England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

Rice has definitely improved for England. Looks more at home but hes still nowhere near the answer. Why the eff was winks dropped from the squad? Our only midfielder who can turn and pass. Had enough of questioning southgate's tactics and thinking.

 

Just to brighten everyone's day

Only 25 days until the next international break

— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) October 14, 2020

 

Can’t wait for rinse and repeat! We will probably scrape by Iceland but can’t particularly see a win against Belgium if Southgate sticks to the same negative tactics and system.

 

I think Rice gets a lot of unfair stick on here, don’t think he’s half as bad as some make out but also just don’t think the system helps either him or Phillips for that matter! Only one holding midfielder is required as when they get the ball, there’s such a lack of movement ahead of them they have no choice to pass sideways and backwards.

 

TBH that's the question mark I'd have over Grealish.

 

He never stops running though .. one minute he’s bursting into the opposition penalty box then moments later he’ll be tackling back near his own corner flag .. his speed is the same as DCL so not too shabby either

 

To be honest, I think that’s a bit of a myth that gets attached to Grealish when in reality he works very hard from what I’ve seen. Often he ends up in the left back position for Villa covering or helping the left back out.

 

He was all over the place for England last Thursday

 

Yeah, possibly. It's something I've noticed with him in the past but I'm guessing people that watch him a lot have seen a different side to the lad.

It would be interesting to see what happens in training.

 

Football365 put together a list of runners and riders if Southgate leaves

https://www.football365.com/news/feature-next-england-manager-southgate-pochettino-wenger

 

This was a nice interview about the lad...



I think I saw that at the time and, as he says there, some of the stuff about him when he was younger probably hasn't helped him.

In a sense it's much the same about the he's stuck with Villa for personal reasons... again, playing for them doesn't particularly help his career but, on a personal level, it speaks volumes for lad.

I suppose part of the issue also is where he plays. If he's up against Sterling, say, he needs to offer one thing. if he's up against Mount, another.

I'm still not entirely sure where he plays, tbh, but that's presumably because he's more of a roaming guy... a 'free agent' who can pop up all OVER the pitch.

So I can see why he should play... but I can also see why he presents a problem for the manager and it's often for the same reasons.

 

He's a bit like Berbatov in the sense that his style makes it look like he's not doing much off the ball even if the numbers maybe tell a different story.

 

If we have 2 defensive midfielders why should grealish have to track back? Takes away part of his game. Same thing happens to kane. Hes always moving into midfield, I know he's good at that but it makes us too deep

 

Well the proof is in the games and he played brilliantly and got MoM award ..

It’s totally bemusing why he didn’t start against Belgium , then again not starting last night or even coming on as sub when the game was screaming for him .

What’s the point of replacing Phillips who was doing quite well with an unfit Henderson when we were 1:0 down ) to Denmark ..

 

I’ve been tuning in on and off all day to TalkSPORT since 5am this morning..

The pundits / hosts and callers have not stopped slaughtering Southgate ALL day .. even now as we speak if you turn on TalkSport it’s still the main topic ..

He’s actually managed to lose the love and faith of just about everyone .

I don’t honestly see any way back for him now .. I think he’s blown it .

Someone’s already said that the FA can’t afford to sack him but I don’t think he’s the type of guy who will tough things out as things get even uglier .


This is gonna stew now until the next international- if he’s still in charge .

 

Hmm... yeah... not sure that's the best example to quote dude. It's not like we went on to unrivalled success after he left, is it.

It's also not like Taylor got us ANYWHERE in a competition so the situation's completely different.

In fact the only similarity is the 'fickleness', (is that a word), of the England fans and particularly the meeja... that's the same regardless of who's in charge.

TBH this all rather reminds me of Stan Bowles back in the day which the meeja and fans were demanding play. So the manager at the time, (I forget who it was), gave in.

I'd missed the first few minutes of the match on the telly, (this was back when they were on the BBC), and was watching it with a fella I used to work with who'd played for Norwich and Walsall, (guy called Reg Foulkes).

