England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

Oh my God please stop

 

I think we will lose maddison now, the same way we lost zaha.

 

You sound like a spoilt brat. Every football game is different. There are multiple directions a game can go in - where's your criticism for Kane? He missed a penalty and you want to slate the manager and the midfield. It's not football manager or playstation, don't expect us to score double figures.

 

Just finished watching the game, wow! What awful defending for all their goals, absolutely shocking, especially during the second half. Couldn’t believe how good we made Kosovo look at times, couldn’t get near them. Gomez should definitely be playing centre half even if he’s not starting all the time for Liverpool, it’s not even close that he’s better than Keane. Southgate and his substitutions..........baffling!

On a plus, the attack was devastating especially in the first half and we probably should really have had a hatful in the second half but just wasn’t to be after the interval.

Can’t get away from our defending though, we won’t be anywhere near contenders for the Euro’s if we can’t sort out our defending.

 

Mate, seriously get a grip! Lol

 

Gomez will massively improve our defence. Maguire was solid apart from that penalty which wasn't a penalty. Just the midfield was woefully short. We can destroy any team with our attack but defensively we will get exposed by far better teams than kosovo

 

I know. I need to take a break. Just upset that we blew a lead when we should have kicked on

 

Just playing devil’s advocate here. I can only think that;

a) Southgate wanted to see whether certain players coped when tiredness set in
b) He’s saving his experimentation until qualification is assured
c) Other players are carrying niggles that we don’t know about

Otherwise, I am completely lost as to how Gomez, Winks and Maddison played zero minutes. Am I missing something obvious?

 

Maybe Gareth needs an old head to help him? Someone like Venables. His knowledge could be invaluable. I just don't think Southgate has any idea how to take the next step. I don't want him sacked but he needs to learn from his mistakes

 

I think we all need to calm down and remember we have scored 5 goals again. Kosovo will beat a lot of teams worse than us. We have virtually qualified which will give us time to look at different options. Maybe in a year's time someone like panzo will come through. I'm sure maddison will get his england chance at some point. There were a lot of positives like our devestating attack. Players like odoi and cheek to come back. Winks maddison and foden still young. Great options at fullback. Maybe even mason greenwood will get an opportunity. I still feel we are going in the right direction. Oh and I don't have a split personality

 

has any team got a better front 3 than Sancho , kane and Sterling?
just a shame Southgate doesnt arrange the middle 3 well .

 

No. Our front 3 are unmatched. We are a well above average team. Just that midfield needs sorting. There are so many negative comments on the BBC hys. People can't wait to stick the boot in. Had we won 8-1 people would still criticize us. Maguire didn't put a foot wrong bar that penalty which wasn't one. Yet people call him. Trent and chillwell had good games. Rice did a decent job but had no creativity. Henderson was hardworking but had nothing going forward. Just wish he had brought maddison and winks on at halftime

 

Anyone care to speculate on why Winks and Gomez weren’t involved?

 

I think quite a few teams could put out a front three just as devastating if not more so.

Dembélé/Griezmann/Mbappé

Ronaldo/Félix/Silva

Dybala/Aguero/Messi

Neymar/Firmino/Vinícius Jr

 

Southgate has always liked athletic hardworking midfielders so this is the main reason for Rice over Winks IMO. Not one single minute for Winks is worrying though. Gomez hasn't played much for Liverpool, this is why he didn't play, but again that's a bit extreme from Southgate .

 

Wasn't he on the touchline when we beat Spain in Spain ?

 

Nah, don't think he wanted to see how they'd respond to tiredness. It might have been that he wanted to see how a particularly defensive setup would work against a side who likely wouldn't punish us even if it wasn't a great success.

Possibly but even that assumes he thinks this was his best team when I doubt that's the case.

Possibly... or some other reason behind the scenes like I said.

Taking our either of Barkley or Rice for Winks was a change I'd have expected. Mount's played well in the start of this season for his club and he seems to be well regarded in the England setup but, as a more defensive MF, others seemed more suitable.

It is strange, I have to say.

But once we started coming under pressure I can see why he'd hesitate to make too many changes early on. Unfortunately he then left it too late which meant players were getting tired and started making more mistakes.

 

I just find it hard to understand. I’m not saying they should have started both games but I don’t think we can afford to ignore Gomez and Winks when they’re fit.

 

I know, but the result should have convinced Southgate that Winks wasn't a liability defensively. + his quality on the ball alongside Barkley allowed us to breathe and not defend too deep

 

What I find odd about the Winks situation is that Southgate and Holland talked openly about how much they were anticipating his return. It seemed like they thought he was the key to how they wanted to play. I'd wonder if they were trying to get him on board with some tactical scheme before they threw him into matches, but it's not as if Rice has been with the squad for long himself. Can't quite figure it out.

 

Me neither. At first I thought they would play Rice against Bulgaria and then Winks against Kosovo. Then, that maybe Winks would come on at half time when we were 5-1 up. How wrong I was!