England touch down in Florida

This is the Football Daily podcast on BBC Found. Welcome to the Five Live Football Daily and our first football daily that is from the United States, the head of the World Cup, the first of many, I should say because the countdown is well and truly on. Five Live is the station to listen to from Rick Edwards in LA at breakfast throughout the day and with 92 commentaries in total, we'll be bringing you across the network. So a warm welcome from Florida. We're in addition, incidentally, we have the two England warm up games live from Tampa and Orlando against New Zealand and Costa Rica respectively that are live on Five Live. Hello, I'm Ian Dennis and I'm joined here in Florida for the former England International Stephen Warlock and the BBC's Senior Football Correspondent, Sammy Mochbel. And when I say a warm welcome, my word, the heat, it's ridiculous. It is. It's very hot. I mean, I've spent a lot of time in Florida as a kid growing up and being fortunate to come on holiday here. My best friend lives in Tampa, which is a couple of hours away from here, I've spent a lot of time there as well. And you don't realise it until you step into it and you're out in the sun and it's on top of you. When you're in the shade, it's very masked. It really is, but when you're in it, my word, it's hot. And I've also done a training camp out here with Blackburn, which is around about March, February, March, and that got to a point where Mark Hughes, who's manager at the time, said, "We're only going to be able to train for 45 minutes or so because of the heat and the intensity of it." And we saw the England players before, just the sweat dripping off them. And Sammy, they probably did probably know more than an hour today, did they? You can't. It literally hits you like a ton of bricks. As soon as you walk out from that hotel, middle of the morning, so you're not even at the height of the day, it is weltering. And we were lucky enough to speak to some of the players earlier in the mix zone. All of them, literally dripping in sweat. And when you get up close and personal to them, it does hammer home the conditions and them having to run around high intensity for 90 minutes. I know that Thomas Tushel asked or advised his players to try and holiday here before reporting up. And you can see why, right? You've got the times-only issues, but yeah, the conditions are sweltering and it's to run around and to be playing a game in that level of heat. I think England's games kick off at 3 o'clock and 4 o'clock higher the day. I don't envy them at all. I think it's interesting now, speaking to a friend of mine who's actually out here as a recovery expert, Dr Robin Thorpe. And I was chatting to him and he was saying, "What you actually want to do is you want to push the body as much as you can, but you push it to it to limit. Every day just to gradually improve it, get it better and better." And he said, "Then the process of playing in this heat becomes so much easier and that's how you are climateised to it." But it's such a fine balance because everyone's going to be different. So how England are going to manage it in terms of recovery in terms of nutrition. I don't know what you're like, don't I, because this is the very up question to you. But when I'm in the heat, I don't eat much, so I'm not sure what you're like. I don't eat much either. You just drink more. But it is, it's very difficult and trying to get that nutrition down here. When you're so hot in your body, so it's cooking it's overheating. And I was speaking to him and I was saying, "What measures are you going to try and take into place?" And he said, "They've got these handheld devices that, during the water breaks, we're going to see them implemented both in training but also in the games. They hold them and they hold them for 90 seconds and the idea is it's that it cools you down and it gives you that feeling that your body is relaxing and it allows you to go again." He was saying that the studies that have been done, it allows your body to sprint at high intensity again, 60% higher than you would if you didn't use these. So the actual thought process that's gone in behind the scenes is they don't just turn up England and go, "Oh, we'll see how we get on them. We'll just put wet towels on the players." There's a lot of thought and a lot of ideas behind the scenes that are going into making sure that the players are ready. We spoke to Steve Kemp, didn't we? When he gave us a bit of an insight before we came out to America, he's the head of performance with the F.A. And this has been done deliberately because he was saying with his experience of being with England at major tournaments, they're not going to have encountered such an intense tournament like this one ever before because while they play late in the opening game against Croatia and Dallas, after that the games are going to come thick and fast, more or less every three days, if England are going to continue to progress. Yeah, and Qatar was hot, right? And I remember that, and