Mailbag: What is England's best XI?

0:00Hello everybody, welcome to the Football Ramble Mailbag! England's Eleven, the Swiss model and World Cup songs are the orders of the day. It's Tuesday, 18th November. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Luke Moore. And I'm Tim Campbell.

0:24Hello, everybody. It's mailbag time. What a time it is, of course. And remember, you are very much in the cockpit with this show. we're just lounging around in first class, aren't we, Jim? You're in first class. I'm in economy. We're your co-pilots. You have the third pilot on the long-haul flights and you get a little bed at the back. We're rotating around that. No. They do have a bed in the cockpit for the long-haul flight. We're not that. Okay. We're getting the martinis in. You're in first class, for sure. You're in economy. Gutted. Yeah. I'm probably premium economy. Yeah. Although, of course, we've flown a few times together.

1:02There's only one man at this table who once upgraded him from economy. Yeah, myself, yeah. And it's that man. Use my own money. Get yourself a business, boy. Jim and I are people of the people. Now, anyway, enough of the bollocks. We want your questions. Just let it go. Let it go. I was going to say, it was very much sitting between you two or upgrading myself to business. He will pay an extra few hundred quid to do that. It was a few hundred quid, actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jim and I were very happy to quite literally see the back of you. Anyway, we want your questions. Oh, send us a packet of Chris Bank.

1:32Oh dear. It's a small price to pay. The great thing about that is that all happened. That's all true. The other person in this was Pete and I have no idea where he was. Private jet. Different plane. Oh, he got the train to Minneapolis, didn't he? That's right. Yeah, for no reason. Milwaukee. Milwaukee. He got the train to Milwaukee. Yeah, that's right. As the man said, Milwaukee's nice, but it's not like, hey, I got a goal there. Anyway, a lot of bollocks at the start of this we want your questions so get in touch on xbluesky Instagram at FootballRamble comment on YouTube or email us at footballramble.com you're in the cockpit you're in the driving seat you're at the wheel whatever you want to call it indeed Friends of the Ramble of course you get priority on our Patreon patreon.com forward slash footballramble or sign up on YouTube to become a friend of the Ramble plenty of avenues for you to get us some questions the admin is obscene these days absolutely obscene basically you'd struggle got the UEFA website you'd struggle you struggle to walk down the street going about your normal day and not accidentally contact us in some way.

2:28This is so many options. Walk into your local All Saints. Yeah. Local All Saints? Or go to Urban Outfitters. You can contact us through Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters, yeah. We are renewing your car insurance. The milkman will come round and you can do a question with him. Yeah. Or go to your local Poundy. We're there. Yeah, Poundy. Can you work at local Wilco? Is Wilco still around? I don't know. Probably not. Marcus, Woolworths. Definitely. yeah yeah yeah so left us in the pick and mix at Woolworth exactly you can email luke at northernrock.com I'd love to do a run on your bank market right this the amount of deposits you've got in there would you be quiet for a moment leave my deposits out now this is from Tom via email he said if the World Cup started tomorrow and I would like that because the weather would be cooler tomorrow that's too soon it's like I wish it could be Christmas every day why no it would be great if it started tomorrow because we wouldn't have to go back to the Premier League.

3:25We'd carry on this wave of international football. Do you trust the Premier League enough for that to be true? That's a good point. You'd have to draw lots. Anyway, it's not a starting tomorrow, but if it did, Tom says, what would your England starting 11 be and who would your key finishers coming off the bench be? Now, so if it starts tomorrow, I think we can say that barring injury. So when he says starting tomorrow, I get the spirit of that. But if you wanted to put Cole Palmer, for example, in your starting England... It starts tomorrow, but the caveat is that everybody's fit and available, right?

3:58Yeah, it starts tomorrow, but a new medicine has been found today, which makes everybody match ready. A new medicine has entered the game. So, okay, we've been talking about this. So we're all agreed on Jordan Pickford in goal. Yeah. We're all agreed on Rhys James right back. Correct. We're agreed with Gay and Stones at centre-half. Although, not that long ago, Jim, you wanted Konza in there ahead of John Stones. I would not bat an eyelid if that were the case. I'm very comfortable with both of those players. You've got to say one of them, so who is it? I'll go with Stones. I think he's actually slightly underrated.

