How England can close the gap to Spain and finally put an end to decades of hurt
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England → close → hurt
The Three Lions must catch up with the world champions - but do it their own way
Deep runs in tournaments have become the norm.
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runs → catch → tournaments
All that is left is to get over the line.
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that → leave → line
Having had those near-misses, won at every age group, hired the cup-winning head coach, nearly exhausted the shelf life of the nation’s finest-ever goalscorer, and still not lifted a trophy, no wonder introspection and rumination over the style and ‘DNA’ of English football has flared.
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introspection → win → football
The tendency to romanticise how England are going to take that final step is an understandable product of the weight of the decades in which they have repeatedly fallen short.
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they → romanticise → which
What Thomas Tuchel’s assistant, Anthony Barry, said would be a World Cup “of moments” was in fact won by the only team with supreme control throughout.
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be → say → control
FIFA’s technical report into the World Cup last week revealed England’s average stint of possession at the tournament lasted 11.9 seconds, shorter than all three other semi-finalists.
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stint → reveal → finalists
Thomas Tuchel, paid £4.9million a year to work out the answer, has obsessed over producing the “complete 90 minutes” throughout his tenure and finally he had it when they handed Croatia their heaviest-ever defeat in Saturday’s 7-0 win.
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they → pay → win
In the dressing room at Stadion HNK Rijeka, 4-0 up at half time, senior players including Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham pressed home the need to keep going.
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players → include → need
Internally, players believe a Croatia-style “perfect 90” is achievable against a France or Spain, who were the ideal opponents for the first step on the road to recovery from their Stygian exit to Argentina in Atlanta.
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who → believe → Atlanta
But all they could muster 12 days ago was another lost lead in another game that got away from them.
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that → muster → them
Tuchel called England “a valid part of a very good football match” — not enough for a nation that contested both of the last two European Championship finals and boasts the world’s best league.
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that → call → league
Tuchel is still tetchy about the World Cup and criticism of The Great Retreat but wants England to evolve and has made James Trafford the first serious competition in goal since 2017 for Jordan Pickford, “who did so well over so many years”.
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who → want → years
These four internationals in 11 days were taken seriously, Tuchel keen to keep what works.
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what → take → days
There are six or seven key men he can’t envisage dropping out the starting XI before Euro 2028, Kane first among them.
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Kane → be → them
More so than Pickford or Gareth Southgate or anyone else, Kane is the face of this England era of excruciating near-misses — England’s top-capper who may well win the Ballon d’Or later this month, and also may well not.
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who → win → d’Or
“Our feeling after Argentina is that we can’t let something like that happen again,” he said of a tournament exit not so different from the Euros final against Italy some five years earlier.
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he → let → Italy
“We spent a lot of time trying not to lose [to Argentina], and you end up losing anyway.”
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you → spend → Argentina
Kane said before the Spain game it is “important we have our own identity”.
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we → say → identity
What England need are sustainable ways of winning, repeatable routes to success.
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need → need → success
Playing immediately identifiable football is trumped by playing football that wins.
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that → play → football
For this, England are well set.
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England → set → this
Their head coach’s managerial career has been defined more by winning than by how.
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career → define → how
Anthony Gordon overplayed his hand when he said there is “no gap” between England and a Spain team now unbeaten in 42 games and world champions.
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he → overplay → games
But England’s Barcelona insider continued: “We don’t have that strength like the Spanish to control games like they do.
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they → continue → games
It’s not in us.
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It → ’ → us
I’m not sure it’s something that can be taught.
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that → ’m → ?
“Playing in Spain I can now speak with an educated view, and the way they keep the ball is different, much different from anything I’ve experienced playing in England.”
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I → play → England
This country not producing Spanish-style midfield metronomes is a decades-old cliché because it is true.
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it → produce → metronomes
Czech Republic manager Santi Denia lost twice to England in the past nine days and led Spain when England beat them in the 2017 U17 World Cup final and 2023 U21 Euros final.
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England → lose → final
Denia calls the FA’s improvement of English football “unbelievable”.
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Denia → call → football
“This is the way to grow: invest a lot of money in young players.”
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This → grow → players
“It’s very, very close.”
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It → ’ → ?
Luka Modrić labelled losing 7-0 to England the only time in 205 caps he had felt “ashamed” with Croatia.
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he → label → Croatia
England have improved in these four games.
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England → improve → games
England’s open-play xG was 0.57 when Spain’s was 3.08 at Wembley, and they still don’t win nearly enough games against teams as good as them.
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they → win → them
Was this broached, or the elephant in the room, during the FA’s post-World Cup review with Tuchel?
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this → broach → Tuchel
Leading in big games still brings a psychological conundrum generations of England teams have been unable to solve.
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generations → lead → teams
It is this mental courage they’ve lacked more than a La Masia midfielder.
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they → lack → midfielder
The top academies and the national football centre, St George’s Park, have got England to a point where they are no longer technically inferior.
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they → get → point
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
