"McManaman calmly side-foots the ball into the far corner for the goal! England have scored what seems like a fortunate goal, but it's all down to the Three Lions' relentless determination! Looking back at the buildup, Spain's young midfielder Xavi, under pressure from Scholes, tried to turn away but lost the ball to Lampard. Lampard immediately launched a counterattack, threading a pass to Heskey at the front. Heskey then delivered the ball into the space between the Spanish center-backs, and McManaman, having beaten the offside trap, found himself through on goal. Great finish!"
Aldrich nodded slightly after learning the full story of the goal.
England aren't lacking in playmakers—Scholes is more than capable of fulfilling that role—but there's a slight disconnect between his positioning on the pitch and the tactical design.
To better organize the attack, Scholes would need to drop deeper, as the pressure from defenders in the attacking midfield zone would be immense. However, pushing him back would reduce his threat on goal. Therefore, Aldrich isn't expecting England to execute quick, intricate passing combinations in tight spaces—that's simply unrealistic. In a positional game, the strategy is clear and direct: take the chance if it arises; if not, no worries. What's most important is the tempo of the transition between defense and attack.
When transitioning to defense, forwards need to drop into the space between the opposition's defenders and holding midfielders, disrupting their build-up while being ready to push forward again.
The most important thing is to press the ball in midfield, interrupting the opponent's counter-attacks. This isn't a rigid demand—once the opponent passes the ball out, players should immediately track back and switch to a static defensive setup, before reorganizing to face the attack.
Six years from now, Xavi's ball might be harder to intercept, especially in midfield, but right now, he still lacks the experience.
The first priority after a successful counter-press is to attack quickly. The ball needs to be passed decisively, with no hesitation. The goal just now demonstrated this: especially McManaman, who didn't wait for the ball to fall into space after Lampard's interception. Instead, he sprinted forward without hesitation, and Heskey's pass was perfectly timed. Spain's defense was caught off guard in just 3 seconds.
This is Aldrich's tactical strength—England is not great at patient positional play, but their key strength lies in counter-attacks. Launching counter-attacks from the back and intercepting the opponent's attacks from midfield is their game.
The English fans at Mestalla were cheering wildly, while the Spanish fans looked utterly frustrated.
England is incredibly lucky!
Camacho's face on the sidelines was grim.
England's style of play today has been simple yet effective. They've played at high speed, with changes in attacking positions that ensure their speed remains high. Otherwise, if they stuck to their usual 4-4-2, the man-marking system could easily shut them down.
As the half-time whistle blew, both teams walked towards their respective tunnels.
Aldrich and Klinsmann walked and talked, preparing to address the players during the break.
"Have you noticed something?" Aldrich asked.
"Mm?" Klinsmann replied thoughtfully.
Aldrich looked at him and said, "The players are executing the tactics decisively today, but some of them are a bit rigid."
Aldrich nodded. "Yes. They've focused too much on short, ground passes. Some good opportunities were missed because they didn't capitalize on them right away. They could've used long passes to launch attacks, but the players seem to only have eyes for quick, short passes. I'll talk to them about this later."
"The national team is at least easier to manage in this regard. Their tactical discipline is stronger than the club players'," Klinsmann said.
"It's probably because there are fewer matches, and each one is so important. At the club level, there are always games where players might not take things as seriously."
Back in the locker room, Aldrich noticed that none of the England players were idle. They were all discussing the match in small groups.
Southgate was talking to the defenders about their first-half performance. They hadn't conceded a goal, but that didn't mean there were no issues. Occasionally, players had lost their positions, exposing gaps. But Spain hadn't capitalized on those opportunities.
Scholes and McManaman were also talking. Though both were attacking midfielders, their roles were quite different. Most of the time, McManaman pulled wide to find space, covering a larger area, while Scholes was tasked with linking up the attack.
The ideal scenario was for the two of them to switch roles seamlessly during an attack. One would be the playmaker, the other could act as a shadow striker. This required constant communication between them.
Aldrich had planned to give them some time to talk, as this was a positive sign. A successful team needs to have internal discussions, pointing out mistakes and weaknesses, solving problems, and fostering a positive atmosphere in the squad.
However, he found that the players didn't seem to have the intention of stopping.
Beckham was using hand signals to indicate the route Neville should take when overlapping on the right, discussing how they should combine and create threats.
Cough, cough, cough.
Five minutes later, Aldrich had to speak up to remind them.
It seemed that the players in the locker room finally snapped out of their daze, realizing that the game had only been half played and that it was time to listen to the coach.
Everyone immediately sat up straight, looking at Aldrich, waiting for his tactical adjustments.
In fact, Aldrich didn't really have much to adjust. First of all, it was a friendly match, and second, Spain would definitely make changes in the second half. Camacho wouldn't just sit idly by while his home team played so poorly. The performance of the so-called "King of the Qualifiers" today was truly unsatisfactory.
Spain would change, and any specific tactical deployment by Aldrich at this point could very well be in vain.
"How do you feel about the first 45 minutes?" Aldrich asked.
