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- [00:01]
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- [02:42]
Michael Bailey
Hello and welcome to the Athletic FC Tactics Podcast. I'm Michael Bailey with the World Cup. Right around the corner, we're discussing the most tactically interesting teams at this summer's tournament. Plus we'll assess how the favourites are looking and how to build a successful World cup squad. Here with me is Michael Cox.
- [03:02]
Michael Cox
Hi, Michael.
- [03:03]
Michael Bailey
Conor o'. Neill.
- [03:05]
Conor O'Neill
Hello, Michael.
- [03:05]
Michael Bailey
And Liam Tharm.
- [03:07]
Liam Tharm
Hey, Michael.
- [03:08]
Michael Bailey
There's a week to go until the 2026 World cup kicks off across the USA, Canada and Mexico. And I wanted to kick off this tactical preview by breaking down the concept of squad composition for a tournament. Let's use England as an example. People have been surprised by Thomas Tuchel's decision to leave out players such as Cole Palmer and Harry Maguire. But what actually makes a balanced World cup squad, Michael? Is it just about including the quote, unquote, most talented players?
- [03:42]
Michael Cox
I think in terms of the starting 11, it tends to be about including the most talented players. I think sometimes people forget when you go back through previous World cup successes, often players who were really out of form or lacking fitness coming into the tournament end up having a massive impact. I mean, the classic example would be Ronaldo, who barely played for the two years before 2002 and ended up being the key player of the tournament. I'd say to a certain extent, iniesta, going into 2010, didn't have a great season either, and he was Spain's hero. Now, obviously, on a very, very high level and probably players you would make allowances for. When it comes to the squad, I think you do need. I think there's been a shift towards managers wanting players who know their role within the squad. And if you're going to be a backup, they're being quite clear and quite firm and saying, look, you're probably not going to play particularly a lot of the reserve defenders, but we need you there. We need to be part of the squad. I personally don't think that Tuchel's picks for this squad, the controversial omissions, I should say, were really based around that. I think it's actually a bit more simple with him. I think he basically wants two for every position, everyone to know their tactical role. He hasn't got too many players where you're saying, well, he could play there, he could play here. It's pretty obvious who the wingers are, who the number tens are, who the midfielders are, and I think he's basically just picked the two that he thinks are most likely to. To perform best.
- [04:59]
Liam Tharm
I mean, England aren't obviously the only ones to have kind of question marks. I think inevitably there's always going to be, you know you've left out this player or why didn't you take this other player? France have a very similar problem, I think, of so much kind of attacking quality and attacking depth. And we can say the same about the US Side Pacino's picked, which look quite light in midfield, have got a lot of forwards, a lot of defenders. But there's that whole point that actually all three of those coaches have kind of spoken on this and said it's about taking kind of the most tactically complete squad that you almost want this problem where you've got too much talent. From England's perspective, you've got, you know, kind of five or six number tens that you could make an argument that a lot of these would start for other countries. Well, that. That's great, that's fine. But we saw at the last tournament, the Euros, that England had a problem of really lacking balance because they were trying to shoehorn in all of these number tens. They tried to play Foden off the left as kind a false kind of winger, and that just. It just didn't work. They didn't have the balance that they needed an attack. And I think Tuchel's looked at this as have other coaches that you've got the group stage navigate first and probably play teams who are going to be a bit worse than you or much inferior, where you're going to have to dominate the ball and then you have to beat better teams in the knockout round. So you're looking at all those different scenarios that might come up of having high possession, having low possession, being ahead, being behind. You need players or different players. Sorry for different moments.