I avoided for a year, I remember stepping out for the first time in Qatar and thinking, "Wow, these guys have to run around the nist and play in that level of intensity." I feel this is even hotter here. And what I wanted to ask Stephen was, you played the game at the very highest level. As journalists and as correspondence, I kind of, I think I believe that the heat factor puts England and maybe some of the other European countries at a disadvantage. Would you concur with that, given that it's not used to that level of, to those conditions and that level of heat? Yeah, I think it depends on the sports science. Again, I think it depends on the level of the detail, like you say, Thomas Tuchel asked the players to come out here beforehand. And that is part of the acclamatisation process. I know even speaking to people like friends that I've got who live out here, they say, after a few weeks, you get used to the heat you understand how to perform in it or how to make sure that you're staying hydrated and you're eating right. I think all those sad things. I think the days of travel and being on planes, you know, I'm at a dehydration that you're going to get on a plane, even on for short flight, it's going to be huge, but you're dehydrated from the heat anyway. Then you're dehydrating from getting on a plane. So I look at those sad things and think, if they can get that sad, things right. I don't think the heat will have too much of a bearing on things on the pitch. I think the players will be able to push themselves for 90 minutes. But then it's how do you recover after that 90 minutes to make sure that you can replicate it again three days later, as you say, because the games come so thick and fast? I want to ask you a question as well. Although I did notice that you never mentioned about Sami, whether he eats or drinks in the heat, but we'll move on from that. And I know that the environments are different for when you went to South Africa with England because you trained to help acclimatise to the altitude in Erdening, up in the out in Austria. And I know this is completely different in terms of now the heat that we're talking about here in Florida. But my question is, in terms of the acclimatisation, how long does it take to acclimatise to a change in environment? Well, I think the talk around about the two-week period, don't they? So that is what you're roughly looking at to acclimatise. And if you think of the likes of Mofara, they go to altitude to train and they look at around about a two-week period to make sure that the body is fully adapted. So it will take time for the players, but again, it's about making sure that you peek at the right time. And ideally, England will be looking at this now, saying, "First of July, first game is roughly two weeks away." So they'll be thinking, "That will be when we're ready for the games, I'm ready to go into it." I think the biggest thing from a player's point of view is, you have to trust the guys behind the scenes. So if they're telling you to do something, it's for a reason, they've done the research on it. You've got players who'll literally sit back and go, "Okay, I'll just do it," but I won't ask questions why. They'll have other players questioning, "Okay, so what am I getting out of this? What's the benefit for this?" And then when we take into the psychological effect, well, you've ticked all the boxes in your mind then. He's told me to do this because this is what I'm getting out of it. And then mentally, when you step onto the pitch, you go, "Well, I know I've done everything right behind the scene, so I can tick all the boxes." And that's a process as well within itself. So I think that's hugely important. I think we often look at the team on the pitch, but I think this tournament is as much about the team behind the team as well, who are going to make sure that the players are prepared and ready to go. Well, Sammy mentioned that we've been speaking to some of the players. Coby Maynu, Oli Watkins and Jordan Henderson. Although the England squad at the moment is still without those who are from Crystal Palace and Arsenal. So Dean Henderson and then the Arsenal quarter to Vezza, Sakka, Rice and Madawaker. They will link up with England squad later in the weeks, so they won't take part in that first warm-up game against New Zealand, which is going to be played in Tampa. So to help make up the numbers, the training goalkeeper Jason Steele, who will be with England squad throughout the tournament, he's going to step up. And then he's got the youngsters, Ethan Wanyeri of Arsenal, who had the second half of the season on loan at Marseille, Bournemouth's Alex Scott, Rio and Gamoa from Liverpool, and the full of mienks to Josh King, who are just making up the numbers. So England have got a squad of 26 to work with. And so with Stephen, we were speaking and had a few words with the players that have just mentioned. And Jordan Henderson, who actually is the fourth England player, only the fourth, to have had an England career that has lasted over 15 years. And