A tactically and technically adept Three Lions squad can take the handbrake off and prosper in North America next summer
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atching Micky van de Ven surge through the pretty much the entire FC Copenhagen team in the Champions League last week, two sensations occurred. The first was awe, that somebody so powerful and so quick would still have the composure to finish as he did. And the second was that this didn’t feel entirely fair. It was as though Gulliver had landed himself a deal in the Lilliput Premier League.
The same evening, Liverpool, who have at times struggled physically in the Premier League this season, bullied Real Madrid, their threat at set plays so marked that eventually it was the 5ft 7in Alexis Mac Allister who headed the vital goal. The following day, Newcastle swatted Athletic Bilbao aside, largely by being bigger than them: for the opening goal, the Spanish side’s defence appears to have looked at Dan Burn and decided there was no point even trying to mark him.
The Premier League has had a physical advantage over most of the rest of the world for years, but it is particularly pronounced now. If the elite level of the game really is turning en masse towards a more direct style, focused increasingly on set plays, English football is leading the charge – and it is a charge towards a way of playing with which it is extremely culturally familiar. To watch Arsenal against Crystal Palace followed by Real Madrid against Barcelona at the end of last month was to witness two extremely different versions of the same sport.