- [06:13]
Michael Cox
I mean, whenever there's a controversial omission from a squad and people like, how. How has this happened? He's had a really good year at club level whatever whatever. The answer 90, 95 of the cases is that that player hasn't played very well under the national team. For that manager like, you know, Jael Pedro for Brazil is another one. He's had a pretty good season for Chelsea. I think he's a really good player. But a couple of people I've spoken to who've watched all Brazil's games over the last couple of years have said, look, when he's got a chance to, he hasn't really played well, particularly under Ancelotti. And so I would suggest that actually the surprises this time around are probably less surprising than two years ago when Southgate left out both Henderson and Maguire. Okay, they had fitness issues going into the tournament, but they were players who'd played well over a period of five or six years for Southgate and he seemed to really trust them. Whereas this time around, you look at the players that Tuchel used in qualification when England won all eight games, and I think of the top 17, 18 players who got minutes, there's only two that were left out and they were Mil Lewis Skelly, who has barely played for Arsenal this season until the last month, and actually Jared Bowen, who had a, I think had a pretty good seat or pretty good second half of the season for a struggling West Ham team and got a lot of. Did quite well for England, played quite well under Tuchel and actually I think is the kind of player that England could need with kind of pace going in behind Harry Kane. So I was actually more surprised at, well, not the Lewis Skelly mission, but I was more surprised at the Bowen emission than Palmer or Foden because Tuchel's never really looked particularly keen on them. And so if he, you know, you can query his selection decisions, but he has been consistent. I mean, he's had a clear plan and he has stuck to it.
- [07:50]
Michael Bailey
That's true. Every manager likes to have a. Have players that they can trust, for sure. Conor, how do you view this, putting together a balanced World cup squad?
- [07:59]
Conor O'Neill
I think the outer fringe of the squad, which kind of generate the controversy, is a bit overrated. I did a piece before that, looked at this, and since 2010, 96% of the minutes are played by the same core 16 players. So all the debates about, you know, Adam Warden, these players that are like number 22, 23, they're not really important in terms of getting on the pitch. So if you need to bring a guy who's good for cohesion, good around the camp, you actually do have room to do that, maybe a bit less in this World Cup. With the extra game, the extremely warm conditions, I think we do kind of focus a bit, drill down a bit too much on those fringe selections. But I think in terms of what Michael said about like, having your best team versus, like the squad, I think that like also applies to club levels, to degree. It's about like, the players that complement each other. Even look at Liverpool. Like, is Roberto Firmino the best striker Liverpool could have got? No, but he compliments Salah Mane and I think, like for 2018, Giroud for France was pretty much there to be a focal point that Mbappe could kind of flit around for knockdowns rather than being. He does have the actual French goal scoring record, but he's not the Best out and out striker possibly that they had on their books. So I think it is about managing all those elements.
- [09:17]
Michael Bailey
Yeah, I guess in a way, Liam, international football is like picking a national fantasy team, isn't it? It's like, do you just load it up with all the players that you'd love to see play together or really what. You need something much more cohesive and as Connor said, like obviously the 11. The 11. And there's a core group that's important and how is there sort of evidence of how that. That sort of what you can call on in terms of for the benches for knockout stages, how important that is as well?
- [09:45]
Liam Tharm
Yeah, I think so. I mean it's a generally quite a hard thing to kind of quantify. I went to the very rudimentary level and just looked at goals by substitutes at recent major tournaments because I think that's often the attacking changes you're making. That's basically what Tuchel was, I think explained in terms of his pick for Ivan Tony as someone that can come and take a penalty, that can take a bit of pressure off of Harry Kane and be a threat in the penalty area. I looked between the kind of last €2 that we've got data available for, the number of goals by substitutes jumped up from 17 to 23. So that's, you know, a small increase between 2018 and 2022. So the past two World Cups the number of goals by subs actually doubled from 15 to 30. So I thought that was just interesting numbers in general. Obviously we've had a lot of talk about the five subs ruled and how clubs using, you know, subs in, in Premier League matches in recent seasons. But I think they're always going to play a role and I think basically every country bringing in some capacity kind of that, that striker, that penalty box striker. France are doing it with Jean Philippe Mateta. So Netherlands do it at recent tournaments with Veg Horse that there's always room for that guy that's going to come on and potentially get you a goal. If that's their only job at the. The whole tournament.
- [10:46]
Michael Cox
Yeah, last time out, Argentina obviously won the tournament. They used all 24 outfielders and it wasn't really like, oh, we'll just give this guy a go to give him some minutes. They genuinely did use all 24 outfielders and of course there's five subs now as there was for that tournament. And there's an extra game this time around and Tim's, you know, the contenders are going to face weaker opponents in the Group stage. So I think there's more room to rotate without really compromising your chances of going through. So I think more than ever it's going to be a squad game. And yeah, I think the big nations will chop and change quite a lot in the group stage, to be honest.
