Southgate just said we went with a back three and picked the most experienced guys to pull it off !!! But they’re NOT experienced playing in a back three !! Holy Jesus .. he’s better suited to politics ..
This is going to be a hard watch and to be honest, I’m not surprised as I knew he would do this! Southgate is going to turn the fans against him very quickly which is a shame as he was doing pretty well until he lost his marbles.
Im not trolling. Counter attacking football isn’t sexy, it’s turgid. Using a forward that can hold the ball up and gets in the box to score from close range is essential. Having a crosser as good as TAA is also essential.
The interviews Southgate gets are so easy on him. He gets away with explaining that team by saying “We’ve gone with experience and will try to match up.”
Pickford is the very last of our issues here. Having a good crosser and someone who can get Head the ball wont be enough to do well in a tournament this isn’t the league 1.
The best case scenario here is we survive a 45 minute onslaught from Belgium at which Southgate has a road to damascus moment and realises the error of his ways to make changes in the team and system at half time. The worst is probably a 1-0 loss were because it was close its held as evidence that the team nearly drew against the number one ranked team in the world despite Sterling and Kane being out.
A lot of teams playing good counter-attacking football with midfielders who can pass, it shouldn't be turgid per definition.