England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

Always said that rashford could be considered world class once he scores goals. 19 in 30 now which for me makes him world class

 

What’s your point

 

Does anybody have any news on RLC? It seems slightly ominous that there appears to have been so few updates on him, or have I been living under a rock?

 

No. It looks like he won't be a available for the euros

 

Southgate might be tempted to pick Barkley, Alli or Ox and leave Grealish out but it would be the wrong decision.

 

Southgate sadly has a lot of favourites and plays the % so I reckon he will take all them plus Dier and Delph but omit Grealish , Maddison and Foden

 

Cant see grealish and maddison being omitted . He will probably take maddison. Dier and delph are well out of contention

 

If kane doesn't make the euros, would you be tempted to take vardy out of retirement or try a wildcard like Greenwood?

 

Whilst Southgate does have players he likes, I think it's a bit of a myth that he's stubborn and unwilling to give new players a chance. Maddison is a bit of a unique case in this sense I think. However, I do believe he was just about to become integral back in October but shot himself in the foot with the casino incident. I think with Grealish it mainly boils down to the fact that he was playing in the championship until last season and that until this season, his rivals in attacking midfield have been performing to a level that justifies an England spot. For example even though Alli has been completely outperformed by Grealish this season and the latter looks more rounded, I don't think anybody would begrudge Alli of being selected over Grealish for example in the last 3-4 years. I feel the real acid test for Southgate will be the next international break. In both the midfield and attacking slots he is going to have a major headache, and provided Maddison and Grealish maintain their form, it will have surely reached a stage where there is no justifiable case to leave them out. I know some people will say they don't fit the system but
A) they are both young, intelligent footballers who are surely capable of adapting
B) even if they are not, surely the difference in their level of performance and consistency and the other options they are competing against, now warrants a tweaking of the system?

Overall, I am delighted we now have an abundance of in form, young, talented players to choose from. However, in many ways it's a test for Southgate in the coming years as his job is no longer about working with a tight knit but somewhat limited group of players, rather it's becoming a task in getting the best out of a talented, resource laden squad. I have always wanted Southgate to succeed as he is one of the good guys in football, I just hope he makes the right decisions.

 

I want him to succeed as well and especially after our run in the World Cup I feel that the hoodoo with us may be broken.

it is sometimes annoying as it seems like he picks players that do not play the way he wants to play though and he does have favourites.

I think Alli will probably get picked.. I don’t mind Barkley for England but honestly given that he won’t select Foden or Grealish or Maddison there is no way he should be going. I feel like we have wasted international breaks not trying players such as these, who may now only have a couple of games to prove themselves. Can’t complain as we have been playing well and winning well but there were games where he played the same midfield in two games in 4 days..

i also really hope that Delph and Dier don’t get picked and that Rice is not starting either. It’s annoying as we have such good wide players that only really leaves space for one of Grealish/Maddison etc

 

Well Kalvin Phillips good game at arsenal might have put him on Gareth's radar he was at elland road yesterday. I didn't see that match and leeds lost so I'm not sure how well he did but its looking promising.

As for Grealish his media coverage has gone crazy these last few months. Rightly so he has been in amazing form, he just has to keep going at least until the march games. It won't be easy for Southgate to leave him out without a hugh backlash. It used to be a couple of articles from journalists down at the Birmingham Mail championing him. Not anymore be a very brave man to go with Mount, Alli or Ox now.

 

Reports from Sam Lee that Guardiola may be running out of patience with Stones and he could go depending on how Garcia does between now and the end of the season. He said that City are looking to bring in 2 CB's which along with Laporte, would mean Stones could bite the dust depending on how Garcia does in his appearances. The good news is that of the 5 players Lee said they were looking to sign, he said they were looking at 2 CB's, a left back, a winger to replace Sane and possibly a striker. There was no talk of a Silva replacement and Guardiola has spoken again about his admiration and trust in Foden.

 

Stones has always been overrated to me

he’s a decent footballer but an average defender

 

Grealish needs to get out of this villa team. They're rank rotten. They will just stifle his talent

 

I don't get this obsession of throwing teenagers to the deep end, especially when there is a lot of better choice: Rashford, Abraham, Ings are all deserve a chance before Greenwood, he is not on the same level at the moment.

 

He’s got a massive decision looming .. do a Matt le Tiss and stay with his first love or move away when they’re relegated..

 

More scare mongering from the sun. Saying mourinho fears kane could be out till next season. Which means he could miss euro 2020

 

It's possible I suppose.

 

Mourinho would rather he didn’t play in the Euro’s anyway so I guess he’s trying to plant the seed with Southgate not to risk him. To be honest, I don’t want another half fit Kane going into the Tournament, if he’s not 100% then leave him out in my opinion.

 

It doesn't look good that's for sure. However, knowing Mourinho's manipulative ways, it could just be a ploy to get Levy to spend. What I would say is that if Kane somehow makes a miraculous recovery and is almost fit by March, we should be playing Rashford, Sterling and Sancho regardless. As has been pointed out, we need a contingency plan and can't risk taking somebody not 100% to the tournament. People often say Rashford is useless through the middle compared to out wide, however I feel like in our system with better players around him than he has at United, he can be a lot more effective there.

 

Kane is vital. We cant afford to lose a proven goalscorer. We aren't france where they have giroud mbappe and griezmann.

 

Giroud scored 0 at the World Cup

 

I'd argue France losing Mbappe is the same as us losing Kane. Take Mbappe out and they have more than capable players in Griezmann and Giroud. We have two excellent players in Sterling and Rashford. In fact, Sterling and Rashford have 39 goals between them this season whilst Griezmann and Mbappe have 28. This is also forgetting that we have Sancho who is one of the best young players in world football in my opinion. Then there is the likes of Tammy Abraham on top of that. France are obviously a better balanced side than us and are superior in many areas. However, in terms of firepower, I'd argue it's very close and in terms of form over the last 18 months, I'd even say our options are ahead of theirs though they have to do it at a tournament.

 

This is basically the first time I can remember where i'm not actually that bothered about us losing our 'best' attacking player. Would love him to be healthy and on form of course, but doubt it's gonna define our tournament. We've got great attacking depth.

 

I wouldn't put money on abraham putting the chances away that kane does