We’ve got our islands back

0:00Gather round everybody, welcome to the Football Ramble, England host Serbia tonight, it's Thursday 13th November, I'm Marcus Spell. I'm Luke Moor. And I'm Vidusha Nahantaraja.

0:24Hello everybody, welcome to the Football Ramble, as I've already said. Luke Moore, hours away from England. It's like Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, Boxing Day and my birthday, all in one. roll it all together the opposite of that wrap it in bacon wrap it in bacon and feed it to me yeah I'm all for that there's no eating in the studio but he has got the bacon wrapped up outside in the kitchen and before you go today get it under that grill for the boy yes nice do it for your boy I'll take the bacon as I said on Wednesday I'm not overly keen on the Premier League stopping but at least we have a game to look forward to we have a big game to look forward to well we have a game to look forward to a huge matter well what you can do is you can eat possibly in a way of taunting our opponents tonight a dish called savapi which is the most widely recognised Serbian national dish it's like a big plate of like minced meat turned into sausages keep going nice keep talking that's what I mean what else have you got on there you would taunt them by making it slightly off you know the way Italians get annoyed yeah put a bit of pineapple on the pizza yeah that kind of thing I'll chuck a bit of pineapple in there I'm all for that behaviour by the way I love disrespecting other nations' cuisines.

1:42Well, we went into bat with Vish yesterday on one cut, didn't we, about his food boredom. And they eat that in a flatbread with some grilled onions, Vish. Oh, that's lovely. That'd be nice, I think. I'll go for that. Yeah, exactly. With a bit of gravy on top. Yeah. Bistol only. Yes. Yeah, I like it. Gravy is brilliant. But anyway, we don't have time for that. Why don't the rest of the world get involved? England obviously already qualified for World Cup 2026. Still a big game tonight, though. As you may have detected by the opening to this show. Yeah. You cut the tension with a cricket stump. You're back on board, Visho.

2:18Yeah, there we go. What can you, mate? There we are. You mean the curved side of it, so it'd be harder to... Exactly. Shut up. ...spike it. There are six wins from six in qualifying. England have scored 18 goals without conceding any. Just hand us that trophy now. Yeah. Please, can we have it? Yeah, seriously, because I don't think there's any other way we might. Look, England have been impressive. They play Serbia tonight and of course Luke Moore. Really, the Thomas Tuchel era kicked in with England when they went to Serbia and won 5-0. It almost came from nowhere, didn't it? Not quite from nowhere because we know England are a good side.

2:50But I think it's fair to say there had been nothing to suggest that particular result and performance was going to happen. But of course it did and we've not looked back since, really. England haven't looked back since so it feels like it's clicked. whereas before we were all very sceptical about Thomas Tuchel myself probably more than most because I am sometimes right sometimes wrong always certain as we know and now I've had to change my tune which I'm not above doing so as the facts change Marcus my opinion will change yeah I mean unless I'm specifically annoyed with like a very like annoying YouTube commenter and I'll never change my opinion to spite them individually yeah okay well that's that's what broadcasting is very big of you don't teach that at university but that's what broadcasting actually is all about very big of you spite leading up to that Serbia game because we don't have a huge retrospective but it had been fairly unconvincing with England obviously Senegal battered England in Nottingham that game came along against Serbia and you could see Tuchel it felt like after the game he was purring and he didn't seem that he seemed fairly calm and collected what had gone on before that which still was wins in qualification not hugely convincing but everyone was kind of saying, well, or some people were saying, well, what do you expect?

4:04You know, it was a statement win. And Tuchel, as I say, was purring. And it felt like, to me, where I was viewing, Tuchel had the bit between his teeth. He said, I've got them. Whatever's going on here, ah, I think I'm in the groove now. And this group of players is in the groove. And he's picked very similar scores. He said that, isn't it? It's minor changes here and there, which on one level you would expect. but with some of the personnel you think okay he's really concerned about the sort of the group harmony and all the rest of it so I suppose there's a very long-winded way of saying this game against Serbia yes okay England have already qualified da-di-da-di-da but actually because of the fierce competition for places and because of what Tuchel wants he'll want that mood and spirit to keep going so I think there is importance to this game I don't think it's some sort of throwaway it doesn't matter if it's a draw or the performance it's always great every England player is important right?

