Iirc, Cameroon threatened it, we didn’t play him out of caution, got knocked out of a domestic cup I think, then Cameroon’s threat to have him barred from club games was thrown out as they hadn’t followed the correct call-up procedure.
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That rings a bell
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Ake got injured as well, Pep and Klopp both seem to be singing off the same sheet on this.
It’s never helped when you have utter bellends like Oliver Holt putting out articles blaming the managers for “over playing” their best players.
Always seems its a “foreign” issue and they are too soft… Just shows how out of date it all is.
The whole of the FA, just stinks of archaic, dinosaur, racist twats who probably think footballers should be still able to drink pints before the game. Systemically from the top the focus is so utterly backwards its a tragedy really.
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A read through Rodney ‘Plonker’ Southgate’s back room staff is all that is needed for evidence of ‘under achievers’ being allowed to train, coach, guide and advise ‘our’ professional footballers is all that is needed…
From the Chelsea die-hard assistant manager Steve Holland… to the goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson who spent 6months at Everton (MMA) FC recently mentoring T.Rex Pickford to the finer art of goalkeeping (yeah right.!!)… to the striking coach, Allan Russell (who???) yes that was right, a striking coach that learnt his trade in the universities of the good old USofA… (whom explains, amongst many other gems, how far your standing foot should be in-front when striking the ball)
The set-up is a joke… an absolute joke… But what else should we expect from an inept international manager…
Yet we have no choice but to handover our primed and honed athletes to them…
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11403629/meet-gareth-southgates-england-backroom-team-for-2018-world-cup
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It is significant though, how far your standing foot is in front of you when striking the ball. Still, doesn’t detract from Southgate being an automaton.
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So it is a tendon that needed surgery, how long does that take to be fit again?
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He was good enough for Benitez. Not sure what the point of criticising individuals in the set up is when you’ve got no idea how good they are? Have you worked with any of them? Read anything negative about them from those who have?
I think Southgate is crap, the way he’s got his teams to play and perform over 15 years tells me that. I don’t think he’s got any business managing England but then we’re very short of options if we’re determined to appoint an English manager.
However, I’ve got no reason to think that the people you’ve identified are crap. Certainly can’t draw any conclusions from your post.
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We talking strikers here… If the ball is in the 6yd box I can’t think of any decent striker that would calculate the distance his standing foot should be if he needs to toe-poke the ball home… My point was… this is not an up and coming club side that has limited resources and strikers available, and weekly improvements to the players performance is essential…
This is an International set-up with globally recognised strikers at the top of their game… Whom have got there by years of devoted training… At this late stage of their development, could anyone seriously believe this striker coach is going to improve upon what they already know… or is he just a risk too far for zillion pound footballers being asked to contort their bodies into a position this guy demands…! Seriously…!
Glad to see you agree with the condemnation of Southgate though 
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I enjoy the way you like to stir things up on certain comments here for the sake of it… That is what forums are for…Right…!
I said they were under-achievers… If I wanted to say they were crap… I would have spelt out c-r-a-p
It is your reply that utters the description crap… Out of interest…Have you any evidence that they are anything but…?
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No, I have nothing to say that they’re good or bad…or even that they’re underachievers as you claim. Hence why I’m not in a position to praise or denigrate them.
You have no evidence either then?
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I think this set of rules is going to come under heavy pressure very soon. FIFA/UEFA has simply abused that during the pandemic, and while LFC’s situation is particularly bad due to the concentration at the centre back position, a lot of big clubs are fed up. People have explored the relationship between the NHL and the IIHF as an alternative model.
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I’m no doctor…but is it a good sign that they were able to go and do surgery today on the injury?
Most knee’s tend to need time for swelling to go down etc etc to know the extent of the damage.
Wonder if it’s damage to the previous repair, hence going straight in?
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The article was included so people can draw their own conclusions on Southgate’s set-up.
As for being under-achievers, a moniker tagged to these named individuals… Surely it answers its own descriptive question. Unless of course, you are suggesting, as any ex-footballer/goalkeeper that sets out on a similar path, in a ‘lower league’ life… they were content to limit all ambition and remain in these lower tiers… So, if you compare their status, against those high-flyers on the world stage… then surely the term… Under Achievers springs to mind…!
Like I said in the last reply…
I enjoy the way you attempt to ruffle the feathers of other forum users for the sake of it… It is one of the reasons I read all your posts with interest and will continue to do so…
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One thing I’ve never seen explained is how someone like Matip who had unilaterally “retired” from international football has less legal standing than an unaffiliated dual qualified player who refuses a call up from one country because he is holding out waiting for a call up for the other country.
I think all hell would break loose if you had someone like a young Zaha forced to go and play for the Ivory Coast in a competitive game despite still wanting to work on trying to break into the England team. But how is that any different than the situation Matip was in?
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If you judge their coaching ability based on their playing ability then what would that say about Benitez, Klopp or Mourinho. Would you say they were only average players? Probably…
So therefore it follows that they must be underachievers?
I think we know you really don’t need to have been a successful player to be a very successful coach.
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It’s just odd. You’re critiquing England’s coaching staff. You’re doing so on the basis that England should have the very best coaches working with the very best players and these coaches, you’re suggesting, are not at that level. Since they’ve been appointed to those positions from relatively modest footballing backgrounds (that you’re holding against them as spurious evidence they’re not good enough), wouldn’t that make them overachievers?
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What is most staggering to me is that — while VVD and Thiago’s injuries were both contact-related and thus somewhat fluky — the number of injuries we’ve seen in the Premier League would suggest that a lack of rest is putting the athletes at higher risk.The more they keep piling up around the League, the harder it will be for the FA to ignore (but I assume they will given the state of refereeing they’ve been complicit in enabling, among other things).
Gomez’s injury could have hardly come at a worse time, and worse yet Matip seems to suffer from Sturridge-itis, so I am not hopeful that he’ll be able to stay fit for a stretch.
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You make good observations here…
With any point of view, unintentionally or otherwise, it is easy for the original context to become distorted and topic will veer away somewhat on a tangent…
this unfortunately seems to have happened here… So
Southgate is at the helm…
Southgate is in charge…
Southgate has free reign to nominate his backroom team…
Southgate was an unsuccessful club manager…
Southgate was overlooked for this position on many occasions…
Southgate has NEVER won a trophy as an England Manager…
So… (to date)… and as a collective… Southgate (and his backroom team) have Under Achieved…!
It is a matter of harmonising both important factors here… between Southgate and Backroom staff
A good workforce with an Under Achieving CEO will ultimately fail… (lets say his backroom staff)
An Under Achieving workforce with a good CEO will ultimately fail… (BUT this CEO has the power to adapt and make changes so success will become imminent…!)
I will never have faith in Southgate as England Manager… just as I have no faith in the backroom staff showing the correct duty of care to LFC players… It is an opinion I hold and adhere to.
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Trying to tail off this particular debate between two differing opinions, yours and mine… Here goes…
Under Achievers in a footballing sense… Without a doubt when analysing the limited standards they reached… compared to athletes of their own ilk that surpassed these limitations…
Under Achievers in an England International Back Room Coaching Capacity… No doubt their contractual remit requires they help bring success to the England International Team… Until they win something of worth… Individually AND Collectively… They can be classed as Under Achievers…!
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