The Sunday Telegraph - 01.09.2019

The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 1 September 2019 Š^ FINAL 7

take first world title

So much has changed since Gareth

Southgate became England manager in

2016 that things are almost unrecognis-

able. A new playing system adapted to

encourage passing the ball from the

back, a fresh, easy openness with the

media, a whole new tranche of young

talent emerging. But, as he revealed his

squad for the forthcoming European

Championship qualifiers against Bul-

garia and Kosovo this week, Southgate

himself suggested the biggest develop-

ment had been in collective mindset.

“When we first took over there was

probably a group who had been scarred

a bit by disappointment, and there was

maybe a limit with how much we could

shift that,” he said. “Those that have

been with us over a period of time now

have had far more positive experi-

ences, so we don’t really have players

who are haunted in England shirts any-

more. We’ve only really had disap-

pointments at the very latter stages of

big matches.” So much so, he felt it

unlikely that there would be any hang-

over next week at Wembley from the

Nations League finals at the end of last

season, when England’s progress was

stalled by a number of individual errors

in the semi-final against Holland.

“John [Stones] got a lot of criticism in

the summer. But I can’t overlook the

fact that he missed the last two months

of the season and the impact that had

on his rhythm and flow,” he said. “So I

have to make sure I don’t overreact on

everything to do with how the team

play, but also make sure we make the

right decisions on individual players

and the areas we need to work with

them on.”

Which is to suggest he is well aware

of the shortcomings exposed in the

defeat in June. Ever restless in his pur-

suit of forward momentum, he was

particularly concerned by the sizeable

gap in attainment in midfield, where

Dutch playmaker Frenkie De Jong

delivered a masterclass beyond any-

thing visible from an England player.

“We don’t have a De Jong and we

can’t buy one,” he pointed out. “So we

have to be working and maximising the

strengths of the players we do have. In

[Harry] Winks we have a player who

can receive the ball under pressure and

can link the game well. He’s a different

type of player to De Jong; I don’t think

it’s right to compare. But he’s got good

qualities that he can improve and

develop and it’s a great experience for

him to have played big Champions

League games last year, being a main-

stay in that Tottenham team. If we’re

playing Winks, we’ve got to get the bal-

ance and profile of players around him

right. That’s an area of the pitch that

we’ve looked for different solutions.

We have different options to a few

years ago, because we have got some

exciting players who can play as a No 8.

“They have different profiles: Ox

[Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain] is different

to [Ross] Barkley, to [Mason] Mount, to

[Phil] Foden, to [Jordan] Henderson.

Depending on the opposition and the

qualities we think we need, we’ve got a

lot more options than two years ago.”

And he believes the options will only

improve as the number of young Eng-

lish players gaining minutes in the Pre-

mier League this season increases. For

the first internationals of the season,

for instance, he has brought in

uncapped players in Tyrone Mings of

Aston Villa, Mount of Chelsea, James

Maddison of Leicester City, and Man-

chester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Though he pointed out that perpetual

revolution had to be tempered by com-

petitive imperative.

“We’ve got to get the balance, as

always, of winning games but also giv-

ing these players experience.” South-

gate is nothing if not a pragmatist. And

he added that it would be a mistake to

be too set about the make-up of the

team he wants to emerge for the Euro-

pean Championship finals next sum-

mer, should England qualify.

“There are a few positions that if you

played tomorrow, you’d know who the

No 1 was, and there are other positions

where that’s less clear,” he admitted. “If

you’d said to me in September of the

World Cup year that [Harry] Maguire

was going to be the standout centre-

back, I would’ve said: ‘We like him but

we’re not certain on that.’ So, that can

change as the year goes on. One of the

downfalls when I was a player was that

we’d lose a key player and it’d be a dis-

aster and there was no replacement.”

That, he said, had changed. “There

are players you’d rather not lose, but I

think we could adapt to anything and

that’s really important.” It is also yet

another way in which Southgate’s Eng-

land differs from recent predecessors.

Southgate: England

not haunted by past

New mindset:

Gareth Southgate

has brought

through a new

generation of

players who are

used to getting to

the later stages of

tournaments

said Holly Hill. “Out there today we

won and took someone else’s four spots

to go to the Olympics,” said Sara Par-

fett. “That’s pretty cold and heartless,

but if that’s what we’ve got to do then I

don’t care.”

The women’s pair qualified for Japan

in their B-final, as did the men’s quad,

picking up the last place for Tokyo af-

ter leading most of the way, but being

pipped to the win by Norway. The

eights, men’s double and single scullers

Vicky Thornley and Ben Pritchard are

in medal races today, with the eights

needing to finish higher than sixth to

confirm Olympic places.

Pulling together: Britain’s Lauren Rowles and Laurence Whiteley were too fast for rivals

club legacy for ‘eternity’

lurching between three formations

across the match.

