The best pundits don’t just explain sport. They illuminate it. They switch on the lights and invite the viewer into a world most of us will never experience first hand.
I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside some of the very best across a host of sports. Some shine on their own – Sir Chris Hoy on the cycling or Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill at the athletics – you’re working with people who have forgotten more than most of us will ever know.
Others thrive as part of an ensemble. I adored working with Osi Umenyiora and Jason Bell on the BBC’s NFL coverage. They were naturally funny, insightful without sounding like textbooks and generous enough to let viewers inside the psychology of elite sport.
That’s what the best pundits always do. They never lose sight of what a privilege it was to play at the highest level and they remember that television punditry isn’t about showing everyone how clever you are, it’s about pulling back the curtain and carefully telling the viewer something they didn’t know.
It is also a brutally difficult job. The studio may feel cosy, but somewhere beyond the cameras are millions of viewers, all armed with an opinion and, these days, a social media account. Every slip of the tongue, every misplaced statistic and every unpopular opinion is dissected with forensic enthusiasm. Football fans can spot a mistake from the half-way line and they’ll tell you before you’ve finished your sentence.
So, who has survived the microscope and actually flourished at this World Cup? I was asked to pick the six pundits who’d make my dream six-a-side team and mark them out of 10. Feel free to disagree. Just try not to do it in capital letters.
Joe Hart 9/10
I nearly gave Joe a perfect 10, but an old boss once told me there is no such thing as a perfect performance and that is always rattling around my head.
Hart is a natural pundit and he’d make my team even if we were playing rush goalie.
His enthusiasm is infectious, his insight refreshingly honest and he has a knack for making everyone around him better. He’s never afraid of the awkward conversations and his assessment of England’s faltering final half-hour in the semi-final hit the nail on the head.
He was constantly taking us inside the heads of the players and his description of relishing the chance to face football’s biggest names was exactly the sort of insight only someone who’s lived it can offer.
Wayne Rooney 8/10
My wife still claims she doesn’t catch every word Wayne says but he has really come alive at this World Cup. There are remarkably few genuinely world-class footballers who make the transition effortlessly into punditry.
When the game comes as naturally as breathing, explaining it to everyone else isn’t always easy but Rooney has managed to get the ball out from under his feet. The build-up to the Argentina game – expertly marshalled by Mark Chapman – was the gold standard of coverage and Rooney was at the heart of it.
He’s funny when the moment demands it, serious when it matters and, crucially, comfortable with the fact that his opinion still carries enormous weight.
Calling the overturning of Folarin Balogun’s red card a “disgrace” and insisting FIFA “should be ashamed” made headlines around the world and he is still famous enough for current superstars like Erling Haaland to call him out when he said he would row down the River Mersey if Norway made the last eight. Football never forgets.
Emma Hayes 8/10
The pundit who has generated the most headlines at this World Cup. ITV made a good decision to include her on their panel but followed it with a strange one to give her a chalkboard and put her on a set that looked remarkably like a kitchen.
It’s always good to try something different but Emma can hold her own on any sofa.
I had the pleasure of sitting next to Emma at a dinner a few years ago. Her knowledge of football was encyclopaedic, her tactical understanding extraordinary and she analysed the game with remarkable clarity.
The sad reality is that female pundits still operate under a harsher spotlight than their male counterparts. A man can misremember something and it’s shrugged off as a slip of the tongue. A woman makes the same mistake and it risks becoming tomorrow’s headline.
Emma knows her stuff and it would have been nice to see a bit more of her at this World Cup without a piece of chalk in her hand and nowhere near a cupboard.
Thierry Henry 8/10
I worked with Thierry at a couple of major tournaments for the BBC and I will never forget the first time he walked into the production office in Paris during the 2016 Euros. There were about 25 people in there and he made a point of going round and shaking the hand or every single one them and introduced himself. “Good morning. I’m Thierry”. We know!
The Frenchman has been one of the main pundits of Fox’s US coverage alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexi Lalas. Just like CBS with the Champions League, Fox seem to have mastered the art of the punchy shareable clip. I am not sure if that quality translates to a 60 minute pre-game build-up but I like the fact that the Frenchman sometimes takes a thoughtful long run up on the big topics.
His reflections on the racist abuse directed at Kylian Mbappé after France’s victory over Panama carried real weight because you could hear the process behind every sentence. That’s what separates the best pundits from the loudest ones.
He was also gracious enough to praise Spain after they dismantled his beloved France in the semi-final. That’s never easy.
Ian Wright 8/10
ITV made a smart decision basing themselves in New York and surrounding Ian Wright with Roy Keane and Gary Neville. The chemistry they’ve built through The Overlap means presenters Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods can often sit back and let the magic unfold.
Wright remains one of television’s most likeable figures. Somehow he still feels like football’s everyman despite being one of the finest strikers English football has produced.
He never ducks the difficult conversations. Last year he handled the Eni Aluko controversy with enormous dignity and during this World Cup he accused those running Scottish football of “letting the country down.”
His passion never feels manufactured. He genuinely cares and if England had managed to repeat the heroics of 1966, I would have fully expected footage to emerge of Wrighty somehow celebrating from the torch of the Statue of Liberty.
Alan Shearer 9/10
I love Radio 5 Live. John Murray and Ian Dennis remain two of the finest commentators in the business and over the last few years Alan Shearer has become the perfect partner for both. He was already an excellent studio pundit but, for me, he’s an even better co-commentator.
His partnership with Guy Mowbray has become one of the strongest on TV and they absolutely bossed the highs and frustratingly low lows of that semi-final defeat to Argentina. Shearer was spot on.
I should admit a slight conflict of interest. Alan and I were unbeaten as golf partners on countless overseas trips. The only blemish came in Moscow in 2018 against a Kazakhstani businessman called Uri and his partner. Uri declared himself an 18-handicap, demanded every shot available and then proceeded to shoot 5-over-par. Some defeats deserve a steward’s inquiry.
I’ve seen first-hand how much preparation Alan puts into his broadcasting and it’s been a pleasure watching him flourish, both in the commentary box, and on The Rest Is Football.
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So that’s my six-a-side team.
Yes, it’s entirely subjective. Yes, I’ve probably overlooked someone who’d be top of your list. And yes, with 4 former strikers, we may be a little top-heavy but perhaps goal scorers make the best pundits and, if we have learned anything from England’s run at this World Cup, you can’t win anything with a side full of defenders.
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