When the Spanish national side dominated Europe and World international soccer, 2008 until 2012, it was made up of 70% of Barcelona players coached by a certain Pep Guardiola. They played a fluid passing game ridiculed with ball possession and tactical awareness. [sic]

2014 saw the Germans win the world cup with a side made up of 75% Bayern Munich players coached by……… you got it Guardiola.

Welcome to present day and the world cup 2018 is witnessing a much-improved English side, playing for a relatively first time in its history, passing, pressing and attacking football based on team play and not just individual talents like in the past. A 3-man defense with a packed central midfield of 5 Players. Refreshing to say the least.

The English team’s influential players all ply their trade at Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City, coached by Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola!

Don’t get me wrong, compliments and huge credit goes to the National team coaches in Gareth Southgate of England, Joachim Löw of Germany, Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque of Spain.

The National team coaches do have quite relatively short periods to coach the players and rely heavily on the development and daily training the players receive at their club sides for results.

However, he is responsible for assembling the right players to fit into a playing philosophy that he chooses based on his own vision of the game.

Don’t get me wrong, compliments and huge credit goes to the National team coaches in Gareth Southgate of England, Joachim Löw of Germany, Luis Aragonés and Vicente del Bosque of Spain.

It is more than evident that this English side has benefited immensely from the work of Pochettino on his Tottenham Hotspurs players, who I feel have grown immensely in all aspects under the Argentine.

Same must be said of the English players under the wings of Guardiola at Manchester City.

For the first time in decades we saw England yesterday win a penalty shoot out versus Columbia to advance to it’s first Quarter finals of a world cup in a long time. I must say they deserved the win as they played better and were more proactive.

England’s next opponents are the Swedes, who saw off Switzerland to advance and it is looking quite likely that England would be in the semi finals of the world cup and who knows with all the favorites all getting eliminated prematurely at this world cup, they could just go on to win it, thanks to a team made up of influential Tottenham and Manchester City players coached by Pochettino and Guardiola!

By Sunday Oliseh, former Nigeria captain and Head Coach