England’s Best Performance Under Tuchel & Postecoglou Replaces Nuno At Forest

0:09Alan Shearer:Hello and welcome to The Restless Football with Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and me, Gary Lineker. And it's one of those nights where we've just watched England without any frustration. It's a beautiful thing. We'll come to England's demolition of Serbia shortly. but first it feels like a, it feels like a wire, just with these international breaks. Well, I've spoken to you both. Micah, you've clearly not had a hair trim because you've got your Che Guevara hat on. Correct. Correct. You know me very well now. No trim, no trim. I'm not getting a trim till tomorrow. So yeah, that's why I've got a hat on.

0:49Yeah. For anyone who's watching.

0:51Alan Shearer:Yeah. And Alan, I did, I recorded a podcast this morning for the rest of his football, La Liga, with Alex Alger. Yeah. And she tells me, you turned down the possibility of being her partner in a paddle game.

1:08Gary Lineker:Yeah.

1:08Alan Shearer:Playing against Trent Alexander-Arnold and his brother.

1:13Gary Lineker:That is very true because I was at Loch Lomond last week, as you know.

1:19Alan Shearer:Yeah.

1:19Gary Lineker:And I've never, ever, ever done this in my life. And I played golf seven days on the spin. seven days and my knees and my ankles

1:32Alan Shearer:I thought that was the tennis that did that

1:34Gary Lineker:are absolutely smashed so I'd said to her as much as I would love to and I hate saying no to the invite but I just can't play because I'm still in pain my knees are killing me

1:45Alan Shearer:so you're in Portugal yeah

1:48Gary Lineker:I love international breaks I think we should have one a month for the next they are brilliant I used to think that

1:56Alan Shearer:With Match of the Day, because obviously I used to host that show. I don't know whether either of you can remember. And I used to really look forward to the international. I used to think I was the only person pretty much in the country that did because mostly, I mean, fans hate it, don't they? I mean, they just want to watch their team play. I mean, I think I understand if it's like a big competition with England, we all get behind it. You know, England are practically almost certainly qualified for the World Cup now, which is great. And we can enjoy that. But the qualifying state of things now, particularly, I think, with the way European football is now and the qualifiers.

2:37Alan Shearer:I mean, you very, very rarely play a competitive game, do you?

2:41Gary Lineker:No, that's right. I mean, I thought England were outstanding tonight, but what was the first game of the weekend was pretty... Turgid. Yeah, it was. It was poor. It was slow. It was everything that we don't like about international football, I guess. It's miles away from the hustle and bustle of the Premier League. But we've all been there. We've all been and played in those type of games. And they are tough, aren't they? Because of the expectation, because of the timing of the games in terms of the season, just beginning, all of those things. But yeah, it is tough. But I thought tonight was brilliant.

3:19Yeah, yeah. Are you two a little bit annoyed that you don't get to play in this era with all the average teams in the qualifying? You score so many,

3:30Alan Shearer:oh, so much more goals, should I say. We scored a few anyway. And against proper opposition. We don't think like that at all. Honest, honest, we don't, honest. The way he led with that question, I knew where he was going. I mean.

3:48Gary Lineker:It is crazy though, isn't it, when you're seeing all these goals being scored. I mean, Harland's got five and the sub comes on and he's scored. He's got like four goals. And like there's goals being scored left, right and centre everywhere, isn't there?

4:02Alan Shearer:Yeah. Just to be honest, that's not a serious point, but just to, I mean, it's because obviously they've allowed so many more countries in. And also, you know, like say for example, Serbia tonight. I played in, certainly in Belgrade, I think it was the same stadium when we, I think we needed a point to qualify for the Euros, for the Euros in 1988. And it was in 87. And we actually went and played Yugoslavia. Now that's all the countries of the Balkans, because obviously after that, there was the war. And then it split up and you've got, I don't know how many, four or five nations that have emerged, but they're obviously not as strong as Yugoslavia were as a bloc.

4:44Alan Shearer:You've got a similar situation, of course, with the USSR. the old Russia was all of these countries together, including, of course, Ukraine back then. So that, you know, they split up and then you've got, so you've got so many more different countries, some of them still strong and some of them less so. And then they've allowed, you know, like the likes of Gibraltar, for example, and Andorra and all these. So therefore, you're going to have qualification groups now that are relatively weak. You might get unlucky with a draw and end up with a difficult one. But England have obviously, well, they're cruising, aren't they?

5:28Alan Shearer:They're really cruising. So, but it's a valid argument because in the old days, the qualifiers were always against. I mean, I think the weakest team, which is, you wouldn't say they're ever a weak country, was someone like maybe Turkey. Poland that's as you know you wouldn't ever play it San Marino

5:49Gary Lineker:they were they were they were yeah

5:51Alan Shearer:no I don't think so if they were I didn't play against them I don't know when they started playing international football we didn't I don't think so a bit latterly but so there you go Mike I mean I'm sorry but that's I need do you know what it doesn't bother me one job it does genuinely I just want England to be successful I want people to score goals I I like entertaining goal-scoring football, but often the games are not that entertaining. Although I thought England played really well tonight. It was much more encouraging against a team that have got some very good players that were made not to look very good this evening.

6:30Alan Shearer:I also played with the coach, Dragon Stojkovic, in Japan for a season. Just while you mentioned them, I think you're totally right, Gaz, in terms of Serbia. Serbia, they've got a decent spine. We've got Milenkovic at Forest. We've got Pavrovic at Milan. It was never a red card, was it? I mean, the game was already done and dusted, but they had no chance of getting back into it, did they? Lukic in midfield as well. Vlahovic up front. Mitrovic comes on. They had some decent players, but I think we've just got to give credit to England. They were the better team, although it wasn't a red card it didn't matter in the end I just thought they was outstanding I thought the way normally when you watch international football it's slow isn't it and at times it was slow but then the pace picked up in the final third with the movement and what struck me in that game and we was talking about Kane and I know we would go back to the Kane thing but when you've got willing runners ahead of you it works it does actually work I was going to say that in the Euros.