he told the two of us what it's like still to be part of the England setup. And I think I've said what England means to me, you know, of me career so far, means everything. I've always given everything every time I've played for England and it's been a huge part of me career and to come to this tournament is an amazing honour really and I'm feeling so lucky to be a part of it the last year of our show building up and now we're here. But for me, it's just all about the now and looking ahead to the World Cup to prepare the best shape I can be in to help the team both on and off the pitch just to be ready to give everything to have a successful tournament for everyone. Jordan, I think there's a lot of people who, especially when you play the game and being in the game, understand your qualities both. o'r gwybod y fwy'n gwi'n gwybod ymwch chi wneud hynny. Gwybod ymwch chi wneud gweith yd yn ymwch chi'n ddawn o ffyrdd yn fwy'r gwybod yma i'r gweithio. Ith gydwch chi'n gweithio? Fwy. O'r gwybod yn ymwch chi'n gweithio? Gweithio'r gweithio? Ymwch chi'n gweithio? Ydwch chi yna ddwl gweithio? Gweithio? Yma'r gweithio? Felly, yma'r gweithio? Mae'r gweithio? A' ymdal ei cofgynau signol iawn i rhoi fydd ar gyfer y gael yma, ym rwn ei gwneud gorybordeau oeth明白eth cyffredid o'r ymol. Gerdadóte g完了 itali mae bod y eu amoli. 內ill y gflef. Roedd再ma Ll, yw gweissau rhywb y gwall scenarioau ei gweinerו cer Чfaithyddiaeth Cymru, sympaethan cyst αυτell y ni Mintafrill yngwchysio fydd eraill 'o nir cent yn d 바� ayol fel ac sefyd. Tim argylchствau y gpleonicf i'n Gym i le byddi eu ligi didigol. Nid y geilegenau beir wedi'r efo sηهمd sydd anodd Ei diagramaucoad rhywun y mor Yntwn ni LAN Cymru. Po sydd ein meddwl ond un ar ddydd föll oedd bod it'n rhwn y Llywod May ac y gangs gynhyr grim ond yta uwm rhywm cyrleig mwy saf. Dwi ran 'ùng sydd eu â'r un maryna d conflictsṇ. Mae'n intens sât?ocad hyn ar mae'r mic? Mae yn llwwys a'rauth siwynt â'r ers scot – hefydanyll o fel yn nhw. Iro meه thank yna gan a' fywad hyn i pwy'n dippingach gŵssai cam ia uni hyn yn「 dimin yn dderau £auckich – o guarding gyda dros Banderaid yn oorch. Bydd y gallu eraill yn夠lla, a' got to Lyaf Rdyn newcom i fwy sy'n davdwch yn y'Mod o'r���byrny esse gynrole hopeull i beth ar oedd. Yna ag hynân an am cyafaorol ac hyngeisidol 'is fiothig But Murderion. Mae'r jo'n ceidrull lle o pedant arachайst i'r gweithiau yn 'ir i'n jedd 멤�blân. ndug bwys ч clín ow'r 공 theat vi'rid. Beireddwnurtan driلn veut dynnuau bydd� a bod yn mynd ei yurena fel, a gweithio, yn gwneud yn i'n llaw. Mae'r pwyb dyna a'r pwyb yn argyllwch i'n tiad, bwyrn i'r gweithio yma. Mae'r pwyb yn argyllwch i'n gweithio yn ymwyr i'n gweithio yn ymw'r llaw yma. Mae'r pwyb yn argyllwch i'n gweithio yn gweithio yn gweithio yma yn ac mae chi'r gweithio yn rhan o'r pwyb yn argyllwch i'n gweithio yn ymw'r gweithio yn argyllwch i'n gweithio yn argyllwch i'n gweithio yn argyllwch. Yn yw'r hyn, mae'n ei ich wahan nhw. I'r meddwl mathid o'r komoriaeth Gwars i'r amel, gydyn, ai hynny m'n muag'r bobredd. Jo dyn yn ysrtych ni ei pobl peanut, enw ysgis yne hwn o eithracio, acompayr i chi bod yng Nghykomnaud. Rystyrod Francis Ilech a Mae unddid esfo broithor fi fel eu hyn o'r hynny. A roi wedi bi'n smình i blych, Ym dewn i'n tylw'r gwaith gweithio. Ym ddweithio i'n gwaithio i'n gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio i'n gwaithio i'n gwaithio i'n gwaithio. Mae'n gwaithio i'n gwaithio i'n gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio i'n gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio. Mae'r gwaithio. Yeah, so I'm kind of grateful that it happened because it gave me that drive back and that focus. Sometimes you need to reshift your focus, to look where you want to achieve and where you want to get to. And I did that and I think I couldn't have had a better end of the season. If we do go back to that time in March, when I was doing my prep for the commentary, I was looking at the amount of goals that you scored and your form has been sensational since you were left out in March. Did Thomas Tuckle talk to you at that point? Was there any conversations that you have with England manager? I had an open conversation with him and just said that I felt like I wasn't at my best. I was coming into the England camps and maybe I didn't feel like I deserved to, even what I've done previously, but I'm not one of those players who goes off previous performances and goals and what I've achieved in my career. I think football is always changing and it's about here and now and how you're performing. So I felt like going into the camps, sometimes I didn't deserve it, there's other players that maybe deserved it. And yeah, I was thankful, like I said, to be left out in the March camp because I knew that's what I was capable of doing and yeah, I'm glad I had that time out so I could refocus and get back to my best. When you talk about refocus in there and you talk about that time out the camp, what exactly did you look at in your game to realise that you needed to improve or get better and what