- [11:23]
Michael Bailey
See if that trips anyone up. I can't wrap up this section without a prediction, I'm afraid. So how, how far do we think England will go this time?
- [11:35]
Michael Cox
Yeah, I mean, I think it. I think it's actually a relatively difficult draw for England in the context of a 48 team tournament. I think the group is quite tough. I'd still expect them to win it or at least get through, but it's not unreasonable. They could slip up, finish second and get a tough draw. Mexico essentially away, is really, really tough. The quarterfinal, I've got that lined up to be Brazil in Miami, I think would be tough. So I think there's actually quite a lot of hurdles for England to get through to get to the. I think they've got a decent team. I don't think they're outstanding. So I'm probably slightly more pessimistic than most. I just think it's a little bit of a tough draw and I do wonder, obviously 2028, being on home soil, I think will actually. I think England could go into that as favourites or quite close to it. Whereas this time around I think they're probably about fifth or sixth favorites.
- [12:24]
Michael Bailey
Liam, should we also talk about the USA's approach to squad building as well under Maurizio Pochettino? What has piqued your interest with their World cup group? Because there's some interesting chatter around it.
- [12:36]
Liam Tharm
Yeah. Touching it a tiny bit earlier. They've only picked six central midfielders, which is bold. I think it's quite a kind of athletic group of central midfielders there. In fairness, a lot of the top I think US players tend to be really good athletes and they're interesting in terms of their general kind of system that they went to more of a 4, 2, 3, 1 in the Gold cup last time they were there and reached the final, lost in the final, but have kind of reverted Back to a 3, 4, 3. Worked really well against Senegal in their recent warm up game and basically putting in two guys in midfield of Berhalter, the son of the former coach, and Tyler Adams who, you know, can just cover so much ground and have got really, really good endurance. So I mean that just reads to me that Mauricio Pochettino is going for kind of more of A defensive base than anything else. There's obviously a few decent attackers there and they've got, I think, kind of players that they expect to deliver up top, but clearly trying to lean into. Yeah. Not conceding too many goals to give them that foundation to play from.
- [13:27]
Michael Bailey
Absolutely. Now, Conor, you've been analyzing the squads of all 48 teams. I dread to think exactly how long that meant you were locked away in a bunker. 4. But what were your key takeaways from all of that?
- [13:38]
Conor O'Neill
Well, the most headline grabbing stat that has been, sadly other people are able to count as well is that Crystal palace have more players at the World cup than Real Madrid. A crazy statement on how strong the Premier League is. All over it. Like there's 154 players from Premier League, which is far ahead of everyone else. I think Germany's next on 93 and it is genuinely a pretty good barometer of league strength. The top five leagues represented is, you know, the traditional quote unquote, top five, but after that, the quality hollows out pretty fast. I think it's 40% from those top five leagues. In terms of the actual profiles of the squads themselves, the average age is about 27, so kind of most squads build their teams around peak age players, which makes sense. Apart from Panama, who are the elder statesmen at the age of 30, are kind of similar. It feels like it's kind of the end of this Argentinian cycle. They're kind of on the older end of the spectrum as well, have the least changed squad since last time. So, yeah, some interesting numbers there.
- [14:42]
Michael Bailey
It's interesting because when Argentina won it in Qatar, there was obviously a bit of chat as to whether Lionel Messi would be actually still playing and involved at this point. I suppose also five Norwich players at the World cup this summer. Remarkable scenes. Michael, you've done some excellent work going through all the winners of past World Cups. I mean, a. That must have been very interesting and there must be some common threads maybe that connect the winning nations from a tactical point of view, maybe.
