BfB

When Marcus Rashford rolled in England’s fourth in a healthy 4-2 win over Croatia the victory was already being ascribed to manager Thomas Tuchel and his impact at half time.

Tuchel, watching England attack well but defend with nerves, switched from the 4231 to a 422 with Jude Bellingham instantly rewarding the switch to a different angle of attack from the right with a third and winning goal for England.

That switch exploited the Croats weakness in midfield that came from playing Luca Luca Modric in a game which required stern energy. Modric may be the key to Croatia getting past Ghana and Panama, but this was not the game for him. With rotating triangles of midfielder, wide player and full back on both sides England enjoyed a freedom to attack at will.

Croatia changed to cope with England’s approach, and England reverted to something more solid before Rashford sealed victory.

Speaking

Tuchel put the change down to a quiet word he had with the players to calm the nerves they were showing around performing as they might wish. Speaking as if he had just finished talking to Jodie Whittaker in Dear England Tuchel reminded the players that should they lose the game, they will do so on their own terms, and should have no fear.

What Tuchel said had an impact and the former Chelsea, Paris SG and Dortmund manager who had watched Harry Kane score a twice taken penalty, then headed in the most Arsenal of corners, was obviously pleased with his evening.

Noni Madueke on the right hand side seemed to represent Tuchel’s successes best. As a replacement for injured Bakayo Saka, Madueke asks a different set of questions to Saka, rather than being Saka-lite. When worrying about Harry Kane dropping deep, Tuchel creates a channel that allows the captain to pick up the ball in the box.

If international management is about finding answers, Thomas Tuchel changes the question.

Nervously

Not that there was a question as to what Tuchel had said to his players for Gary Neville and Roy Keane sitting in Brooklyn working for ITV who for all their staging have only really the three minute’s they give to Emma Hayes wearing a top that would befit a Christmas Party and her chalkboard to commend them. Showing Stockholm syndrome the former charges of Sir Alex Ferguson were sure that Tuchel had screamed and shouted at his players at half time.

Ian Wright shifted nervously, like one does when a deeply unhappy man insists that the beatings from their parents “never did them no harm”. Neville and Keane set a tone that would be repeated despite Tuchel’s explanations. The hours of coverage of every football game never seem to stray beyond the most perfunctory analysis or “wanting it”, and if the players do.

During his career Wright experienced a fulcrum shift in management from George Graham to Arsene Wenger. The idea of the Elite Manager is something which perhaps should only be applied in retrospect, but really is this what we think Elite Management is? That you shout louder at the players?

Ceiling

Tuchel’s first World Cup game was impressive. England had a period of fifteen minutes where they made a good Croatia team struggle like no other team in this World Cup has. Elliott Anderson plays a ball to Jude Bellingham, Noni Madueke draws two players away and Bellingham puts the ball into the goal and that is the tone for the next fifteen minutes of relentless attacking.

It might never get that good again. Ghana come next, then Panama, and both can be expected to defend more. Later in the competition the opportunities to blaze as England had will be more limited.

Gareth Southgate took the floor of the England team from Iceland 2014 to being a team which expects semis and finals. For fifteen minutes Tuchel showed what it was like to raise the ceiling.

Sparkling

There are deep seated questions about what the British think managers should do in football. The World Cup has Hydration Breaks which give a three minute window for managers to talk to players. While these quarter stoppages are no doubt commercially minded – Fuck Capitalism etc – there seems no pause for the idea that managers might be able to make an impactful change. Rather anything that happens as a result of these interventions are seen as because of momentum.

Which is not to say that there should not be a skill in managers empowering a team to solve it’s problems on the field, but given the frequency with which goalkeepers fake injuries to create these kind of tactical refresh moments perhaps allowing the managers to talk to players during a half might improve the game?

Maybe managers are just cheerleaders and shouters and the game is not complicated enough to warrant their intervention after twenty some minutes of a half. Tuchel, shifting formation three times in a game and changing questions rather than being restricted to answers, seems to suggest otherwise.

To understand that through, the likes of Keane and Neville might have to accept the fact that the woman in the sparkly jumper is able to analyse a game better in a three minute Hydration break than they are in hours and hours and hours…