4:29People will point out Conn's record with England, they'll point out that he plays more regularly than Stones does. Stones hasn't played an awful lot of football. Having said that, that's me doing devil's advocate. I would go gay in Stones. When I said Stones underrated, for England, I just think he's been such an important key player. I think he is a part of that system. I think retrospectively, he may well be talked about as one of England's finest centre-halves as the years go by well he's in there Marcus so it's all good right left back this is the trickiest one in the whole team shall I just quickly go and then we move on yeah so Marcus wants Luke Shaw in there obviously Marcus wants Stuart Pearce in there I love Graeme Lasseau oh yeah nice get the wing backs on yeah no I go on so Nico O 'Reilly seems to be in pole position right now so yeah but you've got to understand that Tino Livramento's been is injured and is definitely an option there.

5:18Lewis Hall, another one. Lewis Hall's another one and Nico O 'Reilly. So Nico O 'Reilly's in the situ at the moment. You talk about this at the start you said you know, there's a magic medicine. Yeah, well this is the difficult thing about starting Tom's question if it starts tomorrow. That means no matter what the form is from now until then how much football is Myles Lewis Skelly going to play etc. I think Myles Lewis Skelly is too soon for him. He's not part of the picture now as we sit here now. Well, I think if he if he plays more this season though he's very likely to get himself back into that he's starting tomorrow start tomorrow good point yeah good point sorry I forgot you've barely got time to phone call Riccardo Calafiori and let him know let alone get a game for Myles Lewis-Gellion I think I would agree with you I don't think Myles Lewis-Gellion is going to start whether it's tomorrow or indeed the summer I think Nico Reilly has been really good he has but I like Tino Liveramento as well well I would I think Liveramento has got a part to play potentially in this squad it's difficult with that I think it's hard for him and Spence being right footers right I honestly I honestly don't think it's a bad or a dead idea certainly not in my head that Luke Shaw could play he's played 11 games at centre back for Man United in a back 3 on the left side at centre back yeah left centre half ok left centre half is a compromise I'm willing to accept not left back I think that's a stretch right the way back into 2018 in the glorious 2018 started at the Euros final in 2024 I just looked up left back in the dictionary and you know what it said not Luke Shaw is what it said start at the 2024 you're on spot we've got to move on otherwise we're going to be here all day doing this 11 who are we having in the left back Luke Shaw for fuck's sake alright Nico O 'Reilly fine well done you win he's been briefly mentioned I think there is and I know this isn't in the spirit of the question because it's starting tomorrow but I think if he can get himself fit and get him playing regularly I think Lewis Hall has a chance of being the starting left back.

7:15I think his level is very, very high and I'd be excited to see that because I think he's probably the most natural fit. I would agree with you. So juggling this spirit of this question, we'll go with Nico O 'Reilly. I think we'll go with Nico O 'Reilly. Okay, but yeah, Lewis Hall and Luke Shaw could be it, absolutely. All right, we move on to the centre of midfield. Rice and Anderson, next. Rice and Anderson. Not Adam Morton, anybody fancy? Rice and Anderson is the answer. Okay, Rice and Anderson. I don't think we've seen enough of Wharton. Right, okay. So, okay, I think we can all agree. We know Rice and Anderson is the answer there.

7:45Yeah. That's two more done. Randerson, as we call them. Yeah. Number 10. It's going to be Bellingham for me. Yeah. I'd be very surprised if by the time the tournament comes around tomorrow that Bellingham won't be firmly back in that picture. Does anyone know where Cole Palmer is? He's starting tomorrow. Yeah, he is. I'm sure Maresco's got a tracker on him. He'll be fine. What if between now and tomorrow or the summer, whichever one you want to go with, Jude Bellingham, moans about anything I think do you think he should be in the squad I think Jude Bellingham moaning about things is a price we're all willing to pay it's like Kim Jong-un looking at things it's a blob do you know what I'd do I'd have it's a lovely mention for that I'd have Morgan Rogers dressed and ready to go and I'd monitor how Jude Bellingham walks up the road towards me and if the body language is good he's in you're in big boy otherwise it's Rogers I'm basically very happy with either here what body language would you want from Bellingham are you sort of thinking John Travolta at the start of, was it Saturday Night Fever?

