England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

It's not even close, in fact it's a non contest.

 

England aren't very good on paper. The front two are excellent but I do wonder how many of that team would get in the Belgian team.

 

Kane + a fullback or two (just looking at the starting line-up, not squaddies). Meunier is one of our best performers so we'd like to start him though.

Just win the first two games. It's a big bonus if you're able to conserve energy ahead of the KO phase.

 

Owen Hargreaves stated on BT Sport that he would start Alexander-Arnold in the World Cup squad if Kyle Walker plays at LCB.

 

I would really like for him to be picked actually because of his creativety and calmness on the ball. You can see why he was highly rated for a long time.

 

Probably could do with Rose or Bertrand at left back. Despite our lack of midfielders we have plenty of fullbacks that many top countries would love to have.

 

So basically every other team wouldn't be very good on paper.

Most countries in general don't have players that would get in the Belgian starting lineup. I think most people would agree that Kane and some full backs would get into their lineup and that's is a decent shout.

 

Well, Wales probably only had one player in their team that would probably make the Belgium team and yet they beat them in the Euro's so I guess there is hope for us yet.

 

Maybe looking at something like this at the moment?

Pickford Butland Hart
Stones Maguire Jones Gomez
Walker Trippier Bertrand Young
Dier Henderson Wilshere Delph
Ox RLC Lingard Alli Sterling
Kane Vardy Rashford

Chance of Phil Jones playing today - presumably he'll go if he stays fit?

Can see Alexander-Arnold really figuring in Southgate's thoughts over the final weeks of the season, and he must have a real chance. Big call to leave Trippier out of the 23 though?

Who doesn't go out of Rose, Young and Bertrand? (maybe Rose's niggles will cost him)

Delph looked good at left-back yesterday - and is another Southgate keeps name-checking. Can see him going if he stays fit.

Will he risk Wilshere? Or go for Cook? (Shelvey still being touted, but chances seem very slim)

 

If Delph goes Young stays. I don't think leaving Trippier out would be a big vall myself.

 

Would be a big surprise if Trippier doesn't make the 23 - I can't see it. However, if Southgate is anticipating that Walker and Trippier will both start, as they did in the last couple of friendlies, then perhaps he might consider taking TAA as a reserve wing-back. If he doesn't do that and Trippier misses a game or is playing poorly, then he's either got to move Walker wide and rejig the defensive set-up, or play someone out of position (Oxlade-Chamberlain or whoever).

Let's wait and see if TAA can sustain his form though. Until a few games ago, he'd had a decent season but not much more.

 

Depending on how attached he is to playing Walker in the middle (and he does seem quite attached), it would be a big call to effectively make TAA the starting RWB as a 19-year-old though.

From nowhere.

And just the personal thing of dropping Trippier like a stone from the 23 after looking like a shoo-in for over a year would be tough - especially for a manager who basically admitted he called Livermore up, in part, as a thankyou for turning up to previous get-togethers

 

I think he's good enough. He's never going to be world class, but if he'd been as mediocre as all that, he'd have lost his place to Aurier long ago.

It's partly a matter of where we are in the tournament cycle. It's one thing to take a punt on adding someone to the player pool, and self-evidently a very different thing to throw them straight into the World Cup squad as an unknown quantity.

But when I say that we should wait and see, I mean until the squad is named. If TAA keeps playing the way he has in the last couple of televised games, it'll be very hard to leave him out. If he looks vulnerable defensively, as he did at times earlier in the season, then obviously it won't. I don't think there's much doubt that he'll be an England player in the short-to-medium term though.

 

But not in the context of an England squad. There are two questions here though: does he take TAA? Quite possibly. Does he drop Trippier to do so? Seems much more risky and much less likely. I'd be happy if he took both and played Walker purely as centre-back.

 

Yeah was gonna say that maybe Southgate could take Walker as a Centre back pick so it gives him room to pick Trippier and TAA as wing back options, especially if three at the back is the way we are going to play. I'm not sure Southgate will do this though as I think he seems set on the majority of players he's already used so I fully expect TAA to stay in the U21 set up but I don't necessarily agree with that however especially if he continues his good form.

 

I would rather we had a better option than Trippier who was at least somewhat established in the squad. However, given that we don't obviously have one, I'm not expecting Southgate to drop him from the squad entirely, and I'm not convinced that he should.

Young's a good suggestion though, to be fair. If Southgate wants to gamble on dropping Trippier entirely, then Young provides an experienced fall-back if it transpires that TAA can't quite handle it. Don't think it's a problem that he's in the habit of playing the left.

 

It is. I think we can say that with reasonable certainty now, after he's used it for four games running with a degree of success.

 

Alright, you've convinced me. If TAA sustains his form, then Young's inclusion could justify dropping Trippier entirely.

I'm still not expecting it to happen, mind you.

 

Agreed, this is what it comes down to and I just can't see Southgate making the changes now unfortunately. The only way I can see it happen is if Trippier gets injured.