Thomas Tuchel says Elliot Anderson is “clearly in the mix for Serbia”. That may be a significant understatement. On the evidence of his senior debut, it looks already like he is in the mix for England’s World Cup squad next summer.
There are numerous provisos, what-ifs and maybes – not least the fact that his stellar first performance for the Three Lions came against a team ranked 174 in world football. It was hardly the stiffest test.
But Tuchel has been searching for, and bemoaning the lack of, a midfielder who is an instinctive, deep-lying central playmaker. It looks like he’s found exactly that.
Someone with great positional sense: tick. Someone who is a consummate ball player: tick. Someone who instinctively senses danger and can break up an opponent’s play: tick. Someone with the legs to get around the pitch and influence play both forwards and backwards: tick. Someone with first-rate communication skills: tick. Someone who has the poise and maturity to be comfortable playing alongside England’s very best: tick.
As well as the general sense that Anderson was to-the-manor-born at Villa Park against Andorra, there were some specific examples of excellence that Tuchel could not have failed to notice.
Let’s look at positional prowess: In the first half, when Marc Guehi roamed forward, only for England to quickly lose the ball, a punted Andorra clearance could have had England in trouble.
But no, that defensive hole had already been filled by Anderson, who had instinctively dropped in when he saw Guehi advance. No one had told him to do that. He headed the ball clear. Danger averted before it had even properly threatened.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Elliot Anderson was pleased with how his eye-catching debut performance for England against Andorra panned out
It was notable too that, from the very start, the 22-year-old was very happy to impart his thoughts onto those much more experienced international players around him.
I saw him tell Reece James to stay wide, holler at Dan Burn to drop deeper, demand the ball from Jordan Pickford when a quick break was on, take the ball off the toes of Guehi because he wanted to be the man to dictate the play from deep.
That had echoes of when a 17-year-old Jude Bellingham stormed onto the international scene with his consummately confident England debut in 2020. It is not a comparison that is made lightly.
The stats from Anderson’s debut make impressive reading too – 100 per cent of his tackles won, 107 passes completed with a 94 per cent accuracy rate; 15 ball recoveries in 90 minutes, with seven out of his eight attempted long balls hitting their target.
The fact that Anderson is so good on the ball and has a breadth of passing talent shouldn’t come as a surprise. In his teenage years at Newcastle, he played predominantly as a No 10, and you can see that poise and precision in his play still now.
For those people closest to him, there is no surprise that he is adapting so well to every new challenge laid before him. A North East lad born and bred, schooled by the famous Wallsend Boys Club that nurtured the likes of Alan Shearer, Steve Bruce, Michael Carrick and others, he was smaller in stature than his brother Will Anderson, who was a contestant on Love Island last summer.
But what he lacked in height, Elliot made up for in tenacity and energy, with a physicality to his game that belied his physique. And it was clear that Newcastle had big plans for him, as one of their most promising academy graduates.
However, the PSR problems at St James’ Park meant that, reluctantly, the club decided to sell him last summer.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Thomas Tuchel spoke after England’s 2-0 win against Andorra and said there are aspects the team needs to improve but he had no concerns after the result
“Elliot was a sale we didn’t want to make,” said the manager, Eddie Howe. “Nobody at the football club internally wanted to make that sale but we had to. For us to put all the work into Elliot, the academy, the coaches, the time, to then see him leave and now flourish for another Premier League club isn’t something I think we should be in a position to do.”
But equally, there is a train of thought that his move to the City Ground has given Anderson opportunities that would have been harder to come by at Newcastle. Sandro Tonali, Jacob Murphy, Bruno Guimaraes and even Joelinton could have restricted Anderson’s midfield opportunities in the North East. And so the club’s PSR problems were probably a happy coincidence for Anderson, who was signed to be Nottingham Forest’s main man at No 6.
Despite leaving his family and home city at the age of 20, he has flourished and gone on to new heights in the East Midlands. He is hugely popular and very valued in the Forest dressing room. That bodes well for how he might fare as a tourist in North America next summer.
His friends and family say nothing fazes him, and his stutter-free move to Forest, and now into the senior England set-up, speaks to his determination and character, which is there on the pitch for all to see.
Nuno Espirito Santo thinks the world of him and has nurtured his development still further. Anderson played 42 games for Forest last season, helping the club achieve European football for the first time in three decades.
One early milestone was when he went on loan to Bristol Rovers in League Two in 2022, when still a teenager. Anderson joined in January and contributed seven goals and six assists in 20 appearances, to help the club win promotion.
Their supporters will still tell you how important a role he played in taking the club from mid-table when he joined, to the top three and ultimately League One, thanks to a massive win on the last day of the season.
They beat Scunthorpe 7-0 on the final day and were promoted on goals scored. Anderson was the star of the show again, assisting two and scoring the crucial seventh, with a header at the back post with five minutes remaining. He was described as “the Lionel Messi of League Two”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Jason Burt told Sunday Supplement that Tuchel made big promises after being appointed England manager – and is yet to deliver on them
The U21 European Championships earlier this summer marked the next important part of his growth. Tuchel would have called Anderson up for the senior squad in June, but decided instead it would be better to allow the Forest man to experience a major international tournament.
He flourished. Lee Carsley chose to start him in every game, except the quarter-final against Spain, because the manager felt the Forest man had run so much in the group stages, he might burn himself out.
Anderson came off the bench early in the second half and scored, helping England to a 3-1 win and a place in the semi-finals. He was ever-present in the next two matches that saw England retain the trophy.
Now that he has made his senior England debut, the opportunities are opening up further for this level-headed young man. I’m told the commercial and sponsorship offers are flowing in from some of the biggest brands in football and beyond. Clean cut, honest, eloquent. Already a star, the business world senses he is close to becoming a superstar.
A turgid and largely uninspiring 2-0 win over Andorra will be quickly forgotten. The performance of Elliot Anderson in his first senior England match will linger much longer in the memory, and give hope that one problem position for next summer’s World Cup might just have been solved.