8:46So I'm up to and including John Travolta in the start of Saturday Night Fever or in the closing song of the film Grease. Nice. Never venture over the edge into full Conor McGregor. Yeah. Before you go back from Conor McGregor. What about Liam Gallagher walking on stage for Life 25? Too much. Do you think? Liam Gallagher on a normal day is fine. Okay. Liam Gallagher waltzing straight off the stage in those Wembley shows straight into his limo and driving off. You're all right with that? Yeah, that's about the limit you get to. I think Rodgers has excelled himself. I don't think he's... I know that the tournament's starting tomorrow.

9:23Rodgers hasn't been brilliant in the Premier League this season, but he has been good for England. Yeah, which is very important, right? And I think, because we're going to talk about these finishers in a minute as well, I'm happy for either of them to be interchangeable, to be honest. So I would probably go with Bellingham, just about. I would agree I think Foden will be more off the bench but anyway more on that Right wing is Saka Right wing is Saka yeah Harry Kane Yeah Harry Kane I would go for Marcus Rashford 9 assists and 6 goals for Barcelona 5th best combined tally in Europe and I thought he was really good off the bench against Albania but that's not the question No indeed but I think Rashford is good enough to start I've got two answers to why it's Rashford for me as well one is because Not what we agreed on before.

10:12One is because you guys convinced me and you shouted me down rightly so last week talking about how we need players to go past Kane as much as possible. In fact, it's three reasons, but one of them is stolen from Jim. That's the first one. The second one is Jim's right to point out how impactful he's been so far this season. The third one is, and the most important reason that he needs to start is because it's always nice to have a Marcus in there. Well, okay. Fire. What would tomorrow be without a Marcus in there? True. I would have actually gone for Anthony Gordon starting. Right. So do you base that on what you hope to see from him in an England shirt?

10:46Because I feel like he's not quite done it yet. I feel like Gordon needs a moment. Well, I feel that Gordon has done it in more recent games. And I think with Rashford, when I was really sort of observing him in the Serbia game at Wembley when I was there, and I just, again, I still feel he has an element of when in those early stages of the game, when you've got to make very good split second decisions, I just think that the speed of thought isn't quite there. I think when he comes on there's a little bit more room I don't mind that shall we I think him coming on is a better option than Gordon coming on no one's been more supportive of Gordon than me I called from the start the first game in England's last tournament and I was like Hodel holding the door back when everyone was trying to tell me I was wrong not you thank you you were right about it presumably because he's English and you've got any English player to play and so you were fine with it just because he's English I don't want Boris Johnson out there he's American isn't he yeah he's Hawkins he'd take out a couple of the youth players head first but I'll be serious now if you're talking about club form there's no way on earth you're picking Gordon over Rashford this season well yeah but we're just talking about Morgan Rodgers now sure but Rodgers has been better this season than Gordon has been for Newcastle in the Premier League yeah Gordon's best work has been in the Champions League right well so look you've both outvoted me there so Rashford who would you have you would have had Gordon I would have Gordon but you've outvoted me and he's a marker so pivoting goal from right back to left Rhys James, Mark Gay, John Stones, although they'd be the other way around, and then Nico O 'Reilly, and then Rice and Anderson with Bellingham in front, Saka and Marcus Rashford, either side of Harry Kane.

12:23So what about your finishes then? Who, I mean, it doesn't have to be two. Foden's a great impact. Yeah. I think, well, you're not happy with that. Foden's a great impact to bring on. He is, but my fear for Phil Foden is the Cole Palmer conundrum, right? So Morgan Rodgers has obviously done really well in that position. Perhaps, you know, for Tuchel to send a message to Jude Bellingham. Obviously, kind of Foden's come on and done really well there. But I think with Palmer out of the picture, it makes that a bit easier, doesn't it? I wonder if Rodgers would have got that chance at all if Palmer had been fit.

12:59And obviously, you know, establishing yourself in your national team is all about taking your chances and is often all about timing. I wonder if actually in a big game with a limited amount of time to make an impact Cole Palmer might be a better bet than Phil Foden I mean Cole Palmer is the sort of the injured specter at the feast here because we saw what he did at the Euros when he came on got the goal in the final saw what he did at the Club World Cup so we know that the heat of North America he's the player for those occasions I agree with Cole Palmer he's not going to be affected by the heat exactly yeah so I think with Palmer it's you know he's trademarked being cold he's the most frustrated of everybody that he's injured and he's not a part of this, you know, what's been going on with England.

