{"id":532224,"date":"2026-07-04T04:51:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/532224\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T04:51:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T04:51:18","slug":"england-must-go-low-against-mexico-to-hit-heights-with-total-arsenalball-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/532224\/","title":{"rendered":"England must go low against Mexico to hit heights with Total Arsenalball \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

If any win will do then England<\/a> do not have to worry about putting on an exhibition of attacking football against Mexico. They have no time to acclimatise to the altitude in Mexico City and will have to box clever if they are to handle the challenge of playing at more than 7,000ft (2,200m) above sea level at the Azteca Stadium.<\/p>\n

No wonder Thomas Tuchel<\/a> predicted this World Cup<\/a> would be defined by suffering. England have prepared for the heat in the US but they are about to step into new territory. Mexico, rampant in their last-32 tie against Ecuador, are close to unstoppable at the Azteca. They have lost there twice in 89 competitive games, will be backed by a passionate crowd and have a physical advantage because of the altitude.<\/p>\n

Is this where England\u2019s journey ends? Mexican World Cups have not been kind to them. Their defence of the trophy in 1970 ended when they lost from 2-0 up to West Germany in the last eight in L\u00e9on. Then came Diego Maradona<\/a> at the Azteca in 1986. It was another quarter-final exit for England and there are lessons to learn from that tournament as Tuchel tries to work out the best way to take on Mexico.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pole Pole, Slowly Slowly: Ken Early in New York, Kevin Kilbane in Canada, explaining the snickometer, and the delirium of Paul Howard<\/p>\n

The answer is using the tactic that has so often disrupted Tuchel\u2019s England: stifle Mexico with the dreaded low block. The worst way to approach this game would be allowing it to become chaotic. England cannot give Mexico space to run in behind. Mexico have pace on the flanks and would love to play against a high line.<\/p>\n

England do not look ready for that kind of battle. Declan Rice is not at full speed in midfield and the right side is a problem. England\u2019s pressing was all over the place during the early stages of their last-32 tie against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tuchel has talked about wanting to play like a Premier League side but the task here is to play like the most negative Premier League side imaginable. Hit Mexico with Total Arsenalball. Slow the game down. Take the maximum time over every throw-in. Be Jos\u00e9 Mourinho\u2019s Chelsea at Anfield in 2014. \u201cThey want us to be the clowns in the circus,\u201d Mourinho told his players before they wrecked Liverpool\u2019s title hopes with a counterpunching 2-0 win. \u201cWe are not going to be the clowns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step back, then. Look at how England prepared for the 1986 World Cup by taking part in a summer tournament in Mexico in 1985. The conditions were a shock to the system. The heat was one thing but the altitude was on another level. England were not ready when they played Mexico at the Azteca. \u201cBefore we played Mexico Kenny Sansom and I tried carrying our bags up three flights of stairs because the lifts were occupied,\u201d Glenn Hoddle, who was part of the squad, wrote in his autobiography. \u201cWe had to stop twice because we were gasping for air.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"England'sEngland’s campaign at the 1986 World Cup came to after a quarter-final defeat to Argentina at the Azteca in which Diego Maradona scored the ‘Hand of God’ goal. Photograph: Bongarts <\/p>\n

England conceded early and lost 1-0. They had already lost 2-1 to Italy and had to tweak their style. \u201cWe weren\u2019t able to play the English way,\u201d Hoddle continued. \u201cWe stopped trying to press and looked to contain our energy. We finished on a high, beating West Germany 3-0.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, England reverted to type at the World Cup. Sir Bobby Robson\u2019s side made a poor start in the group stage, losing to Portugal and drawing with Morocco. They were not in Mexico City at first, so the heat was a bigger issue than the altitude. Hoddle remembers hallucinating at the end of the Morocco game. He couldn\u2019t work out which end England were attacking.<\/p>\n

It took a team meeting at a barbecue in Monterrey to force a change of direction. The players agreed that they had to stop trying to play a high press. Robson and Don Howe, the assistant coach, took some convincing. They wanted England to harry Poland in their final group game. They thought the team would be straying from the \u201creal strengths of English football\u201d but player power won out. England dropped off against Poland and reached the last 16 thanks to a 3-0 win.<\/p>\n

The Poland game was in San Nicol\u00e1s but England\u2019s more conservative style worked when they faced Paraguay at the Azteca in the last 16 and won 3-0 again. It took Maradona to bundle England out in the last eight.<\/p>\n

Forty years on, England need to forget about imposing themselves on Mexico. This is what Javier Aguirre wants. England have to silence the crowd. They will lose if they let the game become emotional. The smarter choice is to make Mexico feel the pressure.<\/p>\n

\"DeclanDeclan Rice prepares to take a corner kick during the Round of 32 game against DR Congo. Photograph: Odd Andersen\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

England need to play it like a European game at an intimidating venue. Be compact and controlled. Focus on set pieces. Rice\u2019s deliveries have to hit the mark. Sit deep, counterattack, use Harry Kane\u2019s through balls to release Anthony Gordon on the break. There is an argument, too, to remove a winger and use the diligent Morgan Rogers as an extra block in midfield. Tuchel should also consider moving Ezri Konsa to right-back and bringing in the experience of John Stones in central defence.<\/p>\n

If England can manage the situation and make it through the opening stages unscathed their individual quality should make a difference. Mexico\u2019s striker Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez is a dangerous, clever player but will be playing in the Championship next season. Kane has 72 goals for club and country this season.<\/p>\n

There is, of course, an irony to telling England not to lift the handbrake. Isn\u2019t that the opposite of what we want? Isn\u2019t Tuchel supposed to cast off the shackles? Isn\u2019t the anti-Southgate supposed to unleash his wealth of attacking talent? Not here. England are not going to invent a new way of playing in the Azteca. Instead they need to lean into their traditional tournament role. They need to relish the stodginess. Be Ghana. Be Panama. Be boring. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n

World Cup Wallchart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If any win will do then England do not have to worry about putting on an exhibition of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[15133,11148,2956,61,60,112,5041,4018],"class_list":["post-532224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-arsenal","tag-england-football-team","tag-fifa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports","tag-thomas-tuchel","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}