Who will start for Tuchel's first England game? | City hand Bompastor first Chelsea defeat | Could England leave the Allianz Stadium?
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm David Garrido and joining me are the Independent's Chief Football Writer, Miguel Delaney, and the Athletic's Football Correspondent, Karl Anka. Welcome along to you both. Right then.

Welcome along, Miguel and Carl. Let's start off with the back page of the Mirror, which looks like this. Win or bust. Tuchel's Energy has us all believing that we can win the World Cup, says Rogers. That's the headline. Morgan Rogers speaking. As England prepare for World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia, Miguel...

Hardly world beaters, are they, those two? But, I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? He's really now settling in, getting his feet on the table, getting to know his squad in person, holding training sessions, and it feels like this is deeper than just a charm offensive from Thomas Tuchel. How do you read it? Oh, yeah. I mean, I suppose it is worth reflecting as well on what this week is because it's obviously been a very long build-up. The news was confirmed, what, back in October, right?

We're five months on now and finally Tuca's actually got to work with the squad for the first time. So yesterday was the first media day. So yeah, the last two days have basically been that first sense. And there's obviously a difference between having an image of a manager and a manager having an image of a squad and then finally getting to work with them. So from everything you hear so far, I think this probably speaks to what Morgan Rodgers was getting at as regards Aura. There's been a real energy there.

Given this is a journalism show, it's probably worth also stating the journalist perspective. I did cover Tuchel a lot when he was at Chelsea, including that Champions League win in 2021. I was there on Friday for his first real press conference as manager after the initial announcements. And I'll be there tomorrow for his pre-game press conference. And I think for those of us who kind of covered England regularly,

most of us got on with Southgate. There was probably a sense it was just maybe he'd been there so long by the end, we got used to maybe a certain element of equivocation to his answers. Probably he got fed up with us as well. But one of the things with Tuchel, and I suppose this reflects what we're saying in terms of an aura,

He's a good laugh, to be fair. He's able to put journalists in their place. He has no problem, you know, really going for jokes or barbs in a language that isn't in his first. And I think that does translate. And I think one of the, in terms of how the players have been working the last few days, the line is very much, yes, he encourages actually quite a warm atmosphere around the squad. But when it's time to work, it's time to work. And there's a real intensity there.

Karl, when we talk about what makes the difference in terms of winning major tournaments, something obviously England have failed to do since 1966 and something that Thomas Tuchel has been charged to do in this 18-month period from now, how much do you think aura is a factor? Aura, that undefinable thing, but you know it when you see it. It's interesting, I mean, Thomas Tuchel is well regarded as one of the best tactical minds

working in club football when he was there. He seemed to be a coach that could outsmart Pep Guardiola in cup situations. And while he had two or three dints at his time at Bayern Munich and at Paris Saint-Germain, I very much believe he's an outstanding coach and very much will know the X's and O's to build on the very good work Gareth Southgate did.

In terms of aura, we'll just have to see when we have to see. This is the thing we always talk about with England. There's just a constant mission creep. I think Gareth Southgate is one of the best England managers of my lifetime, if not the second best of all time. And yet every time he achieved an impressive win, it was retroactively fitted to, well, England should have done that anyway. So victories over Germany, victories over Senegal, regardless, not that special because Southgate did it. So...

I think it's challenging for Tuchel. He's got 24 in-game hours between now and the World Cup, I think, and very much his championship or bust. So while the aura is really nice and impressive now when he's telling jokes, let's see what happens when he's drawing 0-0 against Algeria, for example. Oh my goodness. Memories of Cape Town in 2010. That was, yeah, Rooney down the camera and that was painful. I don't know if you guys remember that.

I wonder, because Morgan Rodgers is the man who's been quoted in the Backpage Mirror and some of the other papers as well. I wonder, you know, when you look at a player like him, how he might fit in to a two-call line-up, Miguel. You know, he's obviously got all of these attacking options and one of the hardest things that Southgate had to contend with was simply accommodating them. So where do you see Rodgers in a two-call XI? Or not, as it may be.

Well, it's interesting. When Tuco was at Chelsea, he was speaking to us about how, obviously, he used wing-backs. He spoke about how he liked to play in a three- or a five-man back line. And the way he put it, the wing-backs were essentially number 10s. Now, England, the England squad aren't quite built in that way. There is a lot of... There's a real concentration of talent in Rodgers' position. In fact, Tuco was talking the other day about why he left certain players out. Sorry, not necessarily in Rodgers' position, but in those forward lines. And it does give him...