“Last year we worked and used

different formations with good

performances because the players

here have worked on different

systems,” Emery said. “Also, they have

the habit of playing in different

systems. We are more rich tactically

with different formations and tactics

and can change in each match and

each moment in the 90 minutes.”

Emery’s hyperactive approach to

games – not just in his tactical

decisions but also in his actions on the

touchline – have made him one of the

more entertaining coaches to watch in

the Premier League.

Arsenal have even begun filming

him during matches this season, with

one clip showing Emery’s frenzied

reaction to a Joe Willock recovery

tackle gaining around three million

views on social media.

So much of the discussion in English

football is centred around the

personalities of the managers. It is not

something with which Emery is

entirely comfortable, but equally he is

not likely to tone down his touchline

behaviour any time soon, and

especially not in a match as tense as

the north London derby.

“I am not the protagonist,” he said.

“The most important thing is the

camera on the team.

“Maybe after the match on a

Monday there can be a camera for the

supporters to look at me, and other

things. But I really, really want the

focus to be on the players until after

the game.”

But Emery knows that, win or lose,

the attention will soon come back to

him. He also knows the questions

about “identity” will not go away until

Arsenal are more consistent. And there

lies the heart of the issue for the

Spaniard: it is not so much a lack of

identity that is the problem rather than

an inability to show that identity week

in, week out.

Emery has been clear on what he

wants his Arsenal side to look like, but

he has not yet been able to impose that

style on a regular basis. Today’s match

would be a fine place to start, and the

blueprint has been set by last year’s

explosive, fluid and intense

performance in this very fixture.

Jim White

‘Barca

create a

debt

signing

players,

putting

debt on

the pitch.

We are

different’

Group A Qualifying standings

England’s upcoming fixtures

Team

England

Czech Rep

Kosovo

Bulgaria

Montenegro

P 2 3 3 4 4

W 2 2 1 0 0

D 0 0 2 2 2

L 0 1 0 2 2

GD

9

-1

1

-2

-7

PTS

6

6

5

2

2

Saturday

Sept 7

5pm, Wembley

England v Bulgaria

Tuesday

Sept 10

7.45pm, Saint Mary’s

England v Kosovo

Tom Heaton

(Aston Villa),

Jordan Pickford

(Everton), Nick

Pope (Burnley);

Trent Alexander-

Arnold

(Liverpool), Ben

Chilwell

(Leicester), Joe

Gomez

(Liverpool),

Michael Keane

(Everton), Harry

Maguire (Man

Utd), Tyrone

Mings (A Villa),

Danny Rose

(Tottenham),

Kieran Trippier

(Atletico

Madrid), Aaron

Wan-Bissaka

(Man Utd); Ross

Barkley

(Chelsea), Jordan

Henderson

(Liverpool),

James Maddison

(Leicester),

Mason Mount

(Chelsea), Alex

Oxlade-

Chamberlain

(Liverpool),

Declan Rice

(West Ham),

Harry Winks

(Tottenham);

Harry Kane

(Tottenham),

Jesse Lingard

(Man Utd),

Marcus Rashford

(Man Utd), Jadon

Sancho (Borussia

Dortmund),

Raheem Sterling

(Man City),

Callum Wilson

(Bournemouth).

England squad

ACTION IMAGES

There is a bit of exaggeration here.

Tottenham have signed, and then let

go, Fernando Llorente and Vincent

Janssen during Pochettino’s tenure.

The over-arching argument is clear,

though, and it is essentially that

Tottenham are competing on an

uneven playing field.

“I don’t want to say one [approach]

is wrong and another is good,” he says.

“It’s only that the way we operate is

completely different.

“Afterwards we need to compete.

Mercedes compete with Ferrari,

McLaren, Red Bull. After, we compete

in the same race and if you judge, the

judgments need not only to be the race

but the whole process. That is why

sometimes it is fair and sometimes it

is not fair.

“Different clubs, they ask the bank

for £600 million to invest in the team.

Like Barcelona. They create a debt

signing players and putting the debt

on the pitch, trying to win. We are

different. We need to create the legacy

for the future, for eternity. In this

period, we are suffering the

restrictions but it is normal.”

What is not normal for Pochettino’s

side is their league form, stretching

back to last season. Many of their

struggles in the spring were put down

to the distraction of the Champions

League final journey, but it has been

months since Tottenham have looked

truly impressive in the league. Last

weekend’s defeat by Newcastle United

meant they have taken just 15 points

from their past 15 domestic matches.

Irrespective of the “circumstances”

behind the scenes, it is a long way

from being what the Tottenham fans

have come to expect under Pochettino.

The uncertainty this summer over the

futures of Eriksen, Alderweireld, Rose

and Jan Vertonghen has not helped

their start to the campaign but today’s

meeting with Arsenal provides an

opportunity to recover in the most

significant of fixtures.