"Not bad!" many players immediately answered.
Aldrich pulled over a tactical board, sketching out the basic formation and briefly outlining the team's counter-attack strategy from the first half. It was primarily based on ground passes, cuts, and penetrations, with different supporting points for each attack.
"This type of attack worked well in the first half, but I want to remind the midfielders and defenders, especially those with reliable long-pass success rates, that I didn't ask you to play short passes point-to-point. After assessing the situation up front, if you notice better receiving points ahead, you should decisively use long passes to launch a threatening attack. This way, our late-arriving support players can sprint full speed, instead of slowing down to receive and then accelerating again. That would further improve the speed of our offensive push."
The players nodded. To put it simply, Aldrich was mainly telling Beckham and Lampard that the long balls from Ashley Cole and Gary Neville couldn't be relied upon for consistent precision and accuracy.
But he said it in front of the entire team, also reminding the forwards not to think that every attack had to come from a point-to-point pass from the back. They needed to be aware of off-the-ball movement to offer support from the very beginning.
Aldrich emphasized the key points of counter-pressing in midfield and then told the players to tidy up their jerseys and boots, preparing for the second half.
As expected, Spain made substitutions at halftime.
Camacho made a triple change in the attacking midfield positions.
Xavi was replaced by Belaron, Joaquin by Mendieta, and Vicente by Enrique.
Belaron, known as Spain's Zidane, and Mendieta and Enrique, stars from Valencia and Barcelona, now seemed to embody the presence of the "King of the Qualifiers."
Aldrich shot a resentful glance at Camacho.
You should have brought these guys on from the start.
Now, after half the match, Spain was behind. England's entire team was in high spirits, and even though the first half didn't count, with the halftime switch, the newly introduced players would be entering a game where their bodies were already hyped up. Could they really be on the same starting line as the others?
Spain was trailing in the first half, and the resistance in midfield had been huge. Camacho had pulled back Spain's attacking formation, and now the battle in midfield would be even fiercer.
Belaron was expected to improve Spain's midfield play, but his weakness was his softness in physical confrontations. Facing the double-team of Scholes and Butt, Scholes pressed him while Butt stuck to Aldrich's orders, waiting for Belaron to shake off Scholes before making his move.
Belaron tried to dribble sideways but couldn't shake off Scholes. Instead, Scholes closed in on him again, forming a two-man blockade with Butt.
Belaron had to make a pass, but on the wings, Beckham and Lampard had their passing lanes blocked. Belaron attempted a lofted ball to the right flank—an accurate pass, but unfortunately, Mendieta mishit the ball. He tried to control it with a touch and then dribble past Lampard, but he lost the ball out of bounds.
Lampard immediately stepped back, increasing the distance between him and Mendieta, while Ashley Cole moved up to take the throw-in and passed the ball straight to Lampard.
Mendieta and Belarón quickly closed in on him, but Lampard made a diagonal pass back to the sideline. Ashley Cole sprinted up the field, initiating the counterattack, while Lampard dropped back to secure the defensive area on that side and provide an option for a return pass in case Ashley Cole was blocked.
After only two touches, Ashley Cole passed the ball across to the midfield, where Beckham, taking long strides, received it. He quickly assessed the situation up front, then made a long, over-the-top pass.
Heskey and McManaman seemed to have overlapping runs, both making a dash toward the left side of the penalty box. This was part of Aldrich's offensive strategy—he wanted the forwards and the attacking midfielder to press together, making a strong push. If the opposing center-backs didn't provide cover, there would be a 2v1 or 2v2 advantage in attack. If another center-back came over to provide support, there would be space on the other side.
The over-the-top pass was deep, and Heskey couldn't catch up, but McManaman managed to get ahead of the opposing center-back just inside the penalty area. However, due to a slight delay in controlling the ball, he couldn't get a clean shot at goal, and another center-back was closing in on him. McManaman passed it to the opposite side.
Scholes arrived in the box just in time, taking one touch before shooting with his right foot. The ball flew cleanly into the net.
Casillas managed to get a hand to it, but the shot was too powerful, and despite touching the ball, he couldn't alter its trajectory enough. The ball went in.
"Eight minutes into the second half, and England is leading 2-0 against Spain away from home! Beckham initiated a fast counterattack from midfield with a long pass to McManaman, who assisted Scholes for the goal. England's play has been simple yet effective today, with both goals showcasing the speed of their counterattacks. So far, the debut of Hall as national team coach is looking promising. At least in terms of the game's flow, England has matched Spain, creating more chances and taking more shots than the home side. This gives us reason to be hopeful for the future of Hall's England team!"
The England players gathered around the corner flag to celebrate with Scholes. They laughed and cheered, feeling secure and overjoyed with the game so far.
Aldrich, still clapping, stood with his hands behind his back. It was just a friendly match; nothing to get too excited about, especially considering Spain was making things easy for them, disorganizing their own play.
However, the team's performance deserved praise. Yet, there was still a long way to go before they could achieve full cohesion and perfect the balance of attack and defense.