13:37So I know what you mean. He is the one where you kind of think, yeah, would England finish a game with Palmer, Bellingham and Foden on the pitch? Yeah, I think the only way you're doing that is probably with Foden as a false nine again, which seems kind of unlikely, doesn't it? But you've got different finishes for different reasons. Foden is obviously incredible in tight spaces. I think Foden is as capable as popping up with a goal as Palmer. different type of goal maybe, get on the end of a move or ghost in from around the back post or whatever. Palmer's someone who take the ball in that central area probably and says, you know what, fuck this, I'm going to score.

14:12He's different to Foden in that way. But I think to have those two options is an amazing luxury. I don't think you could say, given the 11 we've just named, I don't think you could say that Foden wouldn't be an impactful finisher. No, sure. It's part of the luxury we have, isn't it? It's very difficult to create a... it's very difficult to make a bad choice, essentially. I think Eberichiezer would be one coming off. Great shot. Yeah, I think he'd be off the left. Yeah, I do as well. I mean, otherwise he's another number 10, you know. And I think off the left, one can forget, you know, for Crystal Palace, yeah, they played with sort of two 10s, but he was a sort of off the left.

14:51Yeah, he's kind of in that area anyway. Yeah, and that's where you want him. You want him getting the ball, cutting inside more and rifling into the opposite corner. so I think for the you know anybody saying whatever it is you shouldn't play off the left it's kind of like this is not a huge ask he played left wing back at times in Euro 24 he's got three goals in six games for England recently as well so he's taken his chance fairly well I think although he didn't have the best game the other night but you know that can happen can't it I do think as well there are certain games we don't know when England are going to play at the moment we might be incredibly lucky and all the games might be in the evening or whatever but we have to allow for the idea that there are probably going to be some games played in stifling heat where particularly pacey players might be neutralised a little bit.

15:35And Ezz's game is a bit more patient, isn't it? It's a bit more about picking locks and picking those moments in crowded areas. So I think he'll be a good option. Isn't it ridiculous to say if England are down, they need a goal, and they've put on a lot of attacking talent, could we see a swap at centre-half? If England are really dominating, big Dan Byrne coming on. If England are dominating and pushing the player... I'd push so hard for Dan Byrne to be in the squad as well. Well, you did. I remember a few years... However many years ago it was, maybe just... Probably in the build-up to Euro 2024, you said to me, you put the case to me for big Dan Byrne and I scoffed at it.

16:11And now look at you smiling away there. And fair enough. But I honestly think, though, that if England... Say if they're a goal down or something. Like, say against Slovakia it was in Euro 2024. There's not a huge amount coming the other way. And it's kind of like, right, forget that. You've got to get the goal here. I honestly don't think putting old big Dan Byrne on is one of the centre-halves. You know, thinking what he can bring for set-pieces is a ridiculous idea. No, absolutely not. Specific circumstances, I understand. Dan Byrne is better than just a tall man, isn't he? There's more to his game than that.

16:43But he is a tall man. Yeah, but it absolutely helps in this scenario. He's a great character as well. If you are, you know, again, coming back to the heat situation, you know, every player on that pitch is going to get tired, right? It's not just going to be the the pace of your players up front so changing a centre back might be necessary. There we go. Well there we are. That's our starting 11 and our finishes if the World Cup was tomorrow slash no injuries. Yeah. I think you've got the gist. Anyway, coming up after this which England player could record the next World Cup anthem?

17:25All right, welcome back, everyone. What about this question on Instagram from Johnny? Hello to you, Johnny. He asks, what do you think of the recent reports that UEFA are considering revamping major tournament qualification? Would copying the Swiss model used in the Champions League or putting more emphasis on the Nations League when it comes to qualification actually improve jeopardy and make qualification more exciting? I think it's a really interesting one. What are the proposals? Well, the proposals are essentially this. The Champions League thing. It will use the Swiss model. So a key thing is there apparently won't be any more games than there currently is, whether that will be six or eight.

