sport news England assistant coach Steve Holland is devising a plan to keep Kylian Mbappe ... trends now
Mike Tyson once said: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ As England prepare to face France and Kylian Mbappe, the boxing legend’s quote is an ominous warning to Gareth Southgate.
By Saturday, Southgate will have devised a meticulous plan to upset the odds and reach a second World Cup semi-final in a row.
It will no doubt focus on how England’s players impose their own qualities on the French — a gameplan to simply contain the opposition isn’t in Southgate’s make-up.
Kylian Mbappe has been in stunning form for France at the World Cup in Qatar
But the plan will rise or fall on how England intend to stop Kylian Mbappe, the world’s best footballer, from delivering a Tyson-esque knockout blow.
Steve Holland, Southgate’s assistant, will play a decisive role in trying to keep Mbappe’s impact to a minimum.
Indeed, if anyone knows how to shackle Mbappe, it’s Holland. The experienced coach was part of the Chelsea backroom team who plotted Barcelona and Lionel Messi’s downfall on the way to winning the 2012 Champions League.
Messi didn’t score in either leg of the semi-final as Chelsea, managed by Roberto Di Matteo, reached the final with a 3-2 aggregate win.
Holland helped stop Messi. Now he’s hoping Mbappe becomes his next victim.
‘There are a handful of players on the planet that you need to consider giving special attention to. Messi has been one and probably still is,’ explained Holland.
Chelsea managed to keep Lionel Messi quiet when they famously beat Barcelona in 2012
Steve Holland played his part in that, and will now try to help England stop Mbappe
‘You’d have to put Mbappe in that category. We do need to look at trying to avoid leaving ourselves in situations where he is as devastating as we’ve all seen.
‘I remember having a conversation with Jose Mourinho about it a long time ago when he was with Real Madrid.
‘They were playing Barcelona and Real had Cristiano Ronaldo. Dani Alves was right back for Barcelona and flying forwards in attack, and Jose would play a soldier against him to try to stop him.
‘But then you don’t get any threat for your team from the soldier as you’re just stopping somebody, you’re not hurting them. Then he would try to play Ronaldo against him, one against one, because Alves was fantastic going forwards but maybe not quite as good defensively as a consequence.
‘There is always a plus and a minus.