In some ways, it kind of maybe forces his hand and he surely would think any first 11 has to be geared towards that area. But also it means he's got plenty of variety in terms of the number of options he can use. And yeah, you'd have to think he'll be quite creative in terms of how he uses Rodgers in that way. But one of the things there as well is Tuchel is very big on...

I mean, obviously he loves natural talents. Every manager does. But one of the things that frustrates him more than anything is players who, when he has that sense of not absolutely maximising their talents. And that absolutely isn't something you can say of Rodgers. It's been one of the revelations of the season, or really one of the revelations of the last year since he went to Aston Villa. So I'd say he's exactly the sort of player that Tuchel is really excited by because he certainly has no issues with bringing in youth or younger players.

What do you think, Karl, will be Thomas Tuchel's go-to formation, especially with this squad? Albania, three, four at the back of me. He sort of did a bit of everything, didn't he, with Chelsea?

He does a bit of everything with every club he's been at. I think if you looked at England across Gareth Southgate's tenure, the three at the back was mostly used or eventually predominantly became used in games where England were less likely to dominate possession. And in games against, quote unquote, smaller opposition, it became a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, however you want to do. I think in these opening games, you are more likely to see a four at the back

There are things that England do need to solve or figure out from the Euros. The left side, there's huge questions over who's going to be a long-term left-back prospect, considering Luke Shaw's fitness and considering Phil Foden's quite underwhelming Euro competition. I think the right-hand side of the fence as well could do some tweaking as well, due to Kyle Walker not quite having the same recovery pace that he used to. So that sort of hand-break situation

against the Kylian Mbappe stopper is not what it used to be there. And of course, I mean, to go back to Morgan Rodgers, Morgan runs the best position in this England team is the position that Jude Bellingham plays, which is just behind Harry Kane. So Rodgers might have to be a plan B. However, if you talk about plan Bs, there's also players like Morgan Gibbs-White who would like to play a number 10. I'm sure Phil Foden might want to play it as a number 10 as well. So it's surplus of options. I think your spine is going to be Pickford-Rodgers

a centre-back like, say, Gueye, Declan Rice. Who's going to play next to Declan Rice in midfield is going to be a big issue. And then sorting out those flanks when Harry Kane's up front because Harry Kane will need runners because, bless him, even when he...

didn't have the ankle injuries, he wasn't the quickest. Let's talk about the first player you mentioned in that spine, Carl. Miguel, back page of the mail, the pictures of Jordan Pickford setting his sights on joining England's 100 club. I mean, that in itself, such a huge milestone for any player to reach 100 caps. But also, I guess, you know, for him to feel particularly upbeat now and particularly secure given Everton's improving form as well.

Yeah, absolutely. I suppose maybe for the first time in a little while he goes to an England camp where it won't maybe feel a little bit of a kind of relief from some of the pressure that Everton have had, not just as regards position at the table, but also, of course, some of the uncertainty around the future of the club. Everything will feel much calmer.

And Pickford's maybe been a bit of a kind of an interesting player in the modern era, or maybe a more distinctive career in the modern era because he probably has been more defined by his international career rather than his club career. That's not to say he hasn't been good for Everton, but obviously all of the main moments...

all of the kind of most memorable moments of his career have come in international tournaments. And I remember kind of something Peter Cech said to us a few years ago, which is, he's talking about how with Pickford, when he looked at English goalkeepers, you could see that when he was in an international tournament, something just came over him. It was like he had the perfect mentality for a,

for a campaign like that. And that is one massive reason why, despite some criticism over the years, he's never been dislodged. And he's really, I suppose, one of Southgate's main legacies in that sense, given he did bring Pickford through, and that a year after Southgate's own debut back in 2016, his own first game as manager. Let's quickly switch to The Guardian and switch focus as well.