7:42I can't remember. Only about a million times. Yeah. I just thought Gordon was outstanding. I thought Rodgers was brilliant. Yeah. I thought Madweki, in terms of the scrutiny that's been on him when he went to Arsenal and he goes there and people are saying he's not worth the money. He's not even that good. But to get his head down and put in performance like that, he's obviously better on the right than he is on the left. Kane, again, does what Kane does. But my favourite, a man on a match tonight was Declan Rice.

8:17Alan Shearer:Declan Rice and Rodgers I thought were terrific. And Anderson. In fact, the midfield three, I thought were all really excellent. The delivery, though, with Declan Rice. It's so good, isn't it? The delivery is just ridiculous. He puts it on a six-plus every time. If it's not for Arsenal, it's for England. He knows exactly what to do with it. He puts a little bit of bend, a little bit of swerve, and he's got that lofty one as well. Swaz! He's got everything in his armoury. I just thought, watching Rice tonight, and even though he should have scored a couple of goals tonight, it's the way he arrives in the box.

8:56He always knows where to be, the timing of his run. Him as a number eight, yeah, England are a way better team.

9:04Gary Lineker:And that just tells you how important the set pieces are, because it wasn't great up until then. And then all of a sudden you get the set piece and he whips that ball in. Kane gets away from his man or whoever it was trying to mock him. Not many people around him. It was a great header. And then tails were up and confidence and then another one. And then all of a sudden everyone wants the ball. The belief's there. The confidence is there. And yeah, I enjoyed that game as much as I have any qualifier for a long time.

9:34Alan Shearer:I was going to say exactly the same thing, Alan, because I actually sat down tonight and I thought, oh, this is going to be fairly dull, I think. It's going to be a little bit, you know, like we've seen from England for quite a long time, including most of the Euros. But I quite like the way that Tuchel handles himself in press conferences. I think he's got a confidence. He's got a bit of humour. he's clearly enjoying it and yeah and the fact I understand that he's he quite enjoys a bit of banter with the public around and stuff like this I like the way he's approached it and obviously it always helps when you get results after the weekend we thought it was another fairly draft but you know we know what it's like when you're just playing against you know 11 players in their own box pretty much the whole game.

10:34Alan Shearer:And on those circumstances, I was going to suggest that someone like Trent Alexander-Arna will be very helpful when you're playing against teams with that kind of low block because of his delivery. But we'll all have our own ideas and the things. But I don't think he lets those sort of things bother him at all. I've been impressed, really. He's been around the block.

10:55Gary Lineker:I thought he was... Do you know, even looking at his interviews that he did yesterday, pre-game, I think he was all smiles, all confidence, as if he knows what's coming. As I said, he's been around the block. He knows his way around it. So very, very experienced. And, yeah, that was as good as I've seen in the qualifying game tonight. So, yeah, all good from an England point of view. You mentioned Trent, didn't you, Gaz? But Rhys James, over two games, he was outstanding. Outstanding. Imagine having a fully fit Rhys James and a fully fit Trent for the World Cup. It can cause you all sorts of damage.

11:37And I felt a little bit sorry for Rhys James because every time he gets himself fit, he gets a little niggle. But then it takes him a while to get back up to his best form. But he's there. He's slowly getting back to what he was when he was on fire and his delivery. People talk about Trent's delivery, which is magnificent. But also Rhys James' delivery is very good too. And he can defend. So to have them going in, not to mention Livramento, who I thought was really good. I thought every single one of them played well.

12:13Alan Shearer:Even the subs that came on did really well. Bowen was lively. I thought Rashford looks like his old self. He didn't play for that long. But when he gets the ball, you can cut inside, I'd had that great effort. His penalty is stuck away with. I mean, I still don't know how they do that no look thing. But I get why they do. Because if you wait and do look at the keeper long enough, the keeper can't dive early. And therefore, you've got way more of the goal to shoot at. So you know you'll score. It doesn't even matter if they go the right way because it's too late by the time you hit it. But it takes a pair of cojones grandes to do it.

12:55Alan Shearer:It was a great panel.

12:56Gary Lineker:So all of a sudden, England are going to win the World Cup.

12:59Alan Shearer:I can't see how we can be beaten now, can you?

13:01Gary Lineker:Two wins and we're flying. That's it. We're going to win the World Cup.

13:04Alan Shearer:Yeah, we've beaten the mighty Andorra and Serbia. So who knows? But it is nice to be able to come on here after a game and having enjoyed it, no? Yeah.

13:18Gary Lineker:I go back to my point. Yeah, I really enjoyed tonight. and I can't remember thinking like that or feeling like that, I should say, too many times over the last few years. I thought it's always, a lot of the time it's slow in the win games and it's, oh, we need to do better at this, we need to do better at that. But I thought tonight was, yeah, it was really, really enjoyable. The good thing about it as well, no Phil Foden, no Cole Palmer. No Jude Bellingham. No Jude Bellingham. No Saka. No Saka. We've got players, haven't we? finally

13:51Alan Shearer:we're blessed with talent and it's you know I've been saying this for years they've been close close really close two finals quarter finals semi-final that's four tournaments you keep knocking on the door and that was like Spain I remember in the you know when their golden era if you keep knocking on the door the issue obviously is there are other countries like France produced so many talented players Spain in particular at the moment will I think the team to beat Argentina will take some shifting in the World Cup. But I think, you know, with the talent and the young talent that England have, if it's not this tournament or the next tournament or the one, I'd be very surprised if England don't win one of the next three tournaments.