Was just about to say, it's been one of those nights for Nelson when things just don't go your way. Lol
Appalling. Boothroyd plays 5 at the back and still manages to ship 2 goals. Nelsons effort was also poor. This is one of those games where winning harms us because it covers up obvious problems. If that was germany we would have got minced. What a shambles.Well done Nketiah for taking his chances.
We win and I’m happy for the players but still it’s another case of papering over the gigantic cracks. It’s just hard to force yourself to even tolerate another campaign.
There’s just no real base at midfield, just like the last group, loads of attacking players, the game was just very up and down, lacking in control. Good win all in. Thought Nketiah did well. A good goalscorer at every level so far. Hope Leeds play him more.
Another @PhilFoden assist 👌Another @EddieNketiah9 goal 👏#younglions pic.twitter.com/nyBCIm5W2v— England (@England) September 6, 2019
Gallagher isn't exactly a holding midfielder either. Over dramatic to say i'm worried about Reiss Nelson, but he was so predictable tonight. Kept slowing the ball up so he could drive inside and the defenders were waiting for him every time. Plays way too narrow when Arsenal are trying to play him on the left too. Still so young and he'll get plenty of chances this year, but just could do with kicking on a bit again.
Nelson is one of my favourite players but I agree wholeheartedly. Speaking of heart, I feel he's very up and down, looks a bit lost since going back to arsenal. He seems miles behind sancho or foden
Mason Greenwood England U21 debut v Turkey #MUFC pic.twitter.com/sYYVsAOBCp— LastLibertine (@LibertineSoRare) September 6, 2019
Had to leave when Greenwood came on, which seemed to be the moment Foden finally moved to the right / center. The issue isn't just the lack of a true DM IMO, the way Boothroyd set up the team was a 5 1 4 basically, which makes it impossible to control anything. Davies was all alone in midfield. Foden and Gibbs White are more than capable of playing deeper, at least to help the build up. Foden in particular was so high in the first half, he was impossible to find and the defenders had to play long balls several times.
I'm no fan of Boothroyd but I've just watched the whole match and I think the comments are hyper critical. It's an away game with a brand new team, a large partisan crowd and a pumped up Turkish team. There's no mention of Nelson missing the open goal in the first half that would have killed the game, that's the turning point. I thought the majority of performances were professional and promising - lots of positives and an enjoyable watch.
the last 30 mn were much better when Greenwood replaced Sessegnon, as Foden moved to the other side and started to take control with Gibbs-White. Not sure Boothroyd did that on purpose though. Btw I really like Guehi, makes me think of Tomori a bit, and like Tomori I used to think of him as a pure defender who was slightly limited with the ball (compared to Panzo for instance) but he's actually comfortable with the football and evades pressure very well.
I think I made the Guehi/Tomori comparison on twitter a few years ago, it's definitely apt, and there's a lot more to both of them than the coded language you often see and hear. Marc has played alongside Rüdiger a couple of times in recent weeks and, obviously accounting for the circumstances, hasn't looked any worse a player.
Tomori was excellent at derby He’s rapid, reasonable passer and has a good leap for a guy that isnt huge He really has a high ceiling for me
The formation was an absolute mess, it left the team far too open. It's a very difficult formation to excel in if you're not just planning to play very defensively and needs great coaching which just doesn't happen. The 3rd centre back just limits England really. Mind you the issues with massive gaps in midfield were also prevalent at the Euro's. Defensively it also seems the very soft goals have carried over from the Euro's too. Clearly that's on the players as well but to some extent is an issue of poor coaching. I will give him some credit, positive changes and the team looked good with them and handled it well.
As far as I could tell, the only players playing in their natural positions were the goalkeeper and the centre backs. The entire formation was disjointed and the players barely seemed to know what to do. Besides, the more calls for Boothroyd to go, the more mainstream that idea becomes - the better. We know what will happen once we get to the tournament and big calls are demanded of him, the same things that happened the last two tournaments, and the last two times he should have been replaced.
Quotes from a Phil Foden interview after the Turkey game. Seems he's starting to get a bit frustrated at the lack of opportunities at City. 'I just know that I’m ready to play. I feel like I am. I try to show him every day in training'. ‘There is a bit of team-mates telling me to be patient but obviously I’m hungry and want to play now...' ‘It will be nice if Pep watched the Turkey game but maybe he’s taken a little holiday to play golf or something! I wouldn’t blame him.'
Yep. He has more talent than De Jong IMO who was given a run last year and is now a permanent starter. He needs to be playing
Foden has more talent than a guy who Barca bought and is the best player on a side a nats arse away from the cl final?