And gives away free kicks…
Think it’s safe to assume that is basically Southgate’s preferred XI, with Pickford to come back in for Pope when fit and a toss up between Dier and Walker in the back 3.
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Neither team have the right player to get them out of this borefest
Didn’t take long for Flick’s football to look exactly like Löw’s last few years. Meaningless ball posession and then get taken apart by one pass in the counter attack.
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England have the right player on the bench. Bring on Ivan Toney!
Of course, that won’t happen. This is the final game before the World Cup and Southgate will be determined to have his first choice front three play as minutes together as possible.
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They’ve played 500 minutes and counting together…and scored a grand total of no goals.
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That’s surely a pen against Maguire lol.
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Surprised Germany didn’t contest that. Looked a pen to me …… and it is.
Classic Maguire right there.
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Quality defending
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To be fair to him Southgate’s plan has worked ok in this game so far, Sterling and Foden have wasted a few great opportunities on the counter with poorly selected/timed passes and tame shots. Germany haven’t threatened much at all really.
Maguire at his very best there.
This is what I think is so fascinating about modern day international football. Football has become so hyper coached at the level these guys play at that top performers are not necessarily top performers if asked to play a role that is even marginally different than they play for their club. The improvisational adaptability of the modern footballer has largely gone, and that makes really difficult for an international manager to pull a group together and a get coherent tune out them in the time they have to do so. And this despite having a much deeper pool of top talent than international managers from generations past had.
It produces a SHIT product, but from a purely puzzle solving perspective I find it fascinating to watch how managers try to solve it (and what the reactions are to those efforts).
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Was it slabhead who gave away the penalty?
I mean, if anyone needed more than 1 guess then you obviously don’t know football very well.
Yes. Deserved penalty. He kicked him, bamboozled by a little step over.
It was not unlike watching a Great Dane play with a Jack Russell.
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Hahahahahaahah.
What a goal Havertz.
Guess who losses the ball?