- [15:09]
Michael Cox
Yeah, I think so. I think there's. One of the common themes is that they often don't look great in the group stage. The eventual winners. I mean, last time out we saw Argentina lose their opening game to Saudi Arabia. I think. I mean, we haven't yet spoken really that much about the expansion, but I think that's something to consider. The fact that much as the group stage seems a little bit bloated, actually when you get to around a 32, there's more chance, you know, I Think the favorites could go out at that stage. You know, if it had been around a third, if the last tournament been decided is around a 32. Argentina's first fixture was against Saudi Arabia. They lost and then they're out. So I think the round of 32 will be where the shocks are. But usually teams build into a tournament. I think clean sheets is more important than goals. Again, I think that's going to be particularly important this time around. With five knockout games, the group stage, I think most of the favorites will get through that. But five knockout rounds, you keep clean sheets. The worst case scenario is you. You go to a penalty shootout. I think usually there's some kind of system change midway through. I think managers go into the tournament with a set idea, but often I think things just fall into place. Someone gets unlucky because a sub comes on and looks really good and things just click. It's amazing how often that happens. And I would say maybe that most fundamental one is I don't think you need a prolific number nine. I think there have been so many examples over the years. I mean, just off the top of my head, last few years, Argentina, they had Alvarez, but he came into the team midway through the tournament. He wasn't really considered a top class number nine on that level. Going into the tournament. 2018 France Giroud didn't score in the whole tournament. 2014 Germany kind of chopped and changed, ended up with Miroslav closer back up front, which I don't think people would have suspected. Spain 2010 actually didn't get any goals from the player who started in the number nine position in any of the games. It was David Villa from the left who scored the goals. 2006 Italy chopped and changed, but the main man, Luca Tony, only scored in one game. And obviously the exception to that would be Brazil 2002, where Ronaldo scored eight goals in seven games, but then goes back to 98. And you've got Stefan Guach, who likes Giroud, was the main man for France but didn't score at all in the tournament. So if there's any teams where people say, ah, they're good, but they're lacking a number nine, I say, well, that is actually probably ok. Foreign.
- [17:30]
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- [20:15]
Michael Bailey
So we've talked England. Let's check in with some of the other favorites to lift the 2026 World cup, the 2018 winners and 2022 finalists. France clearly have one of the most talented and balanced squads. They're often accused of playing conservative even Boring football under Didier Deschamps. But if it's, if it's not broken, then don't fix it. Right, Liam?
- [20:39]
Liam Tharm
Well, it was a bit broken at Euro 2024. It's a France for a slightly bizarre case because, I mean, their tournament record under Deschamp speaks for itself. This would be his, his last World Cup. But I'm a little bit unconvinced by his kind of more recent approach, which is he's moved Mbappe to the striker now and it's basically fitt all the others around him. You know, we had some bizarre situations in kind of friendlies earlier on this calendar year where he put like Koda Moani, Marcus Turam out wide. I think. I think it's Brazilia playing out off the left. And sure, these guys tend to come in and play kind of centrally, but yeah, I'm not convinced how well balanced and well rounded it is as a whole attack. I mean, their problem at the Euros was they just didn't score enough in general. Four times total in six games and only one of those was an open play goal. Now, they were really wasteful. They did make some chances. It wasn't a case of them not making anything. But I almost wonder when you look at the other talent they've got in that forward line, likes of Shirky, Elise Due, Dembele. You know, you could make a feasible argument for benching Mbappe and making a really well balanced team in attack because his goals in qualifying were, were okay, but he scored five. It wasn't by any means kind of the, you know, scoring, you know, huge amounts against kind of lots of different teams. And I do think Deschamps are struggling a bit kind of in this post Griezmann era now to kind of reinvent the attack and actually find how it works perfectly. Especially when you've got, you know, Dembele having two great years and playing as a striker. You've got options and contenders now in that number nine position.
- [22:05]
Michael Bailey
What about the holders, Argentina? Lionel Messi finally got them over the line in 2022. But how are they shaping up almost four years on under Lionel Scaloni for this one, Conor?
- [22:17]
Conor O'Neill
Well, in terms of personnel, they're actually shaping up quite similarly as they did last time. 17 of that 26 still remain, which is the highest in the tournaments, along with Switzerland. So the same core is there. I suppose the one argument you would make about last time is they were never really convincing at any stage in that World Cup. They kind of limped through against Australia, you know, that Netherlands game, they needed penalties. Even France, there was kind of a case that they were really underwhelming in the final themselves. And there is sort of a champion's curse at World Cups, apart from, like, France sort of booked the trend. Last time I reached in the final, before the five, before France went down in the group stage, I think that's, you know, almost impossible with the third places going through this time and Argentina having a relatively straightforward group. But, yeah, I think it'll be much the same as they were the last time.
- [23:05]
Michael Bailey
Without wishing to state something that's not tactical in any way, Michael, they did feel like there was a sense of destiny about the Argentina squad four years ago. I don't really feel that this time around. So they're going to have an improved setup tactically to make up for the lack of destiny.
