The English
Crack
It is the sound that will resonate. More than the quality of Southampton’s Junior Section team. More than the unending noise of the Zacatapec bench.
Crack
The Mexican side had an extremely vocal coaching team. Vocal to their players, vocal to the ref, to each other. Anyone would do.
In stark contrast the only time I heard the Southampton bench was when they made substitutions. All the Saints noise came from their players. Their fifteen year old were not shy to instruct each other. Particularly their goalkeeper. He gave out exceptional tactical instructions. This was not the ranting of an incensed Peter Schmeichel. “Who is dropping in?” “Where is the cover?” “Look for the switch”. This was coaching.
Crack
The Southampton team set-up in a clear 4-3-3 shape. The central midfield players taking it in turns to drop deep to give their defenders angles. It was the Southampton number 15 who conducted it all. One minute dropping deep, the next popping up on the edge the Mexican box to create an opening.
The opening goal came from their number 15. A corner played shortly him. A dribble past two players and a the ball fizzed hard and low. Zacatapec could only clear to their D. Crack, in came the low powerful shot. It was deserved.
Deserved because of the quality Southampton showed. The variety in their play made them very difficult to defend against. The majority of their play involved short combinations but they also looked for the longer diagonal ball into the channel. The players had license to play their game. Individuality led to an excellent second goal.
A longer pass picking out an inverted winger. His fits touch killed the ball. His second, third and fourth touches when beyond two defenders. Touch number five saw the ball find the bottom corner.
Crack.
Southampton were cruising to a very impressive victory. Then the crack came.
One of defenders passed back to his goalkeeper. The touch was a little heavy presenting the Zacatapec forward with chance to pinch the ball. The resulting 50/50 challenge was fierce and the crack sonorous. The ambulance men were quick to react. Oxygen given to the clearly distressed player before carefully loading him into the ambulance.
The goalkeeper had been a fantastic part of their performances. Conducting even without a baton. The crack detracting from what remained of the game.
Attack
Liverpool did not want to take a backward step. Their Junior team were clearly intent to play the match on the front foot.
It was straight forward picking out Southampton’s best players. For Liverpool it was less clear. County Tyrone were not as strong as Zacatapec and Liverpool opened them up with regularity, allowing many players to look exceptional.
Like their English compatriots Liverpool set out in a 4-3-3 formation. The full backs and wide players hugging their touchlines to make the pitch as wide as possible. Their centre forward came into deep positions, often deeper than the attacking midfielder. A false nine. Often Liverpool had central midfield box. The team utilising four play makers. The fast short passing play suited to having a central core to bounce passes off of. As possession moved forward so too did the deeper pivots. Thus at times Liverpool were left with a virtual back two. Liverpool’s commitment to attack allowed the opponents opportunities.
Every player had license to break opposition defensive lines. With dribble or pass. From wherever they were on the pitch. The Liverpool left back attacked continually. Collecting the ball wide and driving infield or down the line to create chances. In the first half he cut inside two players and curled a right foot shoot just wide. In the second half he appeared in the middle of the six yard box to finish offline passing move.
Liverpool won 6-0 but they give opposition a chance. County Tyrone could easily have scored on two or three occasions and only the pace of the defenders or some good goalkeeping prevented Tyrone from doing so.
Southampton created fewer chances than Liverpool, yet looked far more secure. That is not to say they were in any way negative. The Southampton full backs did not push on quite as aggressively meaning they did not leave the gaps that Liverpool did.
Two sides with many similarities but also clear differences. While Southampton were happy to hit the channels Liverpool did not hit the ball the more than twenty yards unless switching the play cross field.
Was there evidence of an English DNA? The same basic shape with three in midfield. A short passing style that built from the back. Neither goalkeeper kicking long. Pressing high up the pitch in small groups. All players possessing high levels of technical ability. The convergence is more likely to be down to something else. These elements are at the core of Total Football/Tiki Taka, a style that Ronald Koeman and Brendan Rodgers are keen to replicate. A style that is modern football, being played by two modern football clubs.