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Well, Iām going to smugly say, again, that I havenāt wasted a moment of my life watching England since I dumped Slash live at Glastonbury to go and see them on a big screen in a field get dicked 4-1 by Germany in 2010.
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Same here pretty much. Had no interest in watching our internationals for a good many years.
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I dont know that heās changed that much. From early on he liked a back 5, and used it in most of the meaningful games in the world cup and Nations League qualifying. He has tried āorthodoxā a few times, but weāre shit at the back and donāt cope well with it against even semi decent sides.
I think the biggest difference the last few games vs the world cup and Nations League qualifying last time, is the issues heās had in midfield recently with Hendo being injured, Deli being shit, Winks not really kicking on etc. Itās meant his best personnel options are all relatively conservative choices as well, the likes of Rice and the Leeds lad. When you couple that with a back 5 it is very conservative. But short of pretending that the likes of forwards like Grealish and Barnes are midfielders, what else can he do?
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Maguire sending off 100% deserved but itās not a penalty in a million years. If anything, the foulās on Walker.
https://youtu.be/YazcaxpT174
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I mean he used Alli and Lingard in a midfield three for a sustained period with success, I doubt many people would classify them as genuine midfield players either. I would argue that you could probably utilise the likes of Mount, Foden, Maddison, Ox when fit, potentially Bellingham if he continues his good form at Dortmund etc in similar roles and immediately strike a better balance between defence and attack. A lack of options isnāt an excuse anymore.
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Agree with you there.
For his first yellow, WTF was he doing way over there?
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He seems to have changed it to 5-2-3 from the 5-3-2 he used at the World Cup. Whatever it is, he has to see it isnāt working.
Maguireās first touch for the second yellow was fucking embarrassing,heāll be very entertaining for utd this season.
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Except youve cited 3 players who arent fit, one who is 17 and has played only a handful of top level games. So while I get the point, those options are not reflective of what he could do during this break.
Foden is fit and available for selection. Obviously heās made a decision there to punish the two players who broke protocol in the last round of fixtures which is a debatable but probably fair call. Somebody like Barkley is readily available as well who has played pretty well for England when given the chance. Even when more of those options have been available weāve seen he has a clear reluctance to play the likes of Maddison or Grealish.
I just think at this point we know that England can be competent enough in a 352 or however you want to lay it out, but it would seem counterproductive to me to then select a squad that due to the current injuries may result in bringing together a group of players that donāt particularly suit that system. A switch to a 4231 for this round of fixtures to me would have been a better route to go down, at least then at least we might been able to watch exciting players like Sancho, Grealish or Barnes instead of what is essential a carbon copy of the same player in Dier, Rice and Phillips.
Yesterday, I felt Englandās bench was stronger than their starting XI.
For me, this
Pope
Trent Gomez Mings Saka
Sancho Ward-Prowse Henderson Grealish
Ings Calvert-Lewin
Beats
Pickford
Walker Coady Maguire
James Mount Rice Phillips Maitland-Niles
Kane Rashford
With everyone available Englandās best XI is probably, right now:
Pope
Trent Gomez Mings Chilwell
Henderson Rice
Sancho Sterling Grealish
Kane
Coady, James, Phillips, Mount, Foden, Ings, C-L being the main ones pushing for a place.
But of that first XI only Rice and Kane started yesterday.
I donāt rate Southgate, never have. Heās had two good results (against Spain and Germany away) and thatās it. He fluked his way to a World Cup semi-final due to an extremely favourable draw.
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Henderson and Gomez are injured anyway. But yeah, TAA needed a rest.
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Thatās another Ā£5m.
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Seeing whoās playing in the England team makes it easy not to give a fuck whether they do well or not.
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Cannot stand international football, but England vs San Marino? Wtf?! During a flippinā pandemic? Has there ever been such an exercise in futility? With all due respect and so on, but SM, Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Faroe islands, etc should have their own mini league and the winner gets to play with the big boys.
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Bellingham (who should have played for the U21 today) trippier Prowse Lindgard selected but no room for TAA?
The U21s who lost today but Curtis Jones did not play Boothroyd just like Southgate amassing a group of young PL players but not with the thought of them playing as a team?
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Iām delighted when our lads donāt get picked for their national teams. Let them stay safe at home and concentrate on LFC
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