There’s another one for the Room 101 thread- opera singers belting out the national anthem at sporting events. 
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I’d put that anthem in it before the tenor.
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I think that’s right, Jim. The stress Walker and Maguire were feeling covering for Trent for the first 60 mins finally told. You cannot expect you other defenders to so continually cover for one man without it eventually taking its toll.
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I’d love it if Trent told the England team to fuck off.
Walk away lad!
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Finally…
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Link to the article within the tweet does not work for me. Here it is.
https://sport.optus.com.au/internationals/articles/os44041/uefa-nations-league-epl-england-liverpool-trent-alexander-arnold
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Southgate is an idiot imo. English players are not plodding donkeys even if they’re not all world beaters. He does however have exciting talents all over the pitch with the main deficiencies being central defence and goalkeeper although while Pickford is a a clown for Everton, he hasn’t really shit the bed for England, and he’s simply not playing to their strengths and so they look like plodders trying to do an honest job.
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Did you not see the goal Pickford conceded against Germany?
Whilst it was a soft goal to concede, had he done that for the blueshite, 2 or 3 more would have likely followed. When playing for England, he seems to recover mentally a lot better than he does for the blueshite where he seems to fold like a house a cards
I don’t see the drama really.
With time, he will be more important. Walker and Trippier are both in their 30’s. James might be more his competition and who knows what happens and who appears in the future. The few times there was an opportunity for him to come and grab more importance, he got a niggle.
England don’t use him like Liverpool do? So what? If England used Trent like Liverpool do, perhaps they wouldn’t be able to use other players who play well for them. England are not Liverpool and vice versa. Like England/Southgate or not, they have found a way to improve their game and results over the last few years.
Doesn’t mean they should stick with everything and not look to evolve, but for me they are still in the process of finding more consistency with what they do, working on details. Is Trent the type of quality to always think of ways about how to get something from him? Of course, and I don’t doubt they do that.
The midfield role was interesting because Klopp moaned at Southgate for playing him at RCM, Klopp thought if Trent ever played in midfield, it should be as a #6, not an #8. Of course now us fans will put heat maps where he usually appears, but getting to that RCM zone and starting from there is probably not the same. Klopp might be wrong with his theory also. Up for discussion and who knows if we ever witness that change of position. For now, I don’t see it happening.
It’s funny how England managers got (deserved) shit in 00’s for playing big names, maybe sometimes not on merit, afraid of making big decisions, etc. Now you have a guy who actually makes reasonable decisions and again it’s not good. It also can’t be purely based on club form in each camp and game because you need consistency, especially at the back. Back then the team was too offensive on paper, now it’s too defensive. You just can’t win. Until England win… maybe.
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Yeah, I really feel so much of the antagonism is so locked in that he’s going to get pelters thrown at him regardless. If it is accepted that the weakest area of the team is CB then doesnt it make sense that an attacking RB would likely be most affected? Whether it’s overlooking him in favour of someone else whose game is more based around covering he CBs deficiencies (Walker), or playing Trent anyway despite a more restrained overall approach and hoping his talent can still help produce something positive from that position, both options are sensible and rational responses to having shit CBs. Trying to replicate with him what he does a Liverpool is arguably the option that is most irresponsible, and most exposes Trent to being made the scapegoat when it inevitably goes wrong.
England
—————–Pickford/Rams———————-
-TAA/James-Stones-White-Chilwell/Shaw—-
-Foden/Jude—Rice/Hendo—Mount/Grealish-
—Foden-Saka—Kane—-Sterling/Grealish—-
So easy for England. Play a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 and you have a good team. Can’t overcompensate your worst position and play 3 of them. Kills the whole team and set up.
I’m no fan of Southgate. I think he’s bang average, and he’s got an undeserved reputation based of two of the easiest runs in major tournaments you’ve ever seen.
But I totally get his position on Trent. He is unique in football. An absolutely wonderful talent. But you can’t just slot him in at fullback. The system at Liverpool is tailored to allow him to start high and aggressive. It makes total sense to you play a more traditional full back.
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England managers change, if he has a bad World Cup he will probably be gone.
But as @mascot says he might be the talent in a Liverpool side but he doesn’t fit Southgate’s play, Robbo has found him further forward in Clarke’s side as well at times.
We had years of England playing the best players but not necessarily the best side and structure. His only blind spot is Kane who he has kept on beyond having a point at times.
I disagree. England could easily build the team around him. The problem is Southgate is naturally too timid.
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In theory you could, but Southgate doesn’t get daily training sessions with the players to work on the finer points of his system. He gets them for a week here, and a fortnight there. International managers don’t get the coaching time that club managers do. They have to cut their cloth accordingly.
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Yep, of course talent is important for international football, but success at this level (or rather, under these constraints because the level is no higher than most the players experience every day), is based on finding a game plan based around the strengths of your players you can implement with little preparation.
Souness has made the interesting point in the past that top players arent as game smart as they used to be because the game is so highly coached with such highly refined game plans. All the sides are now implementing things way more sophisticated than any team would have done in his time, but in exchange the overwhelming majority of players who thrive in that environment have done so at the expense of being able to read and adapt to the in game situations. The game just doesnt select for players who can do that anymore and so for the majority if the directions aren’t coming to them from the sidelines they will continue as they were. I think there is a lot of merit to that argument and the biggest place you see it is international football. When players can no longer develop a game plan on the fly the ability to bring 11 players from different clubs who are used to playing different styles and formations and expecting them to play in a coherent manner with a week or so preparation is almost entirely gone, no matter how good they each are. Sometimes it’s worth reframing Spain’s recent success in that light, that it wasnt just that Barca were so good at the time, but they could lean on a core of those players and borrow that identity for the international side as well. No way do they succeed like that if the same players were spread across Europe playing in different sides on a weekly basis.
I think the uniqueness of Trent is overplayed by many, especially in the sense of what it would mean about him being effective from FB in a much more basic side. But that change in approach does take away from what he can bring to a side. That is exacerbated by the limitations we are dealing with at CB. If you;re already not going to get full trent by playing him at FB and asking him to cover for limited CBs, then it definitely opens the door to lesser players whose strength is in pinching in and covering their CBs.
spot on, this. I’ve noticed over the years that the pace of the Nazzuri game mimics that of the play in Serie A.
Of course you can. It’s a massive oversimplification in English media that TAA is a brilliant passer/attacker and poor defender. He’s really matured defensively and would be brilliant as a ‘traditional’ full back also without any additional coaching.
Anyway, it’s England’s loss and our (less chance of injury) gain
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