4:58Yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, this is just a continuation of, I suppose, on-field harmony that they need to be successful next summer. Yeah, I mean, like, I was flipping basically about this particular match because England, as you said, have already qualified. The hardest bit has been done. And you apologise for that flippancy now, don't you? No, I don't. I'm making excuses for it. Yeah, fair enough. Again, that's what broadcast is all about. Two very different things, yeah. Really, I can't stress that enough. Okay. the Senegal game was interesting because yeah that was like the proper red flags and it was like he's a he's a secret agent he's trying to bring us down from the inside he still could be he could yeah yeah but he he thinks the heartbreak is going to be you know I think he was doing that but we flipped him now he's a double agent wow yeah he's going to go to Germany after this and torpedo them the crown always wins carry on yeah that's what Marcus is for he goes to bed every night Another day in the kingdom.

5:56The crown always wins. Do you think there's a vacancy for a royal now? Are you making a picture of this? Yeah. What the hell was I going to say? Prince Marcus. Yes. There was a stage, and obviously with the Senegal game, but even the 2-0 victory against Andorra, which wasn't very convincing, where I felt personally, I was still getting used to those players being in a, for all intents and purposes, a full strength first string England squad. And now enough time has passed that even as we discussed on Wednesday, you know, the name Gerard Kwanza being in an England squad isn't alarming. And he certainly feels more comfortable with what he regards as his squad.

6:48and the fact that he can bring Jude Belliam into this squad for the first time in this particular cycle and still have a sense of, oh yeah, but like it's, he almost rode that wave and a lot of the, you know, a lot of the wave was of his own making to a point, but he's able to do it in a real sense of like, right, don't worry, mate, we've qualified. We do know how good you are though. Let's get this trending towards the thing that actually matters next summer, the World Cup. Yeah. I mean all eyes are on that really I mean that's basically the scope of his gig isn't it Indeed indeed Would you expect Guernsey-born Alex Scott to feature Luke Moore in this game?

7:28It depends how Tuchel's looking at it If he wants to get him around the squad because he might need him He wants to get him comfortable with the environment And get to know some of the players a bit better Then he might not play much But given the circumstances that you guys have already touched on I mean he can play The other way of looking at it is that if you're going to pick him and it's going to attract headlines that you know it is because it's a sorry, a surprise but it's an interesting development shall we say and it feels weird to not play him and I think Tuchel to his credit has gone with players and gone like you know what we're going to let him go he stuck with Rodgers when he didn't need to for example Rodgers didn't have a brilliant start to the season stuck with him he stuck with Anderson who I know has been brilliant but Anderson's not up until a few months ago isn't a fashionable name in the England set up I mean I think he's an absolutely fantastic player and he's well worth staying in there.

8:17But I think people look at Anderson as a starter now. They do. So if Alex Scott goes in there and does really well, but you guys, I feel like, I thought this the other day actually, I feel like you guys have seen Alex Scott play more than I have. So maybe I should defer to you guys. But clearly he's like a defensive midfield slash midfield player. Well, he sees himself more as we say nowadays as a number eight rather than number six. I mean, he has played there. So he's deputising, he's going to be a deputy for one of the midfield players in there. Indeed, yeah. So you want to get him some experience of some description presumably yeah I mean also as well Tuchel might be thinking that with with Scott and Anderson doing very well for the England under 21s he's familiar with with him he's having a decent season again I think it's more I would suspect as I'm sure a lot of others would that this is in case of suddenly sort of a number of injuries in a very key area of the pitch where England might sort of slightly lack just to have someone who is familiar I think that's it but he might play Wharton instead, no?

9:15Well, Wharton's in the squad as well. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I suspect Wharton might be ahead. I think still Wharton, Rice and probably Bellingham is a midfield that I think a lot of people would still like to see. Wharton was the one. Anderson's come in and taken his chance and taken it very, very well and you think, ah, that's great but I think Wharton is a player that a lot of people, myself included, would like to see in an England shirt. With Scott, it's, you know, Wharton has had his injury problems. You know, you can't, Declan Rice at some point might get tired. do you know what I mean because he just seems to be like the Duracell bunny so I think Scott is it's more of a precaution really yeah a bit of insurance isn't it having a look at a potential bit of insurance yeah because you'd rather someone who is at least familiar with being in that camp with all those players rather than on the eve of the tournament and the role you know what Luke was saying there is like him being a deep lying midfielder who starts moves you know can also break up moves if you think of like where he's how he's started this season he's basically come in and taken Ryan Christie's gig at Bournemouth do you remember how good Ryan Christie was last season yeah you know the fact that he's I think he's what so he started 10 games this season and Ryan Christie's 9 appearances this season 8 have come as a sub it's a pretty big thing considering how integral that was to Bournemouth last season I appreciate that you know they did fall away but Iriola's brilliant at that though Iriola's so good if you look at the players he's lost in his back four for example last season he's so good at just replacing them in whatever way he feels like he needs to also the real hallmark of his management yeah he even does it in game with that midfield too well totally I think that's another thing that comes into Tuchel's thinking is it's the position where Alex Scott can play the fact is he's you know and how he's playing the role as well how he's playing the role but you get that under a manager like Iriola he's having a great footballing education there and so yeah I kind of get it I don't think we'll see him necessarily against Serb he might get it depending on how the scoreline is maybe towards the end.

