Johnville

“People want to talk about Tuchel. About his system. About what he has done with this England squad. And credit where it is due. He has been brave. He has been organised. He deserves respect. But nobody wants to say the quiet part out loud. The reason England’s attack looks like THIS is because of Arsenal. Look at what happened in that match. Madueke starts, causes chaos, wins the penalty. That is directness. That is courage. But then watch what comes next. A corner. Declan Rice. One delivery. One moment. Clinical. That is not Tuchel. That is Arsenal. Set pieces were their single biggest weapon all season at the Emirates. Teams feared them. Teams prepared for them. Teams still could not stop them. And Rice has brought that EXACT same threat into an England shirt on a World Cup stage. Then Saka comes off the bench. And within minutes England have a third. A man who has done this for Arsenal in the biggest moments for years, changing a World Cup game in twenty minutes. Tuchel is organising. But Arsenal are executing. The structure. The movement. The set piece ruthlessness. That was not built on a training ground in St. George’s Park. That was built in north London. Arteta will never get the credit. That is football. But the DNA you are falling in love with this summer? He planted that.” — Wayne Rooney