Episode details

Radio 5 Live,08 Jun 2026,58 mins
MNC: Who starts for England, & Scotland's approach v Haiti
Football DailyAvailable for 29 days
Mark Chapman is joined by ESPN's Julien Laurens, Conor Coady and Chris Sutton on this week's Monday Night Club. The team ask what the point is in pre-tournament friendlies; are they a waste of time, or are they valuable preparation for the World Cup? Senior Reporter Ian Dennis joins to discuss what Thomas Tuchel will have learned from England's 1-0 win over New Zealand, what role Jude Bellingham could play and whether Morgan Rogers could start ahead of him? Will there be such a thing as a '10' for England, and will it be Marcus Rashford or Anthony Gordon on the left? Scotland reporter Jane Lewis joins the pod as we hear from John McGinn, speaking less than a week out from Scotland's opener against Haiti. The team discuss Scotland's positive preparations in their warm-up friendlies, as well as what their approach should be in the opening game. Should they go on the aggressive to score as many goals as possible before facing Brazil and Morocco? And finally, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague joins MNC to discuss Florentino Perez being re-elected as Real Madrid President, as well as the fitness of Lamine Yamal ahead of Spain's opening match against Cape Verde. Timecodes: 01:35 How important are pre-tournament friendlies? 10:48 Tuchel's 15 "starters" & will Bellingham be one of the eleven? 26:00 Are England 'over-reliant' on Harry Kane? 32:13 England's leadership group 36:19 McGinn on Scotland's positive World Cup preparations 42:38 Do Scotland have to "go for it" against Haiti? 51:52 Guillem Balague on Perez' presidential victory & Yamal's fitness
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