11:09Maybe against Albania though in the next game. I think, yeah, I think that's probably more likely not least because one of the things Suku has been good at is working with Premier League managers. Yeah. And I wouldn't be surprised if he's like, right, it's your first time. We'll rest a couple of the big dogs. Go and show us what you're made of. Yeah, exactly. This is a must, well, I say must win game for Serbia. I mean, you know, If Albania win their game and Serbia lose, then Nations League aside, they're pretty much out of the runnings, really. So a big game for Serbia. Alex Scott, though. Guernsey-born, of course.

11:50Only one of three. Oh, he will become, if he plays minutes, become the third player born in the Channel Islands to play for the England men's team at senior level. The other two being Luke Moore? Graham Lissau. Yep. And Matthew Letizia. Absolutely. Yeah. So it's nice that he's, I was going to say an English name careful it is Scott yeah I thought you were going to say about the conspiracy let's hope not no now up until recently did you notice players from the Channel Islands could choose any of the four UK nations to represent as they were classed as British I was aware of that and that kind of makes sense because if you're from the Channel Islands and they're like okay I don't I'm not going to tell every person you should be able to do France as well it's so close it is and if you've got a Le in your name as well yeah Yeah, yeah.

12:36It's obviously closer to France than here. But if you've ever made the mistake, as my mate did, and talk about Britain as the mainland, it's not like the Isle of Wight, because the Isle of Wight was obviously part of England, therefore part of Britain. It's a crown dependency. So it's an odd little classification. Well, they've got to decide whose side they're on then. I think they did. Yeah, they did for a bit. Bit of history there, Fish. Odd little classification. Daft little nation. Yeah. No, it's all right. It's a very unique classification. would be a more diplomatic way of putting it. But what are you going to say?

13:08Because FIFA have done us a solid, haven't they? Well, FIFA have changed the rules, which means that if you're from one of the Channel Islands, you can only represent England now, which is the nation geographically closest to the Crown dependencies. We've got our islands back. We've got our islands back. We have. Go on, Gianni, get it up here. He's done something for us. Yeah. As soon as you can have Letizia, let's go on if you want. Yeah. We'll drive him up there ourselves if you want. Yeah, true. This rule stopped Craig Bellamy from calling up Celtics Callum Osmond, who represented Wales at youth level, which is a bit of a sickness for him.

13:40Craig Bellamy would have come out in an interview and said, I absolutely love the challenge of being hammered by admin. I love it. I love the big admin game. Yeah, that's true. This makes me be more creative as a manager, so I'm into it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Alex Scott is obviously one that caught the attention when the squad was announced. I mean, looking around the team, in this game, I would expect him to play probably what he thinks is his best 11 or an 11 that would start the first game of the World Cup next year at home to Serbia, a side who need a result. You really think that? I think we might see a little insight into...

14:17I mean, maybe he might... I mean, obviously with the injury of Mark Gay, who you think would start alongside Stones. That's close too. Yeah, so... So Kondor all played still, which is what would happen in the real situation if it was like that. Possibly. the only thing I might think is that would he maybe put Shalabar in there to give him a little bit more experienced and then at left back we spoke about left back on yesterday's pod I think the left back sport is still up for grabs I would like to see him play O 'Reilly I'd like to see him play Wharton I'm not against seeing him play Alex Scott for the reason that we discussed and as Vicious said Konza plays alongside Stones because that's what would happen in the real scenario again he got a sub or somehow unavailable and the other definite well the definites are that Rice, Cade and Pickford will play and Saka Saka yeah yeah Saka's back you'd imagine he'd start Saka and on the other side I mean it looks like Rashford little Rashford he likes Rashford he wants to pace on the break I think Rashford it's his to lose you would argue we've got a Rashford back yes there we go we'll see in a few hours time we're going to find out we are going to find out now Tom Stuckel's assistant is of course Anthony Barry and he said a lovely quote recently in the press where he said the England shirt should feel like a cape not body armour come on yeah I like that it's nice I like that as well I kind of really like just the general idea of Anthony Barry yeah he looks like a very genial proper Englishman yeah which in this context is important he looks almost like a bit like one of them's got to be yeah he looks a bit like Andy Hinchcliffe but smiling yes has he ever had an England cap Hinchcliffe did and Barry's done this thing where he's had this playing career which has been you know obviously done really well to get to the level he got to because it's so competitive but he's not had an illustrious playing career so straight in there as soon as he's able he's gone into the coaching thing he's done Bayern Munich he's done Martinez at Belgium and now he's doing England good on him I say yeah I'm just looking up how many caps Andy Hinchley seven that's poor of me of course as soon as I said that I knew he played now Anthony Barry among some of the stuff he was talking about and I did like the English you feel like a cape lovely stuff he also compared Thomas Tuchel to a UFO.