18:03I don't know because obviously some groups are different at the moment. You only play opposition once and everybody goes into a big league. Presumably there would still be a sort of playoff situation as well. So it would probably favor the big nations, wouldn't it? Because you get that extra lifeline, although I guess the playoffs are already there. So at first I looked at this and I thought, is this just more sort of unnecessary tinkering? and is it the case that sometimes things like qualifiers will only have so much excitement, you know, that you can possibly get from them? And then I thought, maybe I can be the football fan who has it all and maybe this would be better and that I would like it.

18:38And actually, I think the variation of it makes it more interesting. I think the idea of, you know, with all respect to them, two games against Albania in the qualifiers is particularly thrilling, is it? It's not supposed to be thrilling, is it? it's supposed to be a qualification for a tournament on merit. Absolutely, indeed. But I don't think that, you know, the playing field is the same for everybody in this format as well. I think it's been a positive change to the Champions League. I've enjoyed it. But the reasons for the Champions League changing are slightly different because the way that teams qualify for it are entirely different.

19:09Sure. So it's a different thing, isn't it? Indeed. But, in the spirit of the question, I do think this would be more entertaining. You get at least one blockbuster opponent as well, so that's fun. and I don't think it would, from a selfish perspective, I don't think it would jeopardise England's chances of qualifying. I think the starting point for this should be the question, do you think there's anything wrong with the current qualification format? And it's obviously become more complicated because of the Nations League. It's a bit of a running joke of how complicated it can be, but it does give teams another chance.

19:44I do think that it's also probably a pertinent thing to look at given that the size of these tournaments has increased, right? So if you were going to do something to me that seems so seismically impactful, like making the Euros 50 % bigger and making the World Cup 50 % bigger, it kind of feels like, well, it's probably a good opportune time to look at how things are qualified for. Some of the qualification processes around the world are incredibly different. You've got over the other side of Middle East, Asia kind of way, you've got five or six rounds, depending on how you get on. In South America, of course, they start about three years before and they all play each other and the whole thing's one big group, which seems really cool, but then they have to find a way to navigate the Copa America and that kind of stuff.

20:34So I don't think it's a right or wrong answer. To me, I do feel like it feels pointless sometimes when, say, a big nation has to play a Liechtenstein or an Andorra or a San Marino twice. I do favour, I've said this before, and the Nations League has kind of scratched that itch for me, I suppose, because of the way it's set up. But I do think some kind of pre-qualification for those smaller nations seems to be the way forward. But it's pros and cons, because just for the luck of the draw, you may not get to play anyone for a long old time right so if you play six or eight games whatever it may be they haven't decided yet um i i think it's the one thing i regret i suppose about the current champions league model which i agree has has been better than i thought it would be for sure i was pretty pretty wrong on that actually is that it's just it feels far too reliant on the draw itself do you understand what i mean i don't well because for example if you are if you are playing in the Champions League group stage at the moment you may avoid playing away from home against several big teams do you understand what I mean?

21:45Yeah but I think I don't know I think the draws are quite well weighted actually so look at Spurs for example you know they've had four winnable games so far in the Champions League well they're off to PSG next so I think at some point the current UEFA qualifying for the World Cup though is that you have seedings and so you know normally what tends to happen was you'd have one really big nation that had fallen down on their luck and become in pot two for some reason and you might get a really bad group of death and then it would happen and that would happen in the World Cup itself as well but generally speaking you'd all avoid each other in that way Sure but I mean I was asked on the radio would I have preferred England to have maybe a slightly tougher group or a better opponent in there now this is slightly informed by England having been in the second tier of the UEFA Nations League but England when we talk about them having won what is it 11 games in a row that they've never done in their history and not conceded a goal since they lost to Greece.

22:36That's good. No doubt about that. But that is also the factor in that is they've not played any top level teams in that time. You know, any Beatles put in front of you, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I am sort of, you know, leaning slightly towards agreeing with Jim with this so-called Swiss model because I think it does give you, you'll have definitely one game against the top side. Yeah, that's fair. And so I think what's happened with the Champions League we always say that if you are a smaller side and you think, well, okay, it's great. Oh, yeah, we get to go and play Real Madrid or Liverpool or whatever.