- [23:22]
Michael Cox
Yeah, I mean, they've varied it a lot in qualification, in terms of the shape. And actually, looking back at the last tournament, I'd forgotten how many different systems they played in a short period of time. They went five at the back at one point, stuck with that for the next game, then switched away from it. It was actually very variable. Yeah, I'm a bit unconvinced by Argentina. I really didn't expect Messi to still be around, actually. I thought after 2022 that was. That was him done. And in the best possible circumstances, I do actually think they've got a new generation of players. I think Nico Pa the potential to explode into one of the best players in the world. And I also think Julian Alvarez, I know he played a big part of the previous tournament and he's very well established, but I think he's actually maybe still slightly underrated. I think he's quite close to being the best number nine, if you want to consider him, that he's probably not quite a number nine, but there's very few players I would rather start with than Alvarez. I think he's brilliant with and without the ball. So, yeah, to be honest, I wasn't that hot on Argentina last time around, so I'm kind of not going to write them off because I didn't think they'd win it last time. I thought they had too many weaknesses in their team last time, and I suppose I still think roughly the same thing. And Messi, four years on or three and a half years on, I just don't think we'll be able to provide the dynamism, the qualities and the big moments they need on such a consistent basis. So I think to a certain extent, it will be about balancing his contributions with making sure that the likes of Paz and Alvarez are not overshadowed.
- [24:52]
Liam Tharm
I mean, Michael, you talk about destiny and this Argentina team lacking it, but they have now gone to three major tournaments in a row, two of these being Copa Americas and one. And I think that really counts for a lot, having a squad and a coach. Lance Colony, who, I mean, he's been around the national team setup before even being head coach for Argentina, he was with their youth teams. And yeah, Michael, spot on about kind of their tactical flexibility. And they went to a 4, 4, 2 in the Copa America as well. So I think what's quite nice about them is, like, nothing's almost off limits. There's no way of playing the game, you know, with possession, without the ball. That's kind of above or below. And they only conceded once in six games in the Copa America, which is just, you know, an outstanding defense came out on top in the South American qualification, which I always think is a great kind of litmus test because it's around Robin. Everyone plays everyone. There's kind of no hiding places. It's not like in Europe, where kind of, you know, better teams get drawn against weaker ones. And you don't always get a good reading of these teams. But, yeah, you can't kind of fluke your way through that many games in a round. Robben.
- [25:45]
Michael Bailey
How about the Euro 2024 champion, Spain? I think they're considered the outright right favorites by many. And will their slower, more deliberate brand of possession football suit the conditions in the U.S. canada and Mexico? What do we reckon, Michael?
- [26:02]
Michael Cox
Yeah, I think their success at the Euros two years ago was quite underrated. The manner in which they outplayed pretty much everyone, some really strong contenders, how attacking and how bold their football was. They're a little bit of a different side this time around. I mean, they had Morata up front last time. He's not there. They do have Pedri, who limped off midway through the quarter final against Germany in 2024. I think he's quite close to their best player, to be honest. Maybe you have to say your Mao is the best player, but in terms of a Spanish midfield playmaker, he's exactly what you want. So, yeah, they'd be my favorites. A lot can change in two years. We've seen before. France, Euro 2000 were fantastic and then flopped at the World cup two years later. But I think people tend to judge international teams a little bit too much on individuals. And he's had a good season. He's had a Good season, actually. Teams who've got results coming into a tournament, the ones to go for. You look at Italy going into Euro 2020, you look at Argentina going into 2022, they had long unbeaten runs and not continued it through the tournament because actually, Argentina lost their first game at the tournament, but they continued their good level of performance into the tournament. Yeah, Spain, for me, are the favourites.
- [27:10]
Michael Bailey
Okay, well, are there any other contenders that have intrigued us as well? I mean, two that come to my mind are Brazil under Carlo Ancelotti and also Julian Nagelsmann's Germany. But you may have other suggestions. Conor, do you want to go first here?
