England Reap Rewards Of ‘Guardiola Effect’
Gareth Southgate has presided over two successive wins in England’s World Cup campaign, achieving qualification for the knockout phase with a match to spare, and it’s clear that the Three Lions are reaping the rewards of the heralded ‘Guardiola effect.’
“I’m so, so proud of the boys, we’re just enjoying it, just enjoying being here,” captain Harry Kane told the BBC Sports.
“We knew it was going to be tough and they started pretty well but we’ve been working on our set pieces, we’ve been working on the way we want to play and it’s all coming together. It’s a brilliant result, fantastic to be through and to do it in this way is brilliant.”
The team are growing into the competition, and it’s not gone unnoticed that the past two World Cups have seen the tournament winners come from the nation where Pep Guardiola is coaching at the time.
Spain’s success in 2010 was underpinned by many of Guardiola’s senior stars at Barcelona, whilst Germany won the tournament in Brazil when the Spanish coach was in charge at Bayern Munich.
Guardiola’s arrival in England has totally transformed Manchester City in two full seasons.
Their performances in the 2017/18 season were record breaking and that positivity has been passed onto the national team. Southgate has encouraged his players to play with a more attractive style of play and the results on the pitch have been striking. For the first time in recent memory England look capable of keeping possession, they are making opposing teams work hard and putting them under subsequent pressure. The sixth goal against Panama came after 25 passes without losing the ball; Guardiola esque and a World Cup goal with the most passes in the build-up since 1966.
England secured their place in the last-16 with a domineering 6-1 victory over Panama and Kane’s hat-trick, a milestone which moves him to the top of the Golden Boot race. Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku were joint level with four strikes at the beginning of Sunday, however Kane’s haul has moved
Photo: Goal.com
his tally for the tournament to five. There was a large degree of fortune about his final strike with Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s shot deflecting off his heel and into the net. It was the second hat-trick of the World Cup with Ronaldo having put the ball past David De Gea three times in Portugal’s opening fixture.
Southgate will now be given the opportunity to do something no England coach has done since 2006 and win a knockout fixture, and the Tottenham Hotspur forward will be crucial to that endeavour.
Wayne Rooney stands alone with the international goalscoring record after he netted 53 times throughout his international career, but already the 24-year-old has 18 and is eyeing the record.
Harry Kane (England); Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal); Denis Cheryshev (Russia), Diego Costa (Spain).