16:29He said, I've never seen anything like him in terms of personality and also in methodology in his way of working. He was something for me that was almost like a UFO. He was not anything like I'd seen before. There's something about Thomas. There's stardust there. I can't exactly say what it is, but it's something special. It's the X factor that we all look for. I'm not sure you can learn it. I think it's God given and to this day he still has it. Blimey! Take the UFO sentence out. It's a perfectly fine comment. the UFO thing as you'd expect from a UFO it comes from nowhere unexpected totally unexpected yeah unexpected flying objects because if you if you replace the phrase UFO with what UFO actually stands for it makes the entire quite entirely totally mental I've never seen anything like him in terms of personality and also methodology in a way of working he was something for me that was almost like an unidentified flying object doesn't work does it the UFO Do you mean posted on a Facebook group at 11pm?

17:26Yeah. Is that it? Well, the Luke and Pete show, we asked if people had ever seen a UFO. We got loads of emails and every single one of them started with, I was walking home from the pub late one night. Every single one of them. So maybe Anthony Barry was the same. I need to start looking up more. He should have gone into this more and said, going into his office is like turning up at Area 51. I wonder if he was pushing... It's like Will Smith for Independence Day, Vish. That's what I call a close encounter. And if you turn up and you're looking a bit roby, he will punch you and go, welcome to St.

18:01George's Park. That's a great scene, by the way. Yeah. Welcome to Earth. It's great. Do you think if they pushed him a bit more on this comment, we'd have found out that he believes in aliens? I hope so. Yeah, I'm glad they didn't. I'm glad that we don't need that. Yeah. Maybe on... Well, you know, because we... The thing about Thomas Duckel is, it's like, you know, because we all started from an alien race and he's like, you know, the one who sired us. Yeah, okay. Yeah, that's starting to get a bit more David Icke. Yes. Yeah, okay, right. I'm not against that. Like a rogue conspiracy theorist assistant manager that isn't Matt Letizia.

18:36Sign me up. Yeah, okay, there we are. All right, coming up after this, does Harry Kane hold the keys to the World Cup?

18:53Welcome back to Football Ramble, everybody. Right, we've got some correspondence. It's England time. We put the feelers out there. You have responded. It's a perfect storm of international football. Loads of shows. Get the listeners to do the work. Yeah. So here they are. Some people don't want to know how the sausage is made. Get a jingle of that. Time for your turn, listeners. That's right. I feel like Tuchel this week. Hello, is that Alex Scott? Yeah, yeah. Come up, yeah. Yeah, you might as well, to be honest. Come up, yeah. Can I? Yeah, you can. This is from L on X. With Harry Kane entering even higher peaks than ever seen before in his career, should we be doing everything we possibly can to finally build the England team around him?

19:39Or is he the kind of special player that can adapt to help unlock those around him? At the risk of sounding unfair to a very welcome and appreciated listener to this show, L have you been watching any football over the last 15 years because England have already do that and both those things are already the case surely right yeah so that's your answer yeah right before we move on from this right it's not like suddenly at the age of 33 or whatever he is 76 England goals people are going I'll tell you what we should probably think about maximising that guy's potential so you're not playing him on the wing then well exactly so would you start him I think you need to use different weapons for different challenges I think you'd use them for the final well as he got the keys to the World Cup he's the skeleton key but you're the England guy here if you like I might be being unfair to L in division I don't mean to be but the point I'm making is basically sound right that has been happening yeah I think the difference now and it's a slight one but it's still an important one we're not playing a false nine are we no but there is I get the sense watching this particular England side that the forward does less running than he needs to sorry, than he used to which is ideal for Kane right now and there's also we also have a smart enough midfield I think to cope with him dropping back.