- [27:23]
Conor O'Neill
I've kind of looked at Portugal. You know, they have that midfield of Bruno Fernandes, Futinha, Bernardo Silva, you know, pretty much the envy of almost every other tournament. But again, it's the same Ronaldo conundrum that's. And it's kind of like I was at the Portugal vs Ireland game in qualifying and Ronaldo got sent off and there was essentially no difference. The ebb and flow of the game. And he is a passenger. And it's kind of like. I think you can carry that a bit more at international level than you can at club football. Teams aren't as committed to a cohesive press, which requires time in the training ground. So I think to a degree you can, but he literally is a statue for them, and it's kind of like whether the midfield quality can compensate that. So I think they are up there fifth or sixth favorites, so they're definitely one to watch.
- [28:16]
Liam Tharm
Yeah, I'm a little bit uncertain on Brazil. I know it's always the thing of it's not a World cup until Brazil are playing. There are. They're a key part of it. But. And I know we've said this about Brazil in. In previous tournaments, but, yeah, their attacking options, I'm not just entirely kind of convinced by. I thought Michael's point's fair that, you know, Ja Pedro maybe not convincing when he has played for Brazil, but I don't think they're kind of too stacked with too many other kind of natural strikers besides that. Igor Thiago has had a phenomenal season for Brentford, and I think it could absolutely play a role again, hasn't played a huge amount for the national. There's a very different type of striker to what I think Brazil are used to having. Besides that, we're basically looking at Endrick and Matthias Kunya as their kind of number nine options, which I don't know. I think you look at other nations and they've got a bit more there. And I think the most important part is I'm not, you know, entirely set on them. Kind of defensively there's definitely goals in this team. You look at their wide options, there's creativity, there'll be goals there. This is a team that are going to give up chances so you're going to need more then from your attackers going the other way if you are going to give up goals.
- [29:12]
Michael Cox
Yeah, I was quite impressed by Germany on home soil two years ago. I think Nagelsmann did a pretty good job to whip them into some kind of shape and I think they will be quite exciting. I think going forward there's probably relatively few teams that can match their attacking dynamism. I think the, the weakness for me would be in defense. I think they will concede goals and like I say, I think clean sheets are really important in a knockout stage. I'm also slightly unsure about Manuel Neuer. I think you know the the Champions League campaign recently showed that he's still capable of really good but also is liable to more areas these days. So I think they're a contender. But yeah, weaknesses in defense. I always look at the defense as much as the attack when looking for probable winners.
- [30:02]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
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- [33:49]
Michael Bailey
Let's now turn our attention to some of the other nations at this World cup that we, from our tactical perspective, are looking forward to watching at the finals this summer. Let's have your nominees and I think. Oh, go on, Liam, you can, you can kick us off with this one.
- [34:06]
Michael Cox
One.
- [34:06]
Liam Tharm
Well, I'm going to have a bit of friendly debate with Michael over this because he pointed out the low volume of goals that Ecuador scored away from home, which is very true. But they were so phenomenal defensively and I've been watching them as part of the, the tactical group guys that, that we've been doing and genuinely, they were really, really convincing. I mean this is a team that they. I think they had something like six or seven nil. Nil draws, which was quite frankly ridiculous. They are very reliant on an Evalencia. I know it's not. If you want kind of entertaining football or attacking football, don't tune in. It's just a real compact four possible, you know, some nice rotations in attack. They've got some big names in there, you know, in Kapier, Moises Caicedo in, in midfield. So there's a decent amount of quality. Sure. They're really relying on Navalencia and they've got quite an aging goalkeeper who I think plays in somewhere in Argentina. So it's not quite a, a complete team. But again, what we were saying before that I don't think you can kind of go that far through South American qualifying, you know, and get those results. And they came out second overall and had a point seduction, which is even more impressive. And also the added caveat now that they no longer play at altitude, their home ground has since moved to sea level. So it's not just a case of teams rocking up, being unable to play at kind of 2000 meters and then kind of snatching a 10 win. Is it hard to repeat that? Probably. They're a bit like Nottingham Forest from a couple seasons ago, if anyone remembers them under New Note. But I think they could be really good fun.