did you do? No, I think it was just about, we play so many games every year, I play in three games a week, travelling in Europe, just having that time off on the international break that I hadn't had before just to refocus and enjoy the time with my family, appreciate the little things and yeah, rest of the body because I knew we had a big end of the season coming up. I don't know if you've seen, but I wrote a lot of things on my mirror and my dressing room and yeah, manifested it and all of those things, well, above them came true. It's been such a long season now, obviously, you've had the success of being in Europe and winning that trophy. How are you mentally coming into this and how also do you prepare for a long tournament, but also a tournament which has got so much travelling in it, but also the humidity of the heat that's going to be in question as well? I think the only thing different is obviously the heat, you know, we play so many games a year, I'm used to travelling, I'm used to being away from the family, you know, spending a lot of time in the hotel, so at the end of the day, you know, this is what I've always dreamed of doing, you know, being at a World Cup with England, so if it means having to sit in my room for six weeks and amies will win the World Cup, then I'll take that. Well, that was Oli Watkins and Stephen, when he was speaking to you there, it was quite clear that he wanted to be left out in March, but the kick of the backside has certainly worked. I don't think he wanted to be. I think he. But he was honest to be. Yeah, he was very honest, he felt like it was the right decision from the manager and almost knew that his form wasn't good enough. And the tough thing, especially if you've got left out in October, you've still got a large portion of the season to make sure that you're back and you're ready October, November for friendly, or internationals. But when it happens in March, he must have been thinking, I'm in trouble here, unless I can really put the form together and credit to him, he's still incredible towards the end of the season. The form was there. I think. I don't think it was just him. I think there was players around and perform better as well and give him better opportunities. But I didn't just fascinating to listen to the mindset. How you change your mindset and how you're a little bit more thankful for the smaller things in life and things like that. When he talked about writing the messages on the mirror, I did actually see the interview about that and talking about that. And again, it's just re-evaluating where you are and what you need to be and where you want to get to. And this is where it's incredibly hard. He had a great end of season and fully deserves to be in this world, Cup Squad because he is different to Harry Kane and he does give you that difference in a forward area. But he arrives with confidence as he was just saying to Steven Sammie. And the thing is as well is that 21 goals for Ashton Villa is finished really in excellent form for his club. But he's a player that knows he's not going to start. Someone is what you were saying earlier, Steven, about you know your place. But he's got tournament experience and he'll know what it's like to come off and grab a goal if required. Yeah. When you talk about big tournament experience, you know, we will never forget that semi-final goal. So, 2020 for Endortment last minute, it was one of the moments of Garof Southgate's reign. So he's got that experience in his locker and that will leave him in good stead. But I think the interesting thing with Oli Watkins is, and it kind of speaks to the theme of, I guess, sports science as Steven was alluding to earlier, I know that having spoken to him in the past, he invests quite heavily financially in, at all. Like a team behind him, so life coach, he's a psychologist. And when we were speaking to him earlier, I remembered that and brought that up and I was like, how did that help you overcome the disappointment of missing out on the previous squad and then obviously having to deal with the negativity around you, not potentially, but not being named in the squad. And he was, look, absolutely, but you've got to, there is a positivity in life that you have to keep. You can't let those negative thoughts negate and affect your future. I think he comes into the tournament, as you say, in great form. He will know how important he can be coming off the bench. Certainly in these conditions where I think there will be quite a lot of rotation during the matches. And I don't like to use the term 'happy's a happy traveler'. Harry Kane is starting the games, we know that he's decapting, he's England's leading all-time golf school, but to have that option and to have something a bit different to what Kane will bring to the team for Thomas Tushu, I think, will be invaluable. Well, Stephen and myself as the palm trees here just sway ever so gently in what is a very welcome breeze that is just coming in underneath our canopy. Now, we also caught up with Kobe Manu. And it's