Women's Champions League quarter-finals underway this week. An all WSL tie, Carl, between Manchester City and Chelsea. How significant this victory for City, not just in terms of the status of the tie, but also given it Sonia Bonpasol's first defeat? Yes, defeat in, I want to say, 28 games. Just a tremendous unbeaten run, broken, and not too long after the victory in the League Cup over Manchester City as well. So,

There was this idea that Chelsea would perhaps lose 10% to 15% after Emma Hayes would depart, but they just kept on plugging away and they looked to be head and shoulders above everyone else in the WSL. But this victory, particularly with Viv Miedeba coming off the bench and scoring a brace,

really shows that there's intrigue in the Champions League tie here. Perhaps not in the other game that was played today between Wolfsburg and Barcelona, but it's not as straightforward as people might think. No, I mean Chelsea... There are a few shades of this actually. Yeah, come on in Miguel. I was going to bring him in anyway. What do you want to say? Yeah, yeah.

but just a few shades of actually in the men's game in the Champions League when Chelsea beat Arsenal in 2004 and it's at the quarter final stage and Arsenal had been at that point and they ended up with an invincible season in the league seen as far and away the best team and

Chelsea were, OK, they ended up finishing second that season, but they were still considered kind of, you know, some way off Arsenal's level after a recent takeover. And City, they're fourth on the table now, what, 12 points or so behind Chelsea. So to come out with a performance like that, it is striking. And it is something actually you occasionally see when two teams from the same country meet in the Champions League, that just the dynamic about it change. And they often seem like games almost conditioned by,

Not fear, but wariness because you're facing someone naturally so close to home. But evidently, City didn't feel fear tonight. No, not very much so. They did not let Chelsea get into their rhythm. And I think there was an additional physical element there that Chelsea were perhaps surprised by.

Yeah, well, we'll see how Sonny Bonpastor and the Chelsea players deal with this perhaps unfamiliar situation. 2-0 down, but can still turn the tyre around in a home leg next week. But we're going to switch tack now as we head to the back page of The Times. And yes, it looks like this. Sweeney, we may move to Milton Keynes. No, he's not talking about his family home. He's talking about the RFUs and the home of rugby, Twickenham.

Obviously, England have played there for well over a century. But it sounds like he's sort of firing a bit of a warning shot, Karl, to those who think that they're always going to be there. But it's all down to, surprise, surprise, money. Can you maybe just explain this story for us, first of all? Yes. So, Twickenham is only allowed to host three non-rugby events.

in its setting and they are a reduced capacity of 55,000 compared to the usual I want to say 82,000 please correct me if I'm wrong there capacity there the RFU are not

are not pleased about that or would like to renegotiate that deal so they can host more non-sporting events, more concerts, things like Beyonce or if Taylor Swift or if any other large musician comes to tour in London, they'd like Twickenham to be an option rather than them going to, say, the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or to Wembley Stadium, for example. And this is the RFU politely saying, if you don't give us what we want, we'll pack our things and go off to Milton Keynes, like a certain other sports brand once did once.

In my personal opinion, this is a foolhardy threat from the RFU. They have a quite annoying tendency, and I'm speaking as a former amateur rugby player. They have an annoying tendency to forget the world that they currently exist in and then get caught up in short-term profits rather than long-term gain. I think you lose a lot of

mystique and importance to rugby English rugby history by moving from twickenham and making such a threat is just quite unwise is it you know just a little bit of a false threat Miguel I mean you know twickenham twickers HQ wherever you call it it's just synonymous with English rugby with with with the England team with swing low sweet chariot etc and

The idea, with all due respect to Milton Keynes, of moving there just feels like it doesn't sort of fit. And, you know, obviously, as Carlos alluded to there, just simply this situation with Richmond Borough of not being able to put on any more concerts there, that pales into insignificance when you look at the likes of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley in particular, you know, who have a pretty packed diary with these sorts of things.

Yeah, I mean, both yourself and Carl have touched upon it there. Given the history of the stadium, given its symbolism, its significance to English rugby, all that history wrapped up in it, everything associated with it, and also how much stock rugby as a sport places in its sense of history in a way, it's hard not to see this as anything but a game of chicken and a warning and an attempt at leverage. Can anyone really see them move? No, as Carl said, but...

Maybe that is tempered by the reality we're in. I mean, I suppose there's two elements here. One is actually the evolution of stadiums in the modern era. And it's interesting how we've so quickly gone from a few years ago where people talking about how stadiums are sort of going to be the thing of the past as kind of digital takes over and your real fan base is wherever you are in the world, where it's actually gone the opposite direction, where stadiums have become one of the major money spinners in sport, or rather, sorry, crucially owning your own stadiums.

has become one of the major money spinners in sport because you can kind of spin it out into all manner of events. And they're not just sporting arenas anymore. They're event arenas. And as Carl has mentioned, the massive example of this has been Tottenham Hotspur. Everyone wants their own Tottenham Hotspur, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Now, of course, the flip side of that, if they were actually to move to Milton Keynes,

I mean, London is the premier event venue for a reason, given its status as an alpha plus global city and all that sort of thing where it attracts these sort of events. So there are pros and cons, maybe temper, some of English rugby's argument there. But again, that comes in the other context of this, which is English rugby generally, I mean, more so in the club game,

it's going through a financial crisis right now so they have to start looking at different solutions so yeah there's a lot into this I mean you know gut wise you can't really see them moving but maybe kind of the

the gut has to give way to some more logical thought processes here. Yeah, and the pragmatism ultimately, and as you say, rugby union is one of those sports that's always struggled to market itself, even with everyone chasing long-form episodic content, full contact has not been as successful as the other ones, obviously Drive to Survive, but also Full Swing and Breakpoint and the other ones we've seen across the other major sports.