- [35:26]
Conor O'Neill
I've gone for Japan, who I feel are always kind of a neutral favorite. I think we're going to see a lot of three at the backs this summer and Japan are kind of one of the more exciting, progressive versions of that where they have at the wing back positions. They're playing essentially number tens. Their captain Doan plays as an attacking midfielder for Eintrich Frankfurt. So because of that, you know it's a very high pressing, counter attacking, exciting team to watch on the ball. They're kind of like in settled possession they're fine. It's Daichi Kamada and Watara Endo who are kind of more known for their. They're intercepting and blocking attacks rather than, you know, controlling the tempo. But I think like among those kind of more they kind of stumbled into that tactic because at the last World cup they were pitted against Spain and Germany and got two one wins against both including one against Spain where they had 18% possession. But since then they've kind of adapted and made it more progressive than it was. It's not just purely counter attacking all the time. I think like it's just like exciting to watch them at full flow. They beat England with a like kind of breathtaking counter attacking goal scored by Mitoma who's obviously a huge loss for them. And then they also have a bit more of a direct edge that we wouldn't typically associate with Japanese sides. Therefore Isa Ueda is the most head of goals across Europe this season for Feyenoord. They've suggested that they're going to do long throws. They haven't done it since but I think think there's going to be a lot of that now with teams having more time now to kind of work on set piece routines that we're going to see a lot of surprises on that end. So they're kind of a dynamic, exciting team that I'm kind of looking forward to watching.
- [37:04]
Michael Cox
I agree with Conor about Japan. I think they've been a bit of a coming force for a while. I slightly worried that certain kind of individual things haven't worked out for them. I'm not sure they're going to be able to field Their best 11. What I do think they usually have is quite a lot of depth and I think at the last tournament in Qatar they rotated in the group stage more than anyone else. They seem to make five or six changes for, you know, ahead of every game and not really lose that much quality. The other side I quite like are Switzerland who I think are probably the most under appreciated European team in the last few years. They just always qualify for the knockout stage. Their record in qualification for this was really good. They only conceded two goals in six games and in a fairly decent group. And I just think they're always stronger than the sum of their parts. They don't really have any world beaters? They never really do, but they're a good unit and I think last time out of the Euros, their performance beating Italy in Berlin, I think it was, was one of the most impressive tactical performances of that tournament. They're probably a little bit unlucky while they went out on penalties to England in the, in the quarterfinals, but were penalties away from getting to the semi finals. So yeah, again they're not very exciting. I don't think anyone really think, oh wow, Switzerland are playing, we got to tune in for that one. But I do think they, they just always progress one round further than you expect. Switzerland and I think there's a lot to be said for that.
- [38:24]
Michael Bailey
See right up our street for our tactical preview of teams. Liam, who else have you got?
- [38:30]
Liam Tharm
One of the other teams I was looking at with Norway made really light work of it. All things considered in qualifying, I think they put something like 11 past Moldova, but came out as European top scorers with 37 goals. And I mean, I mean in terms of golden generations, I know we all ban this word around quite a lot in a major tournament. They've definitely got one. There's a lot of talent in that team and they again just lean into those strengths really, really well. Team that plays phenomenally on the counter attack, they'll sit in from their 4 through 3 sitting kind of a 414 mid block. They'll make regains in midfield and immediately it's kind of passes in behind to Haaland or to the wingers. They've got great dribblers out wide and I really like kind of the role they found for Alexander Soloth in that team who at club level again basically plays a very similar role to Haaland. Now obviously the challenge international coaches are, you've got to use the players that you've got. So he's used Solback and the Norway coach basically shoved Soloth kind of out wide into this wide forward role. He tends to come inside and play quite narrow, basically a second striker. And Julian Ryerson who's got great pace and put up a lot of assists, 15 assists with British Dortmund last season, tends to fly past on the overlap. So they found pretty good balance in addition to having very good players and just scored so many goals from, you know, various situations, crosses as well, that I think despite being drawn in a tough group, if they can show anything like they did in qualifying, they should be great.
