like an orchestrated thing, because it's a major tournament as well, you have designated hotels. Or hotel, full stop. So they would just have a routine now. And I like the way that, probably because of England's power in terms of... I wonder if they're financially helping the local authorities there, but having this ring of steel. to stop them from doing it. But yeah, we know it happens everywhere. No, it does happen everywhere, but I was surprised in the Premier League.

28:49Marcus Speller: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, maybe when the big teams come up at Craven Cottage, I'm like, come on, lads. Eat those crackers. Snap into those crackers loudly. Oh, dear. No, not with cheese. That softens the crunch. Just popping corks to hit windows. I mean, I do like this Ring of Steel kind of thing. that is meant to be helping England. Can we get it in front of the back four? Yeah, that's an idea. It's a good idea. I'm just saying... If they're gonna throw out all these old babies, we can do whatever it takes. Yeah, I mean, are there any... Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting one, isn't it, security-wise, that England need that.

29:34But then I suppose they don't want to have an Ecuador situation where they all can't sleep or whatever.

29:39Marcus Speller: Yeah. At the same time, given some of the seeds we've seen from Mexico. Yeah. Are they really going to be able to do anything? Yeah, true enough. Oh, you better not play that. Oh, we'll, not now, but we'll go after you. Yeah. You'll be in trouble. I think... I feel like it's still going to happen. I think we'll find out. So what time is it now? At the time of recording, ideally they'd still be asleep, but it'd be interesting to see... I'm not saying we're going to see them getting off the coach and be like, fucking unknackered. Cleary eyes. Didn't get anything last night. You're having a little sleep in the hydration break.

30:14God, has anyone got a cigarette? Oh, blimey. And look, as I said at the start of the pod, I totally understand there are big obstacles that England need to get over for tonight's match. But I still am confident they're going to do it.

30:28Marcus Speller: Yeah, it requires a bit of composure. It requires, you know, a lot of not letting the moment affect you, dealing with the crowd. And I think also is not being afraid to react when the game is getting away from you. Because I don't think England are going to have it their own way at all in this game. I don't think there's going to be a situation where they're not fucking exhausted and chasing the game. But I think they should allow themselves into that moment and just chase it with all their might. you can't control this game but you can be on the right side of it you can absolutely Vish and with that I whip out my England flag I put it around my shoulders once again and I say come on the boys let's have it it's time to make some history thank you for listening to the Football Ramble part of the Acast Creator Network myself Luke and Vish will be back tomorrow live on YouTube at 10.30 to react to this monstrous game against Mexico at the Azteca subscribe on YouTube and make sure you do not miss it.

31:37Come on!

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From the publisher

After a long 40 years, England are heading back to the Azteca! Has anyone mentioned the altitude yet?


On today’s preview show, Marcus and Vish are on hand to discuss team selection, game approach and little tumescence-assisting blue pills.


Plus, we've got questions about the security measures around England’s hotel and gravitational time dilation in high-up places. Could Tommy Tuchel’s lads be facing a team of Benjamin Buttons?


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