“In the Premier League in the last

six months I think it was not great,”

Pochettino says. “For me I am not

worried about our performance

because we have a very good team and

I am optimistic and positive. We have

some good, young quality players who

only need time to perform. I think we

are going to be strong.”

Fighting qualities

The physical approach was best embodied by Lucas Torreira (above), who charged into tackles all over the pitch. In total

Arsenal won 16 tackles, compared with their average figure of nine per game last season.

ACTIO PLUS/GETTY IMAGES

Arsenal have

confirmed that

Nacho Monreal

and Mohamed

Elneny have left

the club.

Left-back

Monreal has

been sold to Real

Sociedad for a

fee of around

£3 million, while

Elneny has

joined Besiktas

on a season-long

loan.

Monreal and

Elneny leave

Briton makes Lomachenko work for his glory

By Gareth A Davies at The O2

BOXING CORRESPONDENT

The world’s leading technical boxer,

Vasyl Lomachenko, retained his WBA

and WBO lightweight belts and claimed

the vacant WBC strap here in a

compelling, pulsating contest with

Britain’s Luke Campbell last night.

The master boxer from Ukraine was

brilliant, but Campbell himself was

magnificent, the visiting fighter taking

the championship 119-108 on two of the

cards and on the third 118-109.

Written off in all quarters, badly hurt

at the end of the fifth and down in the

eleventh, Campbell showed with

precision and effort why he was once

the most decorated amateur in British

boxing history.

Not since the Olympics in 2012, had a

British crowd cheered so loudly for an

overseas fighter as “Loma” made his

way to the ring. Wladimir Klitschko was

here, Oleksandr Usyk here too; both

world champion Ukrainians applauding

just as loudly.

It was cagey for the first two minutes,

as the two brilliant boxers shadow

danced, before Campbell landed the

first blows and took the opening round.

Lomachenko nodded in appreciation.

Another excellent round from the

Hull fighter, taking centre ring, saw him

secure the second round, but the

champion was just beginning to edge

into range, landing two attacks of his

own; finding his groove.

In the third, the bobbing, weaving

Ukrainian rocked back the head of the

challenger with a powerful left, as the

fight became a tussle for ascendancy.

Yet Campbell kept up a ferocious

pace, as Lomachenko stepped up his

attacks in the fourth, the fight a brilliant

technical battle to witness, as the main

known as “The Matrix” stepped up the

body attacks. They told in the fifth, as

first a left hook to the chin and then

more assaults to the Briton’s torso

brought agony to his face, before the

bell sent him back to his corner.

Never physically broken, yet surely

mentally fatigued, Campbell threw

more obdurate salvoes in the sixth, but

faced another punishing assault at the

end of the seventh. And what a thrilling

round, as first “Cool Hand Luke” then

“Loma” attacked viciously.

Thus they continued into the eighth,

somehow Campbell staying in the fight

by sheer will. In the eleventh the Briton

was down from a left to the body and a

short straight right, counted by referee

Victor Laughlin.

In the end, this was the third defeat

on the 23-fight record of Campbell, but

Cesar Martinez Aguilar of Mexico.

Referee Mark Lyson counted Edwards

out and called the fight over. However,

the television replay showed clearly that

the defending champion, from Croydon,

had been punched to the ribs when he

was on his knees.

The O2 crowd went into uproar as the

replay played on giant screens and

Edwards’s trainer Grant Smith remon-

strated with officials as promoter Eddie

Hearn mouthed that it was a disgrace.

“He did hurt me, but that’s why I took

the knee, but he did hit me when I was

down,” said Edwards as he was inter-

viewed in the ring while the Mexican

and his team celebrated. But that was to

change within a few minutes.

Mauricio Sulaiman, the president of

the WBC was interviewed, revealing

that the fight had been unfairly finished.

“I truly believe in instant replay. The

kid was hit while he was down,” ruled

Sulaiman. “It was an accident. There’ll

be an immediate rematch. The WBC has

an instant replay rule and this fight will

be ruled a no-contest.”

With the main event defying the

bookies who predicted a no-contest of

another type, we must be grateful for

the bravery and skill of Lomachenko’s

opponent. Few, if any, overseas fighters

have ever been cheered in victory over

a Briton, as long and loud as “Loma” was

in his triumph over “Cool Hand Luke”.

by a long way his most impressive

boxing performance against the No1

pound-for-pound fighter in the world,

hugely entertaining from both Olympic

champions from London 2012, both

southpaws, both, at 31, at the peak of

their powers.

Earlier, Charlie Edwards’s second

defence of the World Boxing Council

flyweight title ended in controversy

with a “No Contest” declared after the

champion was hurt and went to the

ground after a ferocious body assault in

the third round by the challenger Julio

BOXING

Gutsy show: Luke Campbell evades a right

hook from Vasyl Lomachenko at the O2

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