England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

He's played in 4 of the 5 games we've played this year and made 58 appearances last year for club and country, although some of them were as sub.

Whether he should have done is another matter but there's no reason to play him or not based on him not playing... certainly not compared with some others.

 

I think maybe Southgate sees Maddison as one of the options for the front three, at club level one of the most attacking managers in Rodgers moves him out left on many occasions because of his low defensive output.

 

I still think someone like sturridge could come to the fore if he has a good season in turkey. Hes only 29. He has more technical ability than kane or rashford. A real wildcard would be ravel morrison. Lets hope he does the business at sheff utd. Hes only 26

 

I'm pretty Morrison has already made an international switch to Jamaica.

 

I dont think so yet

 

Sturridge is finished as a top tier striker, he might be 29, but his body isn't that of a 29 year old. He plays like a striker in their mid 30s nowadays. I think if he does half decent between now and the October qualifiers Abraham will probably be in.




Hopefully Foden gets some gametime between now and then and gets the upgrade as well. Without wishing to fall into the trap of building up someone as the saviour I really think he would be the player who could really upgrade the midfield to the next level.

RLC -- Henderson -- Foden

Would have good balance as a midfield 3, though I have doubts RLC will ever have the long term fitness to be a regular fixture for the starting 11. Imagine the teams goal scoring potential with Foden, RLC, Sancho, Kane, Sterling in the starting eleven too.

Regardless of if he's playing for club or not, Gomez also consistently looks our best defender when he's played - and he's played some really top tier opposition despte having few caps, he really needs to be in the side.

 

I read somewhere that TTA eventually sees himself as a midfielder/ winger / wingback .. can’t see him ever being a good ‘defender’

 

I don't like Henderson as the deepest midfielder and he doesn't play there for his club, I'm not sure who would play there but I think Henderson is best as a shuttler going box to box.

 

unfortunately Sturridge lost his pace. He was a phenomenal talent and should have been used more in his prime.

 

Not at the moment but he was the previous season.

To be honest with England's midfield I think we can get far too caught up in what they can't do at times instead of what they can do. I mean for all they kept possession nicely that Dutch midfield who keep getting held up as an example of superiority was absolutely toothless against England, I don't think they created a single presentable chance - they all came through England's defenders getting caught on the ball. The England midfield is not going to be perfect for the Euro's but there's potentially a lot to like there as well.

Far more of a concern than the midfield for me is the sheer amount of individual errors that have crept into England's game, and that should be eminently fixable.

 

I think the midfield is the number one concern. We've seen it in every single competition since 92, it's borderline impossible to beat a good team without some sort of control in midfield. Italy, Portugal, Croatia, 10 men Brazil, always the same story. We're very good upfront and good at the back, but can't keep the ball in midfield which always ends badly. We start very strong, lose the ball more and more often, end up on the back foot and finally concede. Even more of a problem at the end of the season, when players are tired and can't play at 200 miles an hour. Ppl talk about France and I have nothing against counter attacking but Pogba and Kante could keep the ball when needed.

 

That’s the issue .. midfielders like Barkley last night are a liability when we play the top teams as he just can’t be trusted in possession. Winks is a far better bet ( Grealish and Maddison as well obs).

 

Barkley wasn't a problem at all but Rice + Henderson playing together + keane who's very limited on the ball made us disjointed and open

 

It’s terrifying hearing Southgate talk about Winks and Maddison not getting game time because of the game situation and then being young players! They were exactly what we needed

 

You'd hope Winks gets 180 minutes next month. Wouldn't hate seeing Winks, Henderson, Barkley (or whoever in his spot). Not spectacular, but could be competent and pretty grizzled and experienced by next summer.

I think there's a bit of an overreaction to Maddison not playing, but Winks getting no game time was odd.

 

I can't recall one single game under Southgate when a technical midfielder entered the pitch to help us gain more control. Don't think it ever happened. If we struggle he either changes one of the forwards or bring another defensive midfielder. That's his big limitation.

 

Winks and Gomez are both in the category of ‘if fit - must be involved’ for me. If not both games then at least one of them.

 

I don't think Foden has ever played club football as a #10, and Barkley didn't either while Sarri was at Chelsea. He has a bit for Lampard I think, but either way both have shown what they can do in the role England have for them, Maddison hasn't as far as I can remember. Still, I see no reason why Southgate couldn't have experimented. The difference in roles isn't exactly night and day.

He could just be annoyed about Maddison using the Ireland talk to pressure him, so he's sending a message. Still, seems a bit petty.

 

Holland played a tactical game to prey on our weakness.They pressed high to expose Rice's inability to turn and distribute the ball under pressure leaving our centre backs trapped with the ball at the back. As it happened, letting our centre backs have the ball won them the game.

 

With a runner like hendo u need at least one creative player who can receive deep in our midfield

 

It was Barkley’s needlessly ridiculous pass to Keane after about 40 seconds that led to their shock goal !

Ironically it was easier to pass forwards at the time .

 

This is a bug bear of mine about our midfield players in general to be honest, not sure if it’s a lack of communication from other players telling the player he has time or just a lack of awareness that’s probably the real issue but so many times I shout at the TV when our midfield players receive the ball from our defenders and just play the way their facing instead of realising they have the time to turn and look to go forward and commit the opposition midfield to create space for others. From memory it happened quite a lot over the last two games which was frustrating and just continually stalls the build ups. I appreciate it’s easy to criticise when watching on TV as you obviously have a better view of the situation.

 

I think it was just a case of clumsy and nervous play from Keane and Barkley.

On a positive note, if we manage to beat Czech Republic then we have three full games to experiment with and maybe rest one or two players. That would be a great position to be in.

 

What’s people’s thoughts about bringing Jamie Vardy back into the Squad? I know Southgate has apparently said that the door is still open which I guess he has to say and was probably asked the question by a journalist and as far as I’m aware, I’ve not heard Vardy saying anything of encouragement about a return. I’m just not sure it would be a good move now at this stage for the benefit of our Squad. I’m just thinking that he will be 33 in January so realistically he will be brought in for the Euro’s but that would presumably be it given he would be 35 going into the next World Cup. I also don’t think it would send a good message to someone like Abraham who could see the return of Vardy as a snub and consequently switch to Nigeria as a result of being even further down the pecking order. I just think that you have to have an eye on the future it would be very short sighted especially if Kane gets injured and Abraham could fit in quite well imo as he’s better suited to the system than Vardy and he’s got a lot of potential going forward.

 

Would rather take a wildcard like greenwood