England vow to ‘keep pounding the rock’ shows Thomas Tuchel will stick with his tactic
England vow to ‘keep pounding the rock’ shows Thomas Tuchel will stick with his tactic
Kane and Bellingham helped England finally break the rock of DR Congo (Photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
By Michael CoxJuly 1, 2026 4:31 pm EDT UpdatedThis is one of the classic situations in football. The underdogs are 1-0 up. The favourites are dominating the game; they might not get one goal, but if they do, a second will follow. Midway through the second half, the two options here seemed like a 1-0 DR Congo victory, or a 2-1 England victory. Thanks to the brilliance of Harry Kane, it was the latter. But how did DR Congo go 1-0 up in the first place?
In his pre-match press conference at Atlanta Stadium last night, Thomas Tuchel was very clear about what he expected from the opposition.
“They are very compact, a very physical and well drilled team — probably in 5-3-2, sometimes 5-diamond-1,” he said. “Off the ball they are disciplined, they change between a high press and a low block. They are very dangerous on counters, very direct in their approach. They’re not shy to play long balls into depth and make it a running game, and make it into second balls.”
But DR Congo came out and played completely differently. Their 4-1-4-1 system was nothing like the formation they’d used in the group stage, and more similar to the system Ghana used which caused England serious problems in a goalless draw in the group stage. There was no sign of them playing long balls, they didn’t really threaten on the counter-attack, this wasn’t about second balls. DR Congo came to play.
Their shape was partly inspired, it seems, by the way Ghana played — and England’s punishment for failing to break down Carlos Queiroz’s side is that other opponents will play that way too. “We wanted to shut down the centre better, to cut off the path to (Elliot) Anderson, who is very important to building the game,” said DR Congo manager Sebastien Desabre. “So we decided that our strikers had to focus on them, like Ghana did with Jordan Ayew.”
This wasn’t just a defensive job from the African side, however. DR Congo played some excellent attacking football, with slick one-twos and their defence pushing up to act as the playmakers. Their opening goal showed that the element of surprise in their system had caused England serious problems.
Right back Djed Spence pushed infield to track the run of Noah Sadiki, bursting forward from midfield — just as right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka had done from the other side, creating multiple runners up against England’s defence.
The confusion left Brian Cipenga, DR Congo’s left-winger, completely unmarked at the far post to fire home. England, of course, hadn’t expected DR Congo to play with wingers at all.
“We didn’t get the press right — we were too aggressive with the press, especially on the left wing,” said Tuchel afterwards. “Sometimes they had four players on our last line so we couldn’t push through into the press. It was a bit difficult in the first 20 minutes for our centre-backs to read this.”
But England responded to adversity well. By half-time they’d accumulated over 1.0xG, and it felt like a goal was on the cards. Goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi was DR Congo’s star performer. And while Tuchel’s precise selection decisions have been questioned this month, it’s clear England do, at least, have a plan and they’re largely going to stick to it.
“There were no new messages,” said Tuchel of his team talk in the second hydration break. “The message was always the same: keep pounding the rock, keep knocking, don’t give in, do what we believe in.”
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In other words: England will always play with two wide players who stretch the play without possession but want to check inside, whether that is Marcus Rashford and Noni Madueke, or Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka. “The wingers was always clear,” said Tuchel. “We push with the wingers who start, then replace them — this is the plan, the players knew that — we’re all-in on the wings, then after 60 or 70 minutes we come with fresh legs.”
The only major change of shape is tilting the midfield trio: here with Eberechi Eze coming on for Djed Spence and playing alongside Bellingham, leaving Elliot Anderson as the sole holding player.
This also resulted in Declan Rice shifting to right-back, an unfamiliar position but one he played on occasion for Arsenal last season without looking uncomfortable. In truth, he’s a better crosser than England’s recognised right-back options. When he made an underlapping run and reached the byline to hang up a cross in the lead-up to England’s equaliser, he was in the same position as in the opening minute, when he popped up there from midfield.
But there are various things England won’t do until an emergency situation. They won’t abandon a back four. They don’t use a player drifting in from wide. They won’t throw on a second striker before, say, the final 10 minutes, and even then you can argue that it wouldn’t be that different from Bellingham’s role considering how almost all his contributions come inside the opposition box.
England may yet lurch into the ‘out of ideas’ stage we’ve seen before. But they won’t be shapeless. “We didn’t need to unlock something tactically, we didn’t need a new solution,” said Tuchel. They were clear in their mindset.”
His counterpart Desabre was also pleased with his own tactical approach. Why did he think DR Congo eventually lost? “It took,” he said, “The best striker in the world.”
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Tagged To: FIFA Men's World CupInternational FootballPremier LeagueSoccerEnglandFever coach condemns 'absolutely unacceptable' online harassment of Alyssa Thomas after Caitlin Clark foul
Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White spoke out against the online harassment Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas has been receiving since the incident involving Caitlin Clark last week. White, who coached Thomas in Connecticut for two seasons, said the hate she was receiving was "absolutely unacceptable."
