GARETH SOUTHGATE began studying France on the team bus away from the Al Bayt Stadium after the last-16 win over Senegal on Sunday, but England’s preparations for Saturday’s quarter-final clash had, in truth, got underway two years earlier.
England did not arrive back at their base until 3am, but shortly after 9am they were sitting through a presentation on the reigning world champions by Tim Dittmer.
The FA’s head of coaching (right) has been tracking France in granular detail for the past two years, preparing for this very moment, and he knows how Didier Deschamps thinks as well as anyone outside the
French camp. One of the topics which came up was, obviously, Kylian Mbappe and how to contain one of just two players in Qatar who England believe require “special attention”, along with Lionel Messi.
One of the plans being discussed is how to push Mbappe onto the back foot and exploit his weakness at defending, rather than allow him to play to his obvious strengths, and assistant manager Steve Holland has reminded Southgate of advice from his old mentor at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese once told Holland that when he was in charge of Real Madrid, he initially tried to contain Barcelona’s rampaging right-back Dani Alves by playing a defensive left-back — a “soldier” — but soon realised the best approach was to station Cristiano Ronaldo on the left and force Alves to defend.
Bu hikaye Evening Standard dergisinin December 07, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Evening Standard dergisinin December 07, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Only £65k a month to live like Boy George
The Karma Chameleon singer listed his house for £17m in 2022, turning down offers. Now, he's looking for a tenant
Welcome to London, unicorn capital of Europe
We're flying far ahead of anywhere outside US for tech investment
Arteta's Arsenal evolution The next phase
Malik Ouzia and Simon Collings assess how the Spaniard will try to bring down Man City after he signs up for another three years with the title in his sights
Title fight catches fire after Gunners embrace dark side
Arsenal-City clashes take on a welcome edge of animosity
Whack the hippy gong-boho's back
It happened in Paris one grey February day. Sienna Miller was in an oversized, black leather jacket, lace-trimmed silk slip and clumpy great wedges.
There's a Starlink waiting in the sky... 7,000 in fact.Can Elon Musk stop them crashing to Earth?
As he was preparing his fields for seeding this year, Barry Sawchuk came across a giant slab of space debris. It had come from a spacecraft belonging to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
'Politicians are only into power-mongering, corruption and cronyism'
We speak to alt revolutionary DEEPAK CHOPRA about biomarkers, his digital twin and his work to save humanity from disease
I've been waiting for a production of Godotthis brilliant all my life
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry to James Macdonald’s rich revival of Samuel Beckett’s challenging play.
Trust me, the Ritz is London's bestrestaurant
To whom we turn in moments of gloom and glory can be instructive, a filter of our truest friends. I've fallen out with the Ritz a couple of times, including once after a visit to the bar which didn’t warrant a review (“But you said it was lovely!” they said.
'Healing is a dirty word'
After four traumatic years, FKA twigs is back with a new album -and a thrilling metamorphosis
