MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

The awesome thing about a World Cup is that – unlike the Premier League where almost every elite-grade head coach comes from the same scenic Spanish town – we get to enjoy some wonderfully varied managerial match-ups. Where else can we see grizzled international specialists against Big Cup-winning club gurus? Or retired national team legends opposite some bloke who got sacked by Everton? Or Ronald Koeman, who is both?

England, Brazil and USA USA USA are the obvious examples of teams who’ve splashed the cash on a gun-for-hire super-coach with no previous international managerial experience. And you can only imagine the relief if “The Professor” Tuchel, “The Eyebrow” Ancelotti or “The Hair” Pochettino are, at some stage, sent packing by a gritty Carlos Queiroz type, who will have protected his patch from these club-class dilettantes.

The Geopolitics World Cup delivers some fascinating face-offs in the coming days including Lionel Scaloni, who worked his way up the levels with Argentina before achieving glory, against Ralf Rangnick, gegenpress egghead and Manchester United legend [citation needed] who’d strictly managed clubs before taking over Austria at age 63. Or Didier Deschamps – mega-successful France legend who still gets grief from Les Bleus fans for refusing to release le handbrake – versus Graham Arnold, who spent 90% of his career enjoying success with/in Australia before thinking: where else next but Iraq?

Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.

We could go on. But as fun as the random encounters are, there’s an intriguing subplot. It’s often said that club and international management require different skill sets. If the likes of Tuchel, Ancelotti and Pochettino thrive, that theory starts to look outdated. And maybe when a job comes up, federations will hire an up-and-coming club coach rather than going for a patriotic icon or pressing the big button marked Queiroz, Renard or Advocaat. Either the old order holds firm, or the GWC becomes the tournament that changes international management for ever. No pressure, chaps.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

John Brewin comes out firing with minute-by-minute coverage of Spain 2-0 Saudi Arabia from 5pm BST (midday EDT), followed swiftly by Daniel Harris in the hot seat for Belgium 2-1 Iran at 8pm BST (3pm EDT). Beau Dure then brings you Cape Verde 1-3 Uruguay at 11pm BST (6pm EDT) before we go late/early/somewhere nearer the middle with Jonathan Howcroft for New Zealand 1-2 Egypt at 2am BST on Monday (9pm Sunday EDT).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’m completely exhausted myself, it was absolutely amazing. ​She did so well, ‌there wasn’t much ‌I could say, I just had to help her work ‌and get him out. I’m proud, amazing. When I saw him for the first time, I was blown away. It’s absolutely insane. I’m ‌so happy and proud. It’s definitely the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced” – we’re sure Leo Østigård’s partner Aurora Eidmann is pretty exhausted herself, having given birth to their first child, with the Norway defender following from long distance over SnapTime. Congratulations!

ON THE BALL

Big Website’s app now features a special edition of On the Ball for the GWC. On the Ball: World Stage invites you to guess the World Cup player in five attempts – and it’s pretty tricky. You can have a go right now – and there are loads of other good puzzles to take up your time, too. 

I believe I must inform you that turkeys aren’t flightless (yesterday’s Football Daily). Boston’s beloved Scottish visitors have no doubt encountered the many wild turkeys on the streets in and around the metropolitan area. They fly into trees, on to buildings, across streets, and sometimes half a city block after a passerby who they believe has wronged them. I have seen people take shelter in buildings for minutes at a time waiting for their avian assailants to go away. As a New Englander whose father grew up in Istanbul, I have always taken pride in these birds. They’re tough! They’re fast! They yell back at Massachusetts drivers! Surely the example they set is one a soccer/football team would be happy to emulate” – Eileen Koven.

Couldn’t agree more with Thad Brown on choosing Spanish language coverage over English language coverage (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). Growing up in the 1960s in LA, I first learned soccer at a Spanish-language day camp, and so my first language of soccer was Spanish. Plus for years, the only international coverage you could get in LA was KMEX Channel 34. Since then I’ve almost always chosen Spanish-language broadcasts for international tournaments. The best thing is that announcers unashamedly root for the Spanish-language teams. ¡El fútbol es mejor en español!” – Peter Goldstein.

I find this hard to believe, as a resident of Spain who regularly watches games on domestic TV. Unless you like listening to four people all trying to talk at the same time, it’s impossible to watch Spanish TV coverage with the sound on. The RTVE commentators nearly missed the first goal in Bigger Cup final entirely as they were too busy yapping to each other to actually watch what was happening on the pitch; lead commentator (the legendary) Juan Carlos Rivero only just managed to interrupt as Kai Havertz was about to score. Oh for the days of Peter Alliss and Richie Benaud commentating on golf or cricket; you could go a comparative age without hearing a word spoken” – Mark Purchase.

As an 89-year-old Wolverhampton expat in Canada, I recall many years ago watching Wolves win the 1949 FA Cup, and have been saddened by the team’s more recent gradual decline. I also remember more vividly the summer of 1951, when at no charge, Billy Wright, Jimmy Mullen and Johnny Hancocks spontaneously drove in one small car to visit my UK boarding school in Brewood, Staffordshire, to coach our senior football team. Perhaps some older readers can imagine the impact on 14-16 year-olds of the Wolves and England captain, plus friends, coaching a rural school team!” – Peter Froud.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Eileen Koven. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here. 

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Football Weekly continues its Stateside jaunt with a review of the latest action, including double Dutch doubles and more Deniz Undav supersub heroics.

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