All-action Anderson has quickly become Tuchel’s spirit animal – and is now indispensable
20 Jun 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Jonathan Liew Elliot Anderson is running. It’s the 88th minute against Croatia, and the game is won, and the game is done, and this is the 60th game of his season and there are deeper challenges to come. But as long as the ball is loose, he’s going to chase it down: first Josip Sutalo and then Josko Gvardiol , a simple recycling of defensive possession rapidly mutating into an unpleasant ordeal. As the ball is worked across defence, Anderson single-handedly follows it all the way across the pitch, over to the far touchline, where he eventually forces a rushed pass and a turnover of possession. And in an opening win defined by mood swings and tectonic shifts, in a team savouring the wealth of options and contingencies at its disposal, it’s worth dwelling on just how quickly Anderson has become indispensable. Declan Rice is carrying a knock and looks a little short of gas. Harry Kane will almost certainly not have the legs to play eight full games pl...