{"id":539670,"date":"2026-07-13T18:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/539670\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T18:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:45:27","slug":"gift-from-the-sky-elliot-anderson-keeps-england-running-as-rogers-makes-case-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/539670\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Gift from the sky\u2019 Elliot Anderson keeps England running as Rogers makes case | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elliot Anderson can be forgiven for needing a bit of additional time to recover after his exertions in the cauldron of Miami. As Manchester City\u2019s new record signing reflected on England\u2019s extra-time victory over Norway<\/a> with his fellow Geordie, John Murray, from BBC Radio 5 Live, there was no hiding his pure exhaustion. \u201cIt was so tough. So tough,\u201d said Anderson, who covered 14.8km in stifling humidity \u2013 the most of any England player, beating his captain, Harry Kane, by a few hundred metres. \u201cI was cramping up a few times [in extra time]. But the fighting spirit that the lads have is amazing to be part of. The fans should be proud of the amount of fight and determination we showed.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Jude Bellingham stole the headlines on and off the pitch, an alumnus of the famous Wallsend Boys Club, which has produced eight senior England<\/a> men\u2019s internationals, including Alan Shearer and Michael Carrick, enjoyed probably his best game since being promoted from the under-21s last summer. That was despite being deployed in at least four roles during the match as Thomas Tuchel kept tinkering with his midfield after withdrawing Declan Rice at half-time because he was struggling with injury and illness.<\/p>\n

Morgan Rogers eventually filled the void after the brief experiments with Reece James and Bellingham as Anderson\u2019s partners. But it was the 23-year-old who was a steadying influence throughout the game and completed an impressive 87 passes with a 94% success rate. He was also instrumental in England\u2019s equaliser after the ball appeared to strike the overhead television cable following a Norway goal-kick, making the most of his good fortune by surging down the left flank, combining with Anthony Gordon to set up Bellingham. It\u2019s a happy coincidence that Anthony Barry, Tuchel\u2019s assistant, has previously referred to Anderson as \u201ca gift that fell from the sky\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was at last summer\u2019s European Under-21 Championship that Anderson emerged as a contender for the senior squad after starring for Lee Carsley\u2019s team as the midfield anchor man when they sealed a second title<\/a> in succession in Slovakia. He had been deployed as a No 10 in Newcastle\u2019s youth teams and that deftness of touch and technique has been hugely beneficial to his transition to a deeper role for club and country. Yet despite his considerable physical attributes, as Anderson seemed to hint when he spoke to Murray in an assessment that will probably have gone down well with Tuchel, even he can\u2019t be expected to do it all on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we could have made it easier for ourselves if we had played more football and didn\u2019t have to run as much,\u201d he said. \u201cIt could be better. At times it was good, and at other times it wasn\u2019t so good. But that\u2019s football, isn\u2019t it? Sometimes you set out a plan and we didn\u2019t quite do it. But there were glimpses and once we get it right I think we will be frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan Rogers (left) has Martin \u00d8degaard in his sights in their quarter-final. Photograph: Jean Catuffe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rice is expected to start as his partner once more against Argentina<\/a> in the semi-final after Tuchel revealed that the Arsenal midfielder had spent most of the three days leading up to the Norway game in bed due to illness. There are still major concerns over his fitness after he arrived at the World Cup with back problems that mean he is not operating at 100%. Tuchel has been reversing their usual roles by pushing Anderson further forward while also searching for a plan B when Rice runs out of steam.<\/p>\n

With the plethora of No 10s at his disposal, even in the absence of Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, and an apparent reluctance to call on the most obvious replacement for Rice in Kobbie Mainoo, he tried Eberechi Eze in a deeper position first against Ghana and Panama to mild success. But it was Rogers, the Aston Villa forward who is also tipped to leave this summer for a fee in excess of \u00a3100m \u2013 with Arsenal among his suitors \u2013 who has stuck his hand up to slot in alongside Anderson after excelling against Norway.<\/p>\n

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Elliot Anderson<\/a><\/p>\n

The fact that it was from a shot from outside the penalty area by Rogers that led to Bellingham\u2019s winner in extra time didn\u2019t escape Tuchel\u2019s attention. \u201cWe played with Morgan Rogers in the eight and defensively as a double six,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of my key players. I\u2019m so, so happy about his performance today. He made a big step forward, like all our subs, but especially Morgan in a new position \u2013 absolutely top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogers scored 18 goals for Villa last season mainly as a No 10 so it speaks volumes for his humility \u2013 not to mention his ability to adapt \u2013 that he is prepared to sacrifice himself for the good of the team and to get the best out of Bellingham. They both appeared on a mural over the weekend near where he grew up in Halesowen that depicts them eating orange chips \u2013 a Black Country speciality. Having first played together for England\u2019s Under-15s almost a decade ago, they now have the chance to win the ultimate prize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elliot Anderson can be forgiven for needing a bit of additional time to recover after his exertions in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-539670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}