England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

Grealish did very well when he was in the premiership for two seasons ( aged 19) and in a struggling team

 

Bulgaria and Montenegro look out of it. Kosovo look quite good

 

Do you mean in terms of having less time on the ball? A lot of our questions about Grealish are going to be answered this season.

To be fair, Maddison dropped deep more often towards the end of the season. Notably in the Arsenal game and looked comfortable doing so.

 

Got a good feeling he will be a revelation

 

Really ? That would be amazing. Are you sure the reports are not about CHO ?

 

In his absence, Winks has become an even more key player for us. How best to utilise him though?

I like the idea of playing Winks as the deepest midfielder alongside Henderson and RLC/Maddison. This could maximise our options on the ball but might leave us vulnerable defensively and a little lightweight.

Alternatively, we could play Rice as the holding midfielder and Winks plus an AM. This would probably lead to similar issues as the ones encountered in the Dutch game though.

 

This has to be worth trying out. I don't know if you all remember Wilshere's run as the midfield pivot in which he picked up countless MOTM awards, but a crucial factor in his success was having the industry of (usually) Henderson and Delph either side of him. I'm not sure that Winks needs or could justify two minders, but one willing runner could make all the difference, and it does seem like a good way to make use of Henderson's athleticism and add a bit of intelligence to our deep midfield at the same time. Ideally, I'd like Loftus-Cheek to round out the trio as a) he's great, and b) he's very comfortable on the left side of midfield, but it's worth giving it a shot even in his absence.

 

Comfortably our best defender. If he can stop getting injured and having to win his place back, I don't think it'll be long before he's widely recognised as our first genuinely world class centre-back since the golden generation.

Now that I've said that, watch him snap a ligament within the week.

 

I concur. Our qualification group gives us a great chance to experiment a little with new players and tactics too.

With RLC out for a while though, what do you think about Maddison playing as the more forward of the three? He created a lot of chances last season, so he ticks that box.

 

He does, and he has a pre-existing familiarity with Chilwell and Maguire on that left-hand side, just as Henderson does with Gomez and TAA. Equally though, it's the kind of position that would give Grealish the best chance of succeeding, and Barkley's been playing well too. Even Alli would fit positionally, although that might leave the midfield direct to a fault.

But it all depends on whether Winks can offer enough protection to the defence with Henderson's assistance, because I'm not sure that any of those players would add a lot in that respect.

 

Everyone has forgotten about aoc

 

No, CHO is set for an earlier return.

 

Rather interesting to hear Danny Murphy suggest that TTA would be better in England’s midfield maybe wingback ...

 

Hell no

He’s world class so why move him?

 

Because the England midfield is pitiful and TTA wants to play midfield anyways... he’s only at RB to get a place in Liverpool he doesn’t see himself staying there ...

He could be the new Becks on the right side ..

 

When did he say that?

 

I haven’t forgotten about him, I just don’t think he’s the answer. We’ve been there before with high energy direct runners like Ox, Alli and Lingard.

I’d like to see us try RLC, Grealish or Maddison. Players that can slow the game down when necessary, pick a clever pass and keep hold of the ball under pressure.

Barkley has performed reasonably but not well enough to ignore other options.

 

I’m not sure after his last performance that we should be talking about changing TAA’s position.

 

I thought it was common knowledge

 

Agree totally.. Barkley would be a late substitute at best for me

 

As long as England not play with wing backs, this is academical debate at best. Plain stupidity at worst.

 

Well not if the lad has ambitions to be a midfielder .. Gareth Bale started out at leftback ...

 

The difference between Bale and TAA is that Bale is a supreme athlete and can beat most defenders off the dribble, I think TAA in midfield wouldn't work as well as I'm not sure he has the agility to beat midfielders under pressure, like RLC, Maddison and Foden. RB accentuates his world class passing ability because he has more time usually.