23:12But you're just going to get a hiding twice from those teams. Now, yes, okay. And Dora or San Marino, whoever, yeah, they might not play England twice or Spain twice, but they'll play Spain and France then. Do you know what I mean? But it's just, I suppose, different opponents. It's not going to make any difference to the quality, sorry, the chances of those types of nations qualifying. No, I don't think so. I think you've still got the seeding counts and all that kind of stuff. I think it's worth having a look at. I think variation is generally interesting, isn't it? And there's no suggestion that I've yet seen that the World Cup qualification would change.

23:47So you'd still have this exact format for World Cup qualification. It would just be the Euros were a little bit different. I like the idea that they're changing the format of the competition itself, actually. So the idea of looking at changing the qualification format in principle, I think, is a decent idea. Ruckus Patrick has been in touch on Discord and asks which of the current England squad should record and release a World Cup song next year? Well there's a mystery Premier League rapper isn't there? There is. Indeed yeah no one knows who he is. Is he in the England squad? Well the biggest rumour I've read about who it is is people think it's Eddie Nketiah.

24:22Yeah I think he's quashed that although that would be part of the mythos wouldn't it? He's not actually the guy yeah it's me. Yeah it is me. And he's obviously English eligible for England does he play for England Marcus Eddie Nketiah? I think he's had a cap yeah. Yeah, so there you go. There's your answer. Well, I mean... If it is him. Which of the current England squad? He's very much not in the current England squad, is he? Yeah, I think if Marcus Rashford did it, there'd be a very proportionate, mature response to it from the press. So maybe he should avoid that. I think the person in the England squad regularly who is closest to sort of a fan that could sort of cheerlead everybody would be Jordan Pickford.

24:59I agree with you. Yeah, Pickford's got to be. It'd be great to see him. It's a sort of Gaza rap vibe. Yeah, very much so. Absolutely. I mean, there could be a sort of do they know it's the World Cup Live Aid style kind of collaborative effort with everybody involved. I don't mind that. Yeah. Adam Morton on drums. Keeping it ticking along. Adam Morton on drums, okay. Yeah, I know what you mean. Jordan Pinkham's got that and he'd probably be up for it as well. Yeah, absolutely. Some sort of wacky World Cup song. Jack Grealish is in there. Squad or not. Oh, okay. Be sad, you know, if he's not there.

25:32there we are so we all agree on Jordan Pickford yeah I think so makes perfect sense to me it's got that energy definitely I think Pickford for me sometimes I think yeah if he was playing decades ago he would have been front and centre of you know world in motion oh for sure of course he would yeah that's part of the reason why a lot of people like him yeah agree he's got that type of energy absolutely alright coming up after this which of Tommy Tuchel's men would make the best England manager

25:59I've got a question and it's from Andy Salop on Discord. Would the lads like to see Thomas Tuchel continue on as England manager after the World Cup, or do they think keeping it short-term is best for all parties involved? It really does depend on what happens at that World Cup. Well, I think telling everyone continually that it's short-term is beneficial, because it means it can justify the decisions a lot more easily, and he's obviously approached the job with that kind of energy. But I refer to that, this came up in a slightly different way a week or two ago or maybe the last international break where to me it feels quite difficult to plot a path forward as Tuchel as England manager beyond the World Cup because if they win it it's kind of job done his stock won't have been higher and he as far as I know he doesn't have a long term ambition at this age to be an international manager and the contract options he'll get will be really lucrative and he'll presumably want to go back to the Premier League or to a big job in Europe.

27:01And if they don't win, he's basically fouled on the brief that he's continually stated is his reason for being there. And so there won't be any interest. The only thing I can think of is if like England fans and the nation fall in love with him so much between now and then, and then we get robbed of some kind of win in the final. And he's like, well, it's unfinished business kind of thing. That's the only way I can see that happening. And I don't think that's very likely. So to me, I think it will stay short term. I do think that's best. Again, I'll call out the same way I always call out whoever the England manager is to say, please start succession planning now because England, the FA are crap at that.

27:40They haven't done it very well in the past. The decision to hire Tuchel may be justified. The ends may justify the means, but the means were, in my view, completely poor. And at worst, they tore up exactly everything that Southgate built, despite Tuchel's efforts to, you know, continue some of those traditions. The whole point of it is that it's supposed to be a long-term legacy where we bring coaches through. Like, you know, say Germany have done that quite well in the past up until recent years where they found it difficult. So to me, it feels like it is short-term, it should be short-term and I can't see much changing.

