Pat Nevin believes England have come a long way and discusses Morocco’s appeal (Picture: Supplied)
The BBC Radio 5Live analyst and co-commentator believes Gareth Southgate’s job is not finished as England manager and rues the absence of Chelsea’s Reece James
How would you sum up the job Southgate has done over the course of six years?
Tough gig. He has had to answer questions on Covid, on Brexit, on LGBTQ issues… he’s a football manager! He’s walked through that, not tiptoed, and dealt with it as well as he possibly could. It looks easy when you get these things right but it’s hard. You are there to be tripped up. The stresses and the pressures could make him say ‘it’s not right for me’.
Do you think he’ll stay and how close is his England team to winning something?
It’s been a long build and the job’s nearly done. I’m Scottish so I am not going to be singing that Gareth Southgate is great but I think he did a very decent job and it would be weird to throw away all that stuff he’s done. Personally for England I hope he stays on because it feels like a job that’s not quite finished yet.
Jude Bellingham is consoled by England manager Gareth Southgate after losing to France in the quarter-final (Picture: Getty Images)
James Maddison struggled with injury at the beginning of the tournament but should he have got some game time?
Your timing is everything and if you’re lucky, you’re lucky and to get him back up to match speed when everyone else is playing is not easy. Jude Bellingham a while back, no chance. Maddison is a difference-maker, as Jack Grealish can be to some degree. That structured way of defending can look a bit dull at times but you can add chaos to it – like Morocco! Gareth might think: ‘My backline’s okay, Bellingham’s going to be around for a decade or more, I can let it rip a bit now.’
England weren’t far off France, were they? And are Les Bleus the likely champions again?
I said at the start of the tournament France would win it – in fact, long before. They’re the best team but not by far and England have come a long way. It is absolute madness to focus on the fact England lost. They came up against the best team in the world. Imagine the difference a fit Reece James at right-back would have made. That’s taking nothing away from Kyle Walker. Nobody gets by him but he creates as well. Southgate wouldn’t even have considered a back five against France with James.
Analyst and co-commentator Nevin is complementary of Morocco’s Azzedine Ounahi (Picture: Getty Images)
You’ve become a big fan of surprise semi-finalists Morocco, haven’t you?
You fall in love with certain teams, South Korea at the 2002 World Cup – their attitude, their football – Morocco this time really have been fabulous. Great structure defensively but they do a chaotic thing in attack. Good luck working it out, they don’t really know! It’s Marcelo Bielsa-like but without leaving the back door open. Sofyan Amrabat has been good to watch, he’s everywhere, but Azzedine Ounahi… what he does against great players is make them look unbelievably average. Also, their goalkeeper Bono gave me the chance to get ten U2 songs into my commentary!
Could other teams learn from Morocco’s style of play?
I love Spain but they’re boring. I love what they did for football with Xavi, Andres Iniesta. But they are monumentally dull nowadays and it’s almost upsetting. You think: ‘No, no, add the chaos!’
Pat Nevin’s memoir The Accidental Footballer is out now
MORE : Phil Foden gave England fans what they wanted this World Cup
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World Cup 2022: your FAQs answered
‘Morocco are chaotic in attack – even they don’t know what they are doing!’
