Gareth Southgate began studying France on the team bus away from the Al Bayt Stadium after the last-16 win over Senegal on Sunday, but England’s preparations for Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final clash had, in truth, got underway two years earlier.
England did not arrive back at their base until 3am, but shortly after 9am they were sitting through a presentation on the reigning world champions by Tim Dittmer.
The FA’s head of coaching has been tracking France in granular detail for the past two years, preparing for this very moment, and he knows how Didier Deschamps thinks as well as anyone outside the French camp.
One of the topics which came up was, obviously, Kylian Mbappe and how to contain one of just two players in Qatar who England believe require “special attention”, along with Lionel Messi.
One of the plans being discussed is how to push Mbappe onto the back foot and exploit his weakness at defending, rather than allow him to play to his obvious strengths, and assistant manager Steve Holland has reminded Southgate of advice from his old mentor at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese once told Holland that when he was in charge of Real Madrid, he initially tried to contain Barcelona’s rampaging right-back Dani Alves by playing a defensive left-back — a “soldier” — but soon realised the best approach was to station Cristiano Ronaldo on the left and force Alves to defend.
England want to do something similar with Mbappe.
Bukayo Saka is set to start on the right wing, but the task of shackling Mbappe and making him track back will primarily fall to Kyle Walker.
On the face on it, Walker is as equipped as anyone to go toe-to-toe with Mbappe. The Manchester City defender may be 32, but he remains one of the few players in the world who genuinely backs himself to match Mbappe for pace and has the big-game experience and confidence which comes from playing for Pep Guardiola’s champions.
“I don’t think we’ve got the best right-back in the world, but in terms of physicality, pace, experience, I couldn’t think of anyone better to match Mbappe than Kyle Walker,” said TV pundit Gary Neville, nicely summarising a widely-held view.
Walker is England’s oldest player in Qatar, now with over 70 caps, but he remains an arguably under-appreciated member of the squad, despite being one of the most decorated, having won nine major trophies with City. Walker has picked up on this himself and, even now, part of his motivation comes from a desire to constantly prove his doubters wrong.
“I do like to go out and show people,” he said after England’s opening game here against Iran. “Proving people wrong is something which I love to do.”
On Saturday, the eyes of the world will be on Mbappe, and if Walker can shut him down or help to force him backwards, it would be the ultimate response to anyone who still questions his class, and likely the standout night of his career.
This week, Holland has also drawn on how Chelsea handled Messi in the 2012 Champions League semi-final, when he was assistant to Roberto Di Matteo, but a better reference point for Walker is Ashley Cole’s defensive masterclass against Ronaldo at Euro 2004.
Cole was magnificent in subduing a teenage Ronaldo in Lisbon and, despite everything he won at club level, it remains the most memorable individual performance of his glittering career. Pre-Southgate, few players have excelled so much in an England knockout game this century.
England went on to lose that quarter-final on penalties, but Cole’s performance cemented his legacy for his country, even though he later played at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and Euro 2008, all underwhelming affairs.
Expectation is significantly higher today, but containing Mbappe on this stage and, particularly as part of a win, could do the same for Walker, albeit in what will probably be his last major tournament.
From an England point of view, there are some reasons to be concerned. Walker was touch-and-go to be included in Southgate’s squad, after undergoing groin surgery at the start of October, and his first appearance in nearly two months was in the 3-0 win over Wales.
He was barely tested there, but was occasionally uncomfortable in the first half-hour of Sunday’s win over Senegal, particularly when up against Ismaila Sarr.
A couple of minutes before England’s opening goal, the Watford winger wriggled away from Walker and drew a foul, which might have warranted a yellow card, and the way Sarr troubled the right-back should offer encouragement to the holders.
Hard as it is to believe, England have identified moments when Mbappe has struggled too and, after two years of detailed preparation, they believe they know where France are weak, as well as where they are strong.
