• 2 days ago
What have we learned from Thomas Tuchel's first games as England manager, what does he need to change to win the World Cup - and what's going on with Phil Foden? Our expert panel weighs in.
Transcript
00:00Well, Jason, what did you make of the back line across the couple of games?
00:02Because we saw a few new players bedded in, as we mentioned,
00:04Burn, Lewis, Skelly.
00:06There was obviously, you know, no Stones, no Maguire, no Alexander-Arnold,
00:09no Hall, no Shaw, et cetera, et cetera.
00:12Going forward, what do you think is England's strongest back four?
00:18It's a big question, isn't it, Matthew?
00:20It's, you know, it's a difficult one.
00:23And I think that this international break has highlighted that
00:26England perhaps don't necessarily have the obvious strength and depth
00:31at the heart of defence that maybe some other countries do.
00:34You know, that's nothing against Dan Burn.
00:36But he did OK.
00:37You know, there's nothing wrong with what he did in an England shirt.
00:40But is he going to be the man to lead them into the World Cup next summer?
00:46Probably not.
00:47Do you know what I mean?
00:47I think Marquis, Esri Kansa, they're sort of vying, aren't they,
00:53to be the one beside Stones.
00:55Obviously, then there is Harry Maguire to consider as well.
00:57And we know what he brings to an England shirt.
01:01He's a dependable presence in an England shirt.
01:03And he's a player who I probably expect to be there or thereabouts
01:06in two of his plans, you know.
01:07But I think that once you start looking beyond Stones, Maguire,
01:11and then arguably a Gay, then then there's maybe not quite that
01:15like world class.
01:17I'm not saying any of those players are necessarily world class,
01:19but if we're talking about top, top tier talent, there's maybe not
01:23that reserve there for England.
01:25And certainly in terms of fullback positions, though,
01:27I think there's a lot of promise.
01:28You know, I thought Miles Lewis Skelly already has
01:32and will continue to make the headlines for what he contributed.
01:35You know, I think that we're maybe still a little bit off
01:39giving him the shirt for the next decade or so.
01:41But there are promising signs going on in his debut.
01:44And I thought that he protected the ball really well.
01:47He moved the ball really well.
01:48He looked promising, he looked bright.
01:49He didn't look out of place at that level.
01:52Whatsoever. So, you know, a huge amount of promise there.
01:54You mentioned that Lewis Hall is still to come back.
01:56I think he's had a wonderful season with Newcastle,
01:58and he's certainly somebody who you would assume that Tush will be
02:01very eager to take a look at.
02:03And on the other side, Rhys James obviously scored that free kick
02:07last night. Yeah, yeah.
02:10I mean, he didn't seem to bother, did he?
02:12He's pretty nonplussed about it.
02:14No, I enjoyed the Cantona throwback style, sort of, you know,
02:18who, yeah, do that every day, mate, kind of celebration.
02:20That was lovely. From a right back.
02:22I don't think he'd ever scored for England before, had he?
02:24He was like, let's go for England.
02:26Just giving it all, just giving it to the right shoulder.

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