21:09Well and so that would be an argument maybe for Bellingham in there I know there's a lot of arguments for Bellingham in there but you know you could say that if it was Phil Foden or maybe Morgan Rodgers. They play with forwards who like to stretch the defence and try and run him behind, which is not Kane's game. And maybe what El is talking about is in Euro 2024, I mean, Kane was a little bit injured still. There was other problems there, but maybe El is saying that... But they built the team around him too much in 2024. But they didn't... Because Kane, as we know, plays better with runners and Phil Foden, that's not really his game, playing on the left.

21:49So I think what Tuchel is looking at, having managed Kane at club level, having, as Bayern do, and have done since Kane's there, having two runners beyond him, which is why I think Rashford is probably going to start big games for England. And I think it's not Saka's game so much, admittedly, but Kane and Saka, I think, work really well. So there's sort of an understanding there. So I think, should England, yeah, play to his track, because, I mean, you saw some of the highlights of him playing for Bayern this season. I mean, he really is deep. You know, there's that clip, isn't there, where he goes in for a sliding tackle on the edge of his box.

22:23So I suppose really in the semi-final when they played Foden and Belegan behind Kane, maybe that doesn't, if I'm trying to be fair, that doesn't maybe play to Kane's strength so much. You saw that when England deployed that sort of 3-5-2 formation or 3-6-1 or whatever you want to call it. It was out of necessity. That wasn't the plan at all. so maybe L is I mean I ultimately agree with you yes England obviously tried to Kane's the first name on the team 100 % been trying to maximise everything we can get out of Harry Kane for quite a long time now it's just a point I'm making and I think we don't play like I say a false nine we don't Kane's only operates as one a little bit a lot of the conversation on a false eight a lot of conversation is I feel like based around how we get the best out of Kane because if you've got a world class consistent scorer a Kane a Haaland whoever you want to call it Mbappe or whatever that's gold dust it is it's total gold dust and so I just think it's a little bit it's just we've not been doing that so yeah sorry that's unfair but that's just my style I think the question was framed as either or really I don't think it was again in light of the previous tournament there were little bits and pieces because in the end you would have argued in the Euros actually the way the kind of team operated partly due to injury and exhaustion or whatever you want to say Watkins was probably a better option in some moments as it proved to be but I think not now but I think that was partly because Kane was shattered yeah so you know history suggests that that is likely to still be the case come next summer oh he's got a winter break yeah he had one before and they also might oh yeah they also might wrap up the league by about January let's hope so and then we need to wrap it up he loves goals this is a problem I suggested this a while ago I agreed with you when you said it as well about sometimes they should just stop Kane.

24:16He's his own worst enemy. Yeah, 100%. Given a week or 10 days off. I felt like that as well. I remember you saying it and I felt like that as well when he kept getting that ankle injury. Just stop fucking playing for a bit. Stop playing. Anyway, let's see if a man called Toby has got a better question. Where did he leave his question? On YouTube. Oh, did he? Yeah, he left it on YouTube. It's an option, people. Yeah. Will we see an England long throw routine in the next two games? what with them being in vogue in the Premier League and more importantly do Premier League tactics affect how the national team plays?

24:49And he's ended the message by saying God save the King in capital letters. Hear, hear. Yes. So what do you think guys? Are we going to see long throws and broadly speaking do the Premier League tactics affect how the national team plays? That's what Tuchel said. Tuchel's already said that he would do long throws. Back in September yeah he was asked about it. He likes a bit of that. His assistant Anthony Barry actually did his university dissertation on throw-ins in the Premier League. Very nice. Martin O 'Neill's fuming.

25:18Let's interpret this question maybe in a slightly different way, which I think would be an interesting discussion. God not save the king. No, no, come on. Why have we seen this prevalence of these types of tactics? Is it just a cyclical thing that people talk about, which to me seems unlikely? Or is it now, with the introduction of VAR, that it's just so difficult to defend in the penalty area. So the ball spending as much time as possible in there is something that people have made as a calculation that's worth doing. I think that's a really, really good point, the second one you made there, and not really one I've considered, but surely 100%.

25:54If you think of, as you were saying, the cyclical nature of tactics, what happens is you get to a stage where loads of people are doing one thing, so to do something differently, you end up changing it, and in this case, being more direct, and what's a good way of being more direct is doing that with long throws. And the thing that countered that initially was having loads of five or seven ball players who would just jink around and not need set pieces but kill you in open play. And if you look at, say, Newcastle now, Arsenal now, to an extent England now, a lot of players are massive. Yeah. Newcastle was ridiculous last time out.

