World Cup 2026: ‘He’s on a hard disk in my head’ – Watching the World Cup as a manager

I’ve loved the World Cup ever since I was a kid watching Denmark in Mexico ’86 – my dad used to record the matches overnight so I could watch them with my sister the next morning before school, much like kids today are still doing 40 years later!

I can still enjoy it like a fan, but of course I think like a manager when I cover games as a pundit.

While I still get excited by the passion and whole spectacle of the fans following teams like Scotland, Norway and the Netherlands in these tournaments, I look at the matches more analytically – what are the tactical trends and what are the different coaches doing.

I also love to see new players for myself. Even with all the data available about almost everyone, there are still some surprises out there.

You might find someone you haven’t heard of who’s interesting – or, get to see them properly for the first time with someone you know.

In this World Cup, for example, I have already done it with two players from the Ivory Coast.

RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande is the talk of the town at the moment and we actually saw him when I was at Brentford, when he played for Spanish side Leganes.

He’s always been on our radar so he’s a player I’ve been aware of for a while, and of course I’ve seen him – but it’s just been a lot of clips, or a few highlights from downloaded games. This is presented to you when you are scouting someone to sign, unless it is a top priority and you watch full games.

Now, though, I watched him the whole match against Germany, so I saw everything about him. I hope to see him in two or three or more matches in the coming weeks as well.

I could watch some clips or study his data at any time, but now all he can do is save it to the hard disk in my head. As a coach, you always like to remember the players and what they can bring.