"I think as a league, as a whole, there's been so much more toxicity, racism, homophobia, straight-out nonsense, hate nonsense. And it is absolutely unacceptable," White said on Wednesday. "Most of it is coming from the online community. Most of this, in my heart of hearts, I believe, [is] not coming from WNBA fans, Indiana Fever fans. I believe that this is people who are using our league, using our players to further divisive agendas."
Fever head coach Stephanie White addresses Alyssa Thomas’ comments and “unacceptable” fan behavior: pic.twitter.com/55KB1zIX5z
— Tony East (@TonyREast) July 1, 2026
Thomas recently served a one-game suspension because her hand made contact with Clark's throat during the first half of their game on June 24. Clark played in the third quarter but left the game early because of ongoing back issues -- which also caused her to miss the following game against the LA Sparks.
Although Thomas said she didn't intentionally make contact with Clark's throat, she still accepted the punishment. However, Thomas shared on Tuesday that she and her teammates have been receiving a lot of harassment and even death threats since the incident.
White said that while it is valid for fans to be passionate about their favorite players and some criticism is welcomed and warranted, the online discussion surrounding Thomas had been taken too far and players need to be protected.
"It's not hard to not be a jerk. And if you are one of these people that are online doing this, do not call yourself a WNBA fan," she said. "Our league is about inclusiveness. Our league is about competition. Our league is about elevating, elevating women, elevating marginalized communities and being inclusive of all different walks of life. That is what our league has been about from day one. That is what our league will continue to be about. We will continue to compete at a high level and hold ourselves to a higher standard, continue to be on the forefront of social norms and we will continue to support one another collectively as a league. Players, coaches, staff, support staff, everyone. We are about elevating. We are not about demeaning, demanding. We are not about continuing this narrative. It's just absolutely unacceptable."
Alyssa Thomas says she received death threats after Caitlin Clark incident, calls out WNBA commissioner Lindsay Gibbs
On Tuesday, after Thomas spoke to reporters about the death threats, the WNBA released a statement condemning "any and all forms of hate."
"The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league's top priority," the league's statement continued. "We are aware of Alyssa Thomas' comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community."
Thomas served her suspension while the Mercury played the Toronto Tempo on Saturday. She will be back on the court this Thursday as her team hosts the Seattle Storm. Meanwhile, the Fever will hit the road to take on the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. Clark's status for that game is still unknown.
Add CBS Sports on GoogleRescuer Finds A Plastic Backpack Sitting In The Sun — And It Isn't Empty
Rescuer Finds A Plastic Backpack Sitting In The Sun — And It Isn't Empty
It was the hottest day of the year.
By Elizabeth Claire AlbertsPublished on July 1, 2026 at 4:49 PMLate one afternoon in May, the rescue team at Celia Hammond Animal Trust in the UK was suddenly flooded with calls and messages. People passing through a housing estate in East London had spotted a domed plastic backpack tucked away off the road.
It was an unexpectedly hot day — far too hot to be outside, let alone be trapped inside a plastic cat carrier. There was no way of knowing how long the carrier had sat hidden from view. But for the three little lives inside, it was clear that every minute mattered.
Amanda Stevens, a volunteer rescue worker for Celia Hammond Animal Trust, dropped everything and rushed to help.
“This was obviously an emergency because they would have died from the heat in very little time,” Stevens told The Dodo. “So it was just a case of getting there as quickly as I could.”
When Stevens arrived, she could immediately tell the kittens were struggling: “They were all squashed in together, and the heat was coming through this plastic dome … and it was an absolute heatwave,” Stevens said. “They were in a really bad way.”
Stevens opened the carrier just enough to give them air, while making sure the kittens didn’t escape.
Then Stevens rushed them into her air-conditioned car and drove them to the veterinary clinic run by Celia Hammond Animal Trust.
Once they arrived, the veterinary team worked quickly to cool the kittens down and treat their heat exhaustion.
Amazingly, all three kittens — who were later revealed to be boys — made a full recovery. The rescue group named them Napoleon, Prince and Tom.
“These three boys are around three months old, full of character, and completely devoted to one another,” the rescue group wrote in a Facebook post following their rescue. “They eat together, sleep together, play together and seek comfort in one another's company.”
After everything they’ve been through, their rescuers knew the kittens needed to find a home together.
“We wanted them to go as a trio because they're very bonded and they really love each other,” Stevens said. “It's difficult to find homes for trios, but we have managed to find one.”
For Stevens, the most rewarding part of the rescue was knowing she’d arrived in time.
“I was just pleased that I wasn't too far away and I was able to get there straightaway, because they wouldn't have survived very much longer,” she said. “But I sorted it out and they were fine.”