26:30They were so big. Yeah. And the VAR thing is a great point because people defend differently now in the box. So yeah, I think that's a great point. No more room for the dark arts. No, but the numbers will also be crunched. I mean, if you're finding out who's doing long throws, what are the percentage plays, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like why we don't see some teams shooting from, say, long range as much because that's like a low percentage effort, if you see what I mean. And now more people are shooting from long range. Yeah, because people sit deep. Exactly. So it's kind of one informs the other.

27:04Not how many things are crunched, are they? numbers yeah carrots stomachs that's it well these these long throw numbers over the last five years of the Premier League are interesting the long throws that led to goals increased from 0.03 % in the 2020-21 season to 0.38 % in 24-25 yeah and you know they will be that number will have gone up by the end of this season as well sure it will have done yeah well I think Tuchel did say himself he wants to play almost like a Premier League side I mean the the thing that he's going to have to really be aware of which he will be is the weather at the time so if you want to play high octane football and you know do all the things tempo yeah it's going to be very very difficult so that will be a factor there's no doubt about that I think England have generally been smarter about that now it feels like England have scored a lot of their goals from set piece or certainly they have used set pieces in dead ball situations quite well actually even pre-Tuchel and I think a lot of these we talked about this in the lead up to the Euros last year is that England are just now a very sensible functional tournament team?

28:19Yeah, well they are and do Premier League tactics affect how the national team plays? I mean the boring answer is well of course because you've got the players that you have and really you're going on Gareth Southgate there and the little teensy bit we've seen of Thomas Tuchel so there's no point in getting those players together and going, right, we're going to try and play like you've all been schooled at the Barcelona Academy or something. Thomas Tuchel's also managed in the Premier League, don't forget. Exactly, yeah. So I think just inevitably it will. But, yeah, I keep mentioning the weather, but it will play its part.

28:53But you do mention that a lot, and I wonder really, you suggest it, because clearly it will play its part, and clearly we're going to wait and see what happens to kick-off times, and 94 was a precedent, which I think people would say retrospective is actually quite poorly organised anyway but clearly the weather is going to be even warmer now because of the way the climate is and there's more games as well but are you suggesting that it's going to affect England more than it's going to affect the other contenders to win the trophy is that what you're saying? Possibly because of what people are used to climate wise here I mean if you are Spanish particularly if you're from the more southern parts of Spain, playing in warm weather is something that you're just a little bit more used to of course they'll get knackered of course they'll work up a sweat and all that kind of stuff but to me that's quite obvious I think Saudi Arabia are going to win it that's the natural extrapolation to the fight yeah but if you if you play you play for Juventus yeah is the climate that different to Juventus a poor example in Northern Italy that's what I'm saying yeah yeah I see but a lot of big players play for Juventus is my point yeah but sure but I mean Italy's just a hotter country I mean I just think that in previous tournaments you know England players have mentioned this before and have all the sympathy in the world I just wonder if it's an outdated notion given the improvements in things like dietary nutrition training stats all that kind of stuff you can't replicate that and they're also talking about playing games a lot later in the day in the US aren't they and saying that we're going to have we might even have some 2am kickoffs here oh at least yeah so in which case it's not going to be as much of a factor you don't know that until you see the scheduling for England's game But I think the idea of them playing like a top Premier League side, you know, heavy metal football, as Jurgen Klopp said, I'm not sure.

30:41I think that's been the case for the vast majority of World Cup tournaments. Fair point, fair point. All right, coming up after this, a couple more of your questions.

30:53I've got a question from Dylan on YouTube. If Thomas Tuchel only has one place left on the plane for the World Cup and needs a left-sided forward, who do you think he should go for between Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish? This is not in the spirit of the question, but Rashford will be on the plane. Yes. So I won't think he'll have to choose between those two. I suppose it's not necessarily two-course choices, isn't it? We'll frame this as who would you choose out of those two. Yeah, yeah. It depends on two things, right? The two main inputs into the answer to this question are the profile of the other forwards you've got already because I believe, as I've said time and time again when you're playing the formation that England tend to play with two wide forwards you really want to be flexible in how you pick them for what challenge you've got in front of you and the factors will be things like who gets the best out of Kane can you run beyond Kane, that's important but also, if you've got a team that's really, really good at sitting deep and defending for their lives you might want someone who's a bit cleverer who can unpick a lark, a deep line playmaker type player if you've got one.

32:00And so you need to be flexible in how you pick them. And as a result, you then need a blend of different types of wide forwards, right? So it's informed by that. But it's also informed by the fact that we're now answering this question in November and there's a whole season ahead for those guys to impress. Now, Grier just started the Premier League season pretty well, but he's been absent here and there. But his assist record has been good so far. And I think he's found a bit of a home at Everton. And a lot of it will be informed on how good a season Everton have. I think it's good that he'll be fresher.