28:17I don't know if you guys agree. Yeah, I mean, the kind of succession planning idea is all well and good, isn't it? And we all kind of would love to see that. but it wasn't essentially ready yet, was it? So this is the sort of stopgap solution to that. And in terms of the culture, Harry Kane spoke recently about how he feels that that is still there, that all of the important elements of that are still in place, particularly the way the players approach the feeling and the mentality of playing for England and how committed they all are. He gave the example of Mark Gay being injured, still reporting for duty, knowing that he wouldn't be able to play and knowing that he would have to withdraw from the squad, but still being there to kind of keep abreast of what was going on in terms of the tactical plans and the general kind of intentions of everything, to still be in that camp, still be in the environment and still be part of the squad.

29:03So different than years ago. That didn't used to happen. Well, years ago, I mean, some players would be any excuse to pull out. And fine, that's their business, but you're right, Jim, to point that out. I think, to go back to the question itself, I mean, Luke's already touched on it. It really does depend what happens at the World Cup. England are going to go into the World Cup. I mean, providing they're going to get absolutely pumped in March with the friendlies, and even if they did, you know, you would still have some kind of hope that they could make an impression on the tournament. If England go far and it's, say, a semi-final defeat or whatever it is, a glorious failure, penalties, and so on and so forth, it'll just sound more of the same.

29:41And Tuchel has equipped himself pretty well. Tactically, Kane was talking him up, all the stuff, all those reasons in terms of the spirit and the camp, as you've just said, Jim. so I think Luke you mapped out a scenario there where he may stay if it's unfinished business I think if he won the World Cup he would stay because and it's based on what we're going on right now but right now he really he was purring after that game against Albania as he kind of was against Serbia as he was when they won 5-0 in Serbia he's got the bit between his teeth I think he said he took a bit of adjustment and you could see that early on look at the results and the performances that game when they won 5-0 in Serbia and what's come since boom he's hit the ground running and I think that you know he said didn't he in the camp he said guys you've made me realise my dream I'm going to I'm going to the World Cup he said in the changing room didn't he and I'm so proud to be going with you guys there's something I think Tuchel's really really enjoying it and that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to stay long term but if he was to win the World Cup which you know is you know huge in enormous if yeah I think he would be like bloody hell this is fantastic but let's go into the Euros and see what we can do.

30:50But I don't think that's the full picture though, is it? Because the full picture that I described also takes into account the idea that if they win the World Cup under Tuchel in England, Tuchel will then almost certainly be the most in-demand manager in world football. Yes. And then a Real Madrid come along. Yeah, but fine. And a United come along and they offer him a big deal. Indeed, you've said. But two years later, he leads England into a UK and Ireland European Championship. But I just think he wants to work. I think that's a long way off at that point, isn't it? Fine, but I mean, we are speculating on what he's thinking and also we're trying to, you know, predict what's going to happen.

31:24And I think that the unfinished business all winning the World Cup, I think those two scenarios, as unlikely as they may be for some people, yeah, well, as unlikely as they may be for a lot of people, I think that would be the only reason why he would stay. Whereas if it was a case of, it was the kind of same old, not quite good enough, or just not quite there, or maybe a bit disappointing, then I think that would be the end of that. I think the second part of the question is important as well. Do you think keeping it short term is best for all parties involved? Even if every single England fan in this country wanted him to stay, if he did and the FA did, it would be better to keep that quiet until after the World Cup.

32:02Because I think this is a huge positive for England in terms of the way the press are approaching it. Their admin would be great. So if Tuchel was on a long-term contract now, and we knew he was going to be there for three or four tournaments, or even the next one after that, we'd be having stories about Jude Bellingham's England career being under threat. Are we going to be wasting golden years of his career? None of that stuff is happening. And I think he's ticked that box of keeping the culture alive, which is great. And I also think he's kind of, as much as an England manager can be, he's sort of bulletproof with the press at the moment.

32:41Everyone wants him to succeed. There's always a honeymoon period with England managers, and it tends to be that first tournament and then they start sort of going through your bins and all that stuff. So his bins are safe at the moment. And I think it gives him so much capital in terms of the stories he can choose to engage with and the stories he can choose to just dismiss. It's all focused on the football and he's obviously doing a really good job on that front. The external pressures are really limited by the fact that this is going to be a kind of one and done at the moment. So even if everyone's planning for after that, they should keep it quiet.

