NOTHING England have done so far at this World Cup can persuade Troy Deeney that it’s coming home.
The last 16 victory in the madness of the Azteca against Mexico, which was hailed by many as one of The Three Lions’ greatest ever performances, barely moved the dial for him.
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England’s victory against Mexico does not mean the Three Lions will win the World Cup, according to Troy Deeney Credit: Reuters
Deeney says England should beat Norway on Saturday, but they will struggle against Argentina Credit: Getty
Deeney concedes England should beat Norway in Saturday’s quarter-final.
But, in his eyes, a possible semi-final against Argentina is where the adventure will come to a juddering halt.
Deeney, the former Premier League striker and Jattvibe columnist, who is now based in the US working as an analyst for CBS, is not getting carried away on the Thomas Tuchel bandwagon.
He’s certainly not impressed by England’s expensive midfield duo of Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson.
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“The two holding midfielders are worth £224million between them and we haven’t dominated one game out here when they’ve played together,” said Deeney.
“In fact, tell me when we dominated one half. We haven’t dominated one period of any game.
“We can’t keep turning the ball over the way we have been in midfield.
“My wife said to me the other day, that every time I speak about England, I sound like I hate them.
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“I don’t, I just have an expectation. It’s about what I’m told and what I see.
“We were told by Thomas Tuchel, we were going to be front footed and we were going to see a real different England. I haven’t seen that yet in this tournament.
“My comparison is what he’s told me, not what I’ve made up.It’s not like I have this unrealistic expectation.
“Every single game I’ve watched, I’ve been left with more questions.”
The performance in the red-hot Mexican atmosphere left Deeney cold.
“The narrative was all about how it was at the Azteca, where they’ve won X amount of games, “ he said.
“Respectfully it was still Mexico. Raul Jimenez is their top guy. Lovely fella but he’s playing for Wolves in the Championship next year.
“There’s not one of his teammates would get into our third team.
“We were poor before we went 2-0 up. We scored a fortuitous goal and got a second from a good press.
“But could we manage it for ten minutes? We don’t. In fact, it only looked like they were going to score.
“We didn’t command the ball, we didn’t take care of it.
Erling Haaland will be Norway’s biggest threat, having scored seven goals so far at the World Cup Credit: Getty
Deeney says that Jude Bellingham is one of the few England players to have really impressed so far Credit: AFP
“Everyone’s talking like it was this real gritty performance.
“We put on a six-foot-seven centre back as all they were doing was crossing the ball. I expect him to head it away.
“But we’re going: ‘Oh my god, Dan Burn headed the ball.’
“Wow. Should we all get excited about that?
“What annoys me more is if we lose now, it won’t be about how great these performances have been.
“Instead, it will be very, very quickly about how we didn’t dominate and why we didn’t take Cole Palmer.
“We’ve seen performances from Jude Bellingham which are brilliant. He’s pushing on.
“I’d actually go Jude Bellingham then Harry Kane if I was to put the players in order.
“But Saka has put one good ball in.
“And none of the wide men has had a game where you go: ‘That’s why you’re here.’
“I actually thought Anthony Gordon was fantastic without the ball the other night, it was one of his better performances.
“But if Tuchel was to change Gordon out and put Marcus Rashford in for the next game, there wouldn’t be an outcry.
“I get frustrated with England fans when they say that Spain are boring. They had about 700 passes and never looked like losing to Portugal.
“Yet we want more. We don’t keep the ball and get through by the skin of our teeth. Where’s the objectivity?
“I don’t subscribe to the theory that because England won, we’re going to win the World Cup.”
So what about Norway then Troy? The rankings suggest England in 4th are a lot better than the 19th-rated vikings.
“It’s going to be tough because we’ve struggled to break down well-organised low block teams.
“There’s an argument we play against Haaland all the time so we know what he’s like.
“But when you play against Man City with Haaland, City dominate the ball. There’s not that much space behind.
“Now we’re going to dominate. We’re going to be more in their half which means more space for him to run into.
Deeney is not getting carried away on the Thomas Tuchel bandwagon Credit: Getty
“The problem for defenders is you have to be right all the time. The beauty of being a striker, you only have to be right once.
“Haaland is loving this World Cup and it’s showing on the pitch.
“He’s probably had a conversation with himself, close friends, maybe even a therapist, and said, “it’s our first time. Let’s enjoy it.
“His dad Alf was quite serious. He played, obviously got injured and was never able to really rekindle it.
“Maybe he had a chat with his son and told him to enjoy it because you are one bad tackle away from it all being gone.
“They’re a big team, so they’re not going to be afraid of set pieces. In fact, they’re going to try to impose themselves.
“Theirs is a together team, a team that has no fear, because every time they’re just making history. And they’ve got that fellow up front.
“All that being said, their centre half plays for Brentford and their centre midfielder plays for Fulham.
“If you go through it, is their goalkeeper better than ours, is their backline better than ours? No. Is their midfield better than ours? No. Is their striker better than ours? 50/50.”
“I’m expecting us to win but at the moment I’d still fancy Argentina to beat us in the semi-final if we both get there.
“It’s time we put a performance together.”
World Cup 2026 – all the info
The knockout stages of the World Cup are hotting up as we head towards the business end of the tournament.
England believe football might finally be coming home after 60 years of hurt, with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham on fire.
But the likes of France, Spain and Argentina are all serious contenders to go all the way.
Heavyweights Germany, Netherlands, Brazil and Portugal have all been knocked out.
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