hard to believe that Kobe Manu is part of this setup when you consider that his first league start for Manchester United wasn't until mid-January when Michael Carrick took over. At the time, he wasn't coming as often as I'd like, so when it was getting a game for the United, that was all my focus was on. Obviously, you know the world cups at the end of the year, so that is a big dream and a big goal for any player, but I tried to just keep my focus on the games ahead of me. Kobe, with such a difficult season, what have you learnt about yourself mentally, more than anything? I think patience and just trying to take things a day at a time and just do the best to control the things that I can control and not worry about the things that are at my control and keep my head down, keep working. What are you thinking you can bring to the England team above everyone else to make sure that you're a starter within it? Trying to do what I've been doing for my club, trying to control games and dominate games and yeah, it's my dream to play, so I'm going to be working as hard as I can and hopefully helping him get the pitch. Quietly spoken, wasn't he, Kobe? But I thought the fact that he did still speak with a degree of authority bearing in mind that he was part of the Euro set up in Germany two years ago. Yeah, I think it was interesting when I asked him the question, what are you going to bring that will be the other midfielders, don't I? I'm going to bring or come, it's something different and he just said, I'm going to do what I do at my club, I'm going to control games and I thought for such a young player to know that that's what he's capable of doing and he's got that ability. I'm absolutely delighted for him because to be in a position where the big thing is, is that football's all about opinions and one man's opinion, nearly cost him his place at a World Cup and ammarim how he did not see the qualities of Kobe Manu as just beyond me, absolutely beyond me. And Michael Carrick, first thing he does straight away, get him in that team, get him in the heart of midfield, I mean he's so comfortable on the ball, he's brilliant at dribbling, he's brilliant at breaking things up, I mean he has literally got every facet of the game that you'd want as a midfielder. The one thing that struck me when I was stood there looking at him was how stacked he is. But young players are usually a little bit flimsy, a little bit boyish bodies and it takes the time to mature. He is absolutely, I mean he's so strong, physically powerful, I was thinking, I'm fancy going on a shoulder bar, you're there more into like a bit of a battle in midfield with him because he'd run over the top of you. He's got that physical presence already which is so important but then he's got that intelligence as a football player. The other thing that struck me was just how happy he is to be here. The grim from here to here about how he's changed from the first half of the season to now tells you everything, how much it means to him. But again that psychological aspect that we talk about with so many players, how mentally strong must he have been to come through that. But they've invested a lot on the team spirit haven't they, Sam? With this squad of 26 it's a balanced squad of 26 and whether you agree with all the names that are in it or not, the one thing that they are, I think the most content with is the spirit that they're going to generate from these 26 players behind the scenes. Yeah, I totally agree. I think we saw signs of it out there today on the train in the field. It's a squad I think there is that get along. There's a lot of harmony involved in the squad and we spoke about Jordan Henderson earlier up, you know, he is a person along with Harry Kane and other senior members of the leadership team who will keep that group in check if they at all fall out of line. just one interesting point there on on Kobe Maynu. I just one that, and I asked him the question, yeah, he actually played it down. Because he hasn't, he didn't play as much football during the first half of the season, I just wonder if that becomes a factor. And he's a little bit fresher than everyone else's, particularly in this heat in these conditions. And I think Coby Morn has got a pretty significant role to play at this tournament. Well, Sammy, Stephen, thank you very much. And that is it then from this first football daily from America this summer. But as I say, it certainly won't be the last. You'll be hearing from us on a regular basis whilst we're stateside, either in Canada or indeed even in Mexico City. And don't forget, we'll also have both commentaries of the England warm-up games on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds. Sometimes it gets really slow. Like the balls taking forever. And you already know before it goes in, you already know. You've got to prepare for your final round of 2020! That bit, that bit before. We know that feeling. Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! The FIFA World Cup, 2026. Coming soon. On 5 Live and BBC Sounds.