Speaking of tennis, by the way, Emma Raducanu managed to win over at the Miami Open. First round, done, straight sets, pretty straightforward. But, of course, it's never straightforward when it comes to Emma Raducanu. This is the front page of the Telegraph Sports section. So, yeah, there she is, celebrating the win, clenched fist. However, she splits up with yet another coach. How much of a distraction does this risk being, Carl, in this still very talented and young athlete's career?

It's unfortunate. This is a trial period. After an 11-day period, I think it's best to come to an agreement with your coach saying this is not working out early on and then move on to the next thing rather than not. Miss Madhuri Akarnu is a phenomenal tennis player and unfortunately...

The consistency in coaching hasn't quite been there yet, but I think she'll find a way to recalibrate and self-right and this will be just a blip two or three months from now. Do you agree, Miguel? I mean, she's been struggling to kind of string the winds together and, you know, it's been this scenario particularly, along with the injuries, we understand that, that has kind of been more of the constant narrative than, you know, her performance on court.

Yeah, we've mentioned this in the show before. I mean, it feels like Raducanu's career has a little bit, I mean, obviously not that that kind of major win was the Grand Slam win was a bad thing to happen to her. It obviously going to define her career. Uh,

But it's almost felt like her career since is always going to be set against that. And she hasn't yet managed to match up to that sort of level. I mean, that's perhaps inevitable for someone at her age. But yeah, it has played into, I suppose, what has been a series of developments that have kind of just created this kind of fog of uncertainty around her career. And this is one of the latest. I mean, I was actually talking to a few people I know who do work on a tennis tour and actually said they

This decision today isn't surprising. What's actually surprising was the initial decision she'd take on this coach. Because I know even though Raducanu's camp had tried to get him before, there was massive surprise of that because he wasn't really seen as maybe the sort of coach of the level that should be working of a player of her kind of status in the game. So yeah, maybe there's an element of kind of self-correction about this. It hasn't worked out.

But while maybe this is actually the decision they were going to come to or that it was reasonable to come to, the very fact that it almost feels like a quick flip-flop just adds to that sense of just a constant...

uncertainty around their career at the moment. OK, well, we've talked about the oval ball, we've talked about the small yellow ball. Let's bring you back to your homeland and talk about football. Back page of the eye. They're billing this as an exclusive. You can tell it's International Week. Reds in a hurry to seal £40m Kirkhurst transfer. Always transfer news, though, Miguel. Karl, I'll come to you on this one first. So, Liverpool...

Closing in, it says here, on in-demand Bournemouth full-back Milos Kirkes. We've got roughly about 30 seconds each for this, guys. Good fit. What do you think, Carl? Liverpool very much need to upgrade left-back among other positions. I think Robertson is a phenomenal servant, but he's often at the scene of the crime in some of their more egregious defensive errors. Kirkes has had a phenomenal season. I'm not quite sure...

how he would fit in at left back, if only because they're probably going to have to look at who's going to fit in that left wing as well. So Kirk says, sounds like a good idea. I do need a little bit more detail. OK, can you see him competing with or maybe succeeding Andy Robertson, you know, providing the same kind of service, Miguel, as Robertson has done for Liverpool?

I mean, he's a slightly different left-back to him. He has been one of the revelations this season. Liverpool aren't the only club looking at him. But then, of course, Robertson has been a left-back that's been fitted into Jurgen Klopp's very specific style. Slot does have a different style. And just as maybe there's this sense of maybe Robertson perhaps not being quite the player he was, it could just be a one-season lull. Yeah.

But if they did have to come to a decision where they're going to move him on or kind of phase another first choice left back in, it's maybe no harm to go in a slightly different direction. And Liverpool are in a strange situation where they're going to be champions. It feels like the team is generally in good shape. And yet Sunday almost fostered a sense that they need new players.