33:12And that's a really good point because I think sometimes with managers who get put, given international contracts of say three or five years or whatever, they can start, if they're not kind of careful, they can start talking about like trust the process, you know, the cycle this, the cycle that and all of a sudden, it's not about this next World Cup, we're kind of building because we've got these players coming through and the whole thing just kind of drifts. Whereas with this, it's imperative, isn't it? The time is now. I also don't, look, part of what's informing my take on this, I need to be honest, is that I don't think if you're ranked above a certain level in international football, you should be allowed to be a foreign manager anyway.

33:44I understand if you are you know a nation that hasn't traditionally invested in football or doesn't have the resources so you are attracted to having a foreign coaching team if part of it if you're ranked 80th in the world yeah exactly that kind of stuff but I think if you go above say 40 in the rankings or something I think you should be I think you should have to have a domestic coach and also a really lovely little kind of hilarious caveat to that would be that if you got your team above a certain ranking you'd be sacked or you'd be straight out of the passport office yeah straight out of the passport office yeah there's a lot of nations that aren't above that I'll tell you yeah look you've got the last question I'm going to round us off with this one from Matt on X some great stuff on X please we found this little nugget among all the other gold which current England player do you think would make the best England manager I've got two names one's quite obvious the caveat is that sometimes in fact a lot of the time the best managers don't tend to be the players you expect you know everyone will say for example they knew from the age of about 21 that Jamie Curragle was going to be a manager yeah and he didn't want to do it so not always as you expect so the two players one I think is perhaps more of an obvious shout and maybe one is just a feeling Jordan Henderson will absolutely be a manager and he mentions worth it yeah yeah I'd say get him in there no I think I think Henderson because I mean really he's almost part of the coaching staff in his current England squad I understand that so that's where I'm going I was looking around the squad and I'm thinking who are the and you want to sort of look for those obvious things who are the leaders who are the this that and the others and blah blah blah and there was nobody obvious for some reason I think Esri Konza might make a good manager yeah I think there's a steely determined look in his eye knows the game very well I think you look at the maturity as well right Mark Gay is super mature yeah Mark Gay Stones and Rice seem like leader leader types you might want to kind of carry that on in their kind of post-playing career.

35:42Yeah, Gay to me would be more of, I'd like to seem like maybe a sporting director or a number two or something. Do you know what I mean? Whereas I, yeah. I take your point though. But yeah, cons are for me. Don't know why. I think the leadership aspect is clearly a massive part of being a manager. But there are other aspects as well, right? There are. And what you find now is really, if you look at the list of Premier League managers, it's kind of a combination of managers who have played at the top level and then a lot of them who have coached from a very young age and kind of almost done it like a traditional job where they've been promoted and they've worked really hard and they've learned and they've got more qualifications and they've become more senior.

36:20So it's kind of interesting that you've got in the same league, Pep Guardiola, who was a top quality player, won the Champions League, brilliant midfield player for one of the biggest clubs in the world and then goes on to do what he does and someone like Fabian Herzler, who's coached from so young that he's basically younger than some of his players and it's got a completely different route. I suspect because of the demands of modern football we'll see it move towards a way where the majority of top coaches actually weren't top level players and so if that's the case the answer might not be any of them I could see Jordan Pickford being a goalkeeping coach I think that's almost certain what other job is that man going to do and then I think he would think recording artist yeah and then I would think he would think I fancy being a number one it'd be great vibes may not get the results but we'd all enjoy it about it to do no I don't know he's finally allowed sky in his bedroom so I think when he retires he's just going to enjoy that lovely deep cut as long as he can oh yeah just analysing games pundit get him in as a pundit thank you very much for listening to the Football Ramble part of the ACAR's Creator Network Jim and I are back tomorrow alongside Pete for another fantastic Ramble if I may say so myself we've already decided yeah it's easy oh my goodness give it five stars now please do send us your responses your opinions your questions anything else for next week's mailbag we bloody love it when you get in touch and become a friend of the Ramble too to join the conversation on our Discord.

37:37There we are. Thanks Luke. Thank you very much. Thanks Jim. Thank you. Cheers to you all everybody.

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