32:27Having said that, he didn't play much for Man City before so he can't get much fresher but I'm going to say he's not playing three games a week Marcus Rashford from what I've seen has really enjoyed his time at Barcelona and shown really great moments and there's I wouldn't necessarily say he's from what I've seen and you should listen to the OTC guys far more than me on this but from what I've seen I think he's you wouldn't say he's reached the heights that he's reached in the past again but he's certainly been better he's not far off and he's used to the England thing and it suits him and he played well for England in places and he's done important things so I think it depends on those two factors.

32:59It's up for grabs. Who's going to have the best season and what type of blend does Tuchel want from those wide attacking players? Yeah, I agree with that. I think that those in contention for that left side, obviously Anthony Gordon has been playing a bit under Tuchel so it would be Gordon, Rashford. Not having a great season though. No, but he's done all right in an England shirt. Gordon, Rashford, Grealish is down that list. He's sort of bottom of this foot and you might put Eberici Eze in there. I know Eze is playing more centrally for Arsenal and can do that. I think you've got to pick Eze.

33:30But Eze is also an option on that left side. Can Maduweke come back? And Maduweke to come back, Maduweke has been good. It's a shame for his injury. But those are the four players, I think, that when you're talking about who could play on that left side. And again, people might want Eze more centrally. Well, if you're ever actually Eze, and you... I'd say there's less competition for that left side for him than there would be to play centrally in an attacking role. If you think about Bellingham, Foden, Cole Palmer to come back, and Morgan Rodgers, you have to put him in there because he's done well and he's played there.

34:05So to go back to the question more directly, if you like, if you pick Gordon and Rashford, yes, of course they are slightly different players, but they are, you know, you're thinking about Kane kind of putting them in and running beyond him, which is something we've spoken about. Eze offers something very different to them, and so does Grealish. he's not going to take all four. I suspect he'll probably take three. And I think, OK, so let's get back to the spirit of the question. I think he will take Gordon. I think he fancies him out there. We've seen him play a bit. And I think he'll take Eberreche Eze because, again, you can think of him more centrally.

34:39And if you're down and you're thinking, OK, this team, our back's against the walls, but we need something. They're throwing nothing at us. You play Declan Rice in a deeper midfield and you say Bellingham, you go forward. And you could bring on Eze centrally. So who would you go for? Rashford or Greeley? I don't think I immediately thought well Rashford straight away a lot of players were unhappy in that side when Southgate left Grealish out I think I think Grealish does offer something but you know if I really really am going to be pushed for this and this is partly informed by I think how Tuchel's going to set up I think he'll I think he should go for Rashford over him Yeah I also think that the Southgate Grealish thing was a little overblown people ask him why he made that decision and then they were fine with it yeah okay well not fine with it but like you know they were like okay fine I understand for me also it needs to be just on the Greedish thing we need to see evidence and maybe we're starting to see it and it's been a good platform for him at Everton but we need to see evidence from Greedish at the age of 30 he's not a player in decline he's a player who can still do it and who you know the player of that treble winning season for City that was a world a world class player right He showed that he was.

35:53He was brilliant. His numbers were brilliant. He played all the time. He made a massive contribution. But since then, the gruel has been a lot thinner. Now, we're seeing evidence, like I say, early evidence, that he might be on his way back up. No one in the Premier League has got more assists than him at the time of recording this season, but we're still very early in the season, right? So if he ends up posting 20 assists in the Premier League this season, which is currently on schedule to do, roughly, maybe not that many maybe 15 and Rashford disappears off the face of the planet which he's able he's perfectly capable of doing then the decision is made in this context but yeah the opposite could happen sure but the here and now if we're going on what we've got I think that you have to say Grealish for me has to be one of Everton's standout players this season like really like people 100 % people almost sort of saying blimey when he gets when he goes back to Man City on loan do they keep him or does he move to a side that is challenging more readily for major honours than, say, Everton?

36:56That's the type of season I think Grealish has to have. Rashford has to have a good season, but Rashford's a much better team playing in Champions League football and is going for titles. So that kind of football, you would say, lends itself more to being picked than, say, Grealish. I think if I'll come down one side of the fence or the other at the moment, right here, right now, you go Rashford. Yeah, I agree. I think. I agree. All right, let's finish with this from Andy Salop on Discord, friend of the Ramalandi who says who do you think is England's best performing player in major tournaments from Italia 90 onwards blimey he's going back a long way there give us some of the examples that some of the other discholders have suggested Big Con said Jordan Pickford you might smirk at that I think that's a great shell I think it's a brilliant shell and I think it might be the answer our ball said Paul Gascoigne which is which is one for the for the older generation but Gazzy you're talking really that's one for the heart as well isn't it exactly Gazzy you're talking two tournaments well he played well 90 and 96 that's it I mean, it's a long time you're going back.

