England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

Keane gives the ball away again and again

 

We need more creative players in the middle who know how to keep the ball. Winks is probably the only option we have right now

 

Away from the obviously poor individiual performances the entire team seems strangely subdued and lacking energy tonight. Second to every loose ball and very oddly for this side outpaced through most the game.

 

It's much more the shape than the personnel. You could easily just switch back to the 4-3-3 with Rice sitting and Henderson in a position he is actually comfortable with. The problem is that Southgate's idea of defensive solidity revolves purely around how many athletic bodies you can get behind the ball and how fast.

 

Grealish - Maddison - Mount

It’s the future

 

Er... WHAT?

Neither him nor Sancho on the other side have got involved much because by the time the ball arrives they have someone on them.

 

Good Lord an absolutely shocking display so far! Seriously has this team been drugged?

 

This is hardly new for Mount, he plays like this all the time. He's a good goalscorer but he needs to start getting himself involved in games a lot more.

 

The worst thing is the first substitute will be Rashford for Sancho and absolutely nothing changes. I’m not sure he will see or adapt to the problems we currently have.

 

I don’t agree. I’ve watched Chelsea quite a bit this season and he’s been quite involved in games. Most of their goals have come through him as well

 

Roy Keane says Henderson and Rice might as well be sitting with them in the studio... LOL

 

Henderson and Keane have been absolutely shite.

Doubt he does it, but Winks must replace Henderson.

 

Yeah the difference is that he has Jorginho & Kante who can play through the lines to give him the ball, Henderson and Rice are not similar in that regard. This is where we severely lack and won’t progress until we have these type of players imo.

 

Harry winks needs to be on for rice. He's been garbage

 

Back to 4-3-3 it looks like.

 

Actually he scores more than he gives assists but he is DEFINITELY involved, like, a LOT!

 

The question now will be whether Mason Mount can remain disciplined enough to play that #8 role.

 

At least that's a question we need an answer to. The shape in the first half felt like a waste of time - we could all have guessed how it would turn out.

 

Mount is a good player but we often tend to think in England that the number 10 can compensate the complete lack of creativity in the middle. Sure Foden could potentially be this player but the more reasonable plan is to share the responsabilities between 2 or even 3 players. It's obvious that Rice and Henderson in the same midfield can't work, regardless of the system, too difficult to play forward and keep the ball in the other half

 

This is my problem too. In a three, it asks too much of the third player simply because there's so much that those two don't do. Maybe RLC could just about make it work, but it might even be beyond him. Swap Rice for Winks and you have a bit more leeway with the third.

 

Dean Henderson on the bench.
That guy is blunder prone . Makes hart look solid .

 

This, if you look at the great midfields of recent times, they've all had more than one player capable of playing penetrative passes or linking the defence and midfield to the attack. Barca had Xavi and Iniesta to share this burden, Real had Kroos and Modric, Bayern had the likes of Alonso, Thiago and now City have the Silva's and KDB. Not only did this make the midfield and possession play much more fluid, but it also meant that no one player could just be marked out of the game as the other would use that extra space to hurt the opposing team if they tried it.

 

Ross Barkley and rashford on. whats the point

 

Tbh Mount and Sancho whom I presume they replace haven't really made their mark tonight.