- [39:44]
Conor O'Neill
I think of the co hosts Mexico are probably the most interesting to me. The coach, Javier Aguero. This is like his third stint in charge and he has a bit of a reputation as kind of a firefighter, more of your like the Tony Pulis of La Liga. But now, you know, with an expectant home crowd, it's not really going to cut at playing that brand of football. So he's adopted a lot more of a progressive structure than he's used to. So they play four, three, three fullbacks, push really high, wingers tuck in and they have quite a few exciting players from the domestic league. I know the main focal point is Raul Jimenez and the style is very much dictated towards that. A lot of crosses and he's really effective for them. But they have the youngest player in the tournament, Hilberto Mora, who's kind of a tricky attacking midfielder with vision beyond his years type. And then another player that caught my eye was Alexis Veiga. He, he's in that kind of Jerdan Shakuri mold of a stocky, explosive winger who likes a long range screamer. I think they're just more fun than they would be if they weren't hosts. And then playing the whole atmospheric part of it. Playing in Azteca, their advantage with the altitude I did look at. They're more renowned for their skill in making money. But Goldman Sachs produced a World cup prediction model and altitude was one of the criteria that they, one of the model weights. They put quite a bit on between that and being a host country. So I think there is a lot in their favor to, you know, the Mexican curse is playing the fifth game and definitely with around the 32, they should at least play a fifth game.
- [41:22]
Michael Cox
Finally, I'm quite intrigued by Sweden just because they qualified in such an incredibly backdoor route to the tournament. So just to clarify, they finished bottom of their qualification group, they automatically got a place in the playoff because over 12 months previously they'd finished top of their Nations League group and that was Nations League C. So it wasn't the strongest competitors. Because of that kind of slightly questionable performance, they were guaranteed to get an away draw in the first leg of the playoffs. They got drawn against Ukraine, who obviously can't play at home at the moment. So the game was on neutral territory in Spain. And then a bit of a coin toss about which of the teams who won that would play. Player would play at home in the final round of the qualifiers. And Sweden came out that they had a home draw against Poland in Stockholm rather than in Warsaw. They won that 3 2. So I wrote an article saying this is probably the most undeserved World cup qualification in history, which I'm sorry to say, did blow up a little bit in Sweden, and that was three months ago. And even at his press conference last week, Graham Potter, who of course is now their manager, was asked what he thought of this idea that someone from the New York Times had said it was the most undeserved qualification ever. And Graham Potter kind of said, well, fair enough. So I'm intrigued how they do, because it could all come together. I mean, they do actually have great, you know, some great attackers with Isaac and Gyokras. I mean, there's not that many teams who have strikers on that caliber. And I just think it's interesting that so often the qualification route actually doesn't have that much relationship with how teams perform in the final stage. And this is obviously the first time we've ever had a team who won zero qualification games in their group. And so I'm very intrigued to see how they actually do at the World cup itself.
- [43:14]
Michael Bailey
It's a good job you can't pin a digital article up on the dressing room wall, I suppose, but maybe some. Maybe someone printed out a PDF.
- [43:22]
Michael Cox
Liam.
- [43:23]
Liam Tharm
Yeah, my final shout of Senegal, who've just been quite good for a number of years now. Remember them being really good when they played England in knockout rounds four years ago, but genuinely, toe to toe in the first half, couple goals went in and game kind of went away from them. And you kind of look at the core of that team now. There's some players in their mid-30s that you think, okay, this is the time for that kind of generation to. To have its peak. Mane Koulibaly Mendigue. While Mane does tend to be the main man, I think they've got enough kind of players around him to. To get the best out of them.
- [43:50]
Michael Bailey
We do have one more for you all, which is Canada. And we've done an entire episode on them with the help of Jesse Marsh's assistant coach, Coach Ewan Sharp. That interview will be out next week on this feed, so make sure you check it out. That is all we have time for today, though. A huge thank you to Michael Connor. Liam, please do keep your tactical thoughts and questions coming. The inbox never closes and we always enjoy reading your views. The email address, as you know, is tacticspod theathletic.com we will see you again very soon. And of course, in the meantime, time, enjoy the World Cup.
- [44:28]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
The Athletic FC. This episode of the Athletic FC is brought to you by Hotels.com when you're booking a hotel, here's a simple question. Why wouldn't you use hotels.com it really is all in the name As a member, you save up to 20% on hundreds of thousands of hotels around the world and earn will rewards on every single stay. Which means the trips you're taking now help pay for the ones you're already dreaming about. And unlike some other places, there are no blackout dates. So when you want to travel, your rewards are ready to go. So whether you're planning a grand adventure to follow your national team around North America this summer or whisking your special someone away for an escape because you've been glued to the football for weeks, make sure to book@hotels.com and start earning rewards. Because when it comes to hotels, hotels, it's simple. Hotels.com it's all in the name.
- [45:25]
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