37:50Because you've had 92 and 94 ring and not there. Yeah. I mean, who knows? I mean, someone might say David Beckham. He produced a few moments. Ultimately, though, the teams he played in were a bit disappointing. Kane's got to be in there. Kane's got to be in there. Because he's a top scorer kind of award as well. Yeah. I mean, Kane is up there, definitely. I think, you know, I think you have to go for more modern examples, really. Just because of how the team is done and thinking back in the day. because I thought maybe Rooney because I thought 2004 Rooney's hit heights that not many other England players have hit at a tournament yeah but then it's been like the problem is as you say talking about more recent players that is that is informed by just the sheer fact that England have been so disappointing up until that point yeah I don't think you can say England's recent record in tournaments has been disappointing overall we've been disappointed we've won anything but they've done much better but at the turn of the century I think that you know the so-called old generation and so on I'd be surprised if anyone was going to pick players there because defensively England were pretty decent at tournaments but I don't think anyone's going to say Rio Ferdinand or Ashley Cole even though I thought they played well for England Ashley Cole was probably the only one I had straight in my mind I don't think he's been England's best player in tournaments but he has been privy to some big moments what do you think about Kieran Trippier?

39:09I like it He likes every England player so that's not a brommer I was going to say Andy Hinchcliffe I because I just to clarify I think Pickford is a great shout and I think I think Pickford might be my answer but Trippi is quite an interesting one Trippi is in there I would say maybe if you're talking to defender I'd say John Stones just because he's been ever present and maybe not I think if I had to pick a defender I'd pick Ashley Cole over Stones I'd just pick Ashley Cole at his peak in tournaments oh it's magnificent yeah the ceiling because ultimately you can't base it for a defender on goals obviously and you can't base it on wins because they haven't won anything so you've got to look at the ceiling they've reached and Ashley Cole was at his best the best left back in the world and he was unplayably good like Cristiano Ronaldo found that out famously to his detriment so top performances from an England defensive player in tournaments since 1990 Ashley Cole's in the conversation he has to be yeah I think if if he'd have carried on his his England career I would have been tempted to say Raheem Sterling but I think maybe just not enough because 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 was very good World Cup in Qatar obviously left the camp and all that but yeah I think big cons on it I think Jordan Pickford might be the answer there Great for Pickford to get some credit there I think he deserves more credit He's been an absolute lock and he's never letting them down Simple as that There we are Let's end on a Jordan Pickford note Thank you very much for listening to of the Football Ramble, part of the Acast Creator Network.

40:46Avis and I will be back tomorrow alongside Pete and Jim. You've got to do the God's work on tomorrow. Yeah. He's going to the Ashes on fucking Saturday. There's one chance left to get that belt back off. You have to do it. You're not on tomorrow. I'm not on tomorrow. Look at him. He thinks it's wrapped up. Do you know why? Because the scheduling regime don't like it, man. To be fair, after my performance on Friday, you're right to think that you've already got it wrapped up. You've got to find some form. Have you asked to host the show? I haven't asked to host the show. He's like Tim Hemman in the last eight, second week of Wimbledon this fall.

41:14Oh, don't start. You are. Oh, and it's raining. Yeah. Well, yeah, Vish and I, as I say, will be back tomorrow alongside Pete and Jim to react to England versus Serbia. And of course, we will be playing Jack's Encyclopedia. The Goran Ivanovic of the Rambles will eat you alive tomorrow if you let him. Thank you very much. Who's Pete in the same? He's probably... He's playing Mario Tennis, isn't he? He's Wario. Yeah, I'm really struggling to name tennis players. He's Barami, that old boy. Oh, yeah. What is he, French-Iranian? yeah funny fella yeah what a man though yeah he's Jamie Murray that's harsh on Jamie think of the Davis Cup subscribe to the Football Ramble in your podcast app so you never miss an episode and do vote for us in the FSA Awards we'd bloody love it if you did that link will be in the show notes and it's on all the socials as well yeah because the other shows they're stepping up now they really are trying to push it I heard cliches pushing it so hard yeah and Football Weekly are running scared yeah so we've got to get stuck in there as Ramble guys We want to stick it to all the men.

42:13All of them. All right. See you tomorrow.

42:24The Football Ramble is a Stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.