Anyway, the match was coming towards the end of the first half and I started complaining bitterly that Bowles wasn't playing. Reg pointed out, (rather delicately I suppose in retrospect), that, actually, Bowles WAS playing. He'd just done so little I didn't even realise he was on the pitch

To be clear, I'm not saying Grealish is anything like Stan Bowles, (who was a lazy sod at the best of times). I'm just saying the fact that the meeja and fans are 'crying out for player 'X' sometimes doesn't necessarily mean what they think it means.

Guys like Bowles wouldn't last 5 minutes in the modern game. Tremendous skills but was like that guy we all knew at school who wouldn't kick the ball too hard in case it got too far away from his crisps

 

I remember him well .. . Fab left foot !!

I honestly believe that the clamour for Grealish is totally justified .

I keep waiting for a breaking news story revealing why Southgate doesn’t trust Jack .

There was some editorial guy on the radio today speculating that Southgate will only trust the lads he’s worked with closely down the years .. the academy lads like Mount , Barkley , Ward Prowse , Michael Keane , Harry Kane , Ings ..etc ..

So Jack Grealish is an outsider in that respect.

All sounds kinda feasible ??!!??

 

This speculates he is trying to relive 2018. I would agree that Southgate doesn't particularly like players he hasn't worked with extensively


https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-of-2018-faith-is-showing-diminishing-returns

 

Its going a bit over the top this southgate out campaign particularly from titotata. Hes done enough to warrant support but his inept tactics and lack of foresight regarding talented players is mind boggling

 

It’s just an opinion ..


Our performances are eratic at best .


The Grealish saga aside I just feel that Southgate is out of his depth .. it’s not as though he achieved anything noteworthy to warrant getting the role in the first place ..

Team selections are balmy , tactics practically non existent ..

I’d be ok if he took on a proven number two to advise .. Arsene Wenger is available ..

 

Look at marc wilmots. He had Belgiums best ever generation of belgian players. He completely wasted them. Now they've lost fellani dembele kompany vermalen naingollan. Hazard is struggling. Mertens is 32. Theyve only got de bruyne lukaku and courtois left. Alot of their players now play for midrank teams. Im praying southgate doesn't do the same to ours

 

Emile Heskey and Darren Lewis talking sense now to be honest who are saying Southgate sets up his teams because he’s scared of the opposition which I think is bang on the money but just beggars belief why he thinks that when playing Denmark with all due respect.

 

Simple really

play rice as a dm in a 433 and have him drop between the cbs to go 3 at the back in defence

pair him with Graelish and foden or Henderson and one of them vs better sides

 

This forum has been a car crash over the last few weeks - since Southgate has come in he has qualified for the 2018 WC, then we had our best WC since 1990.

We've then won a very tough Nations League group

We've then missed out on the final of the Nations League because Lingard was offside by the width of a gnat's pube

We've qualified for the Euro's in style scoring 37 goals in 8 games.

Then this Nations League campaign, after a Covid lay off, has been a bit disappointing. We've set up defensively but these are games that no one wants to play in. They are glorified freindlies to an extent, although we picked up a fantastic result on Sunday, after a poor first half.

We were the better team last night until Maguire's brainfart, then a terrible decision and still should have come away with a point.

I'm not a massive fan of the 343, but ultimately Southgate has done a very good job whichever way you slice it - players coming through, youngsters ingratiating, results, spirit in the camp - much more than managers like Capello or Hodgson managed.

Every achievement is being talked down, every perceived slight is being made into a huge deal and there are people on here thinking the only reason he isn't getting sacked is because it woukd be expensive.....he isn't getting sacked because he is doing a very good job, whether you like the setup for the last few games or not they have seen us beat one of the top teams in the world and lose 1 game against a Denmark side who don't lose man ygames of international football - look at how bad things got under previous managers and engage your brains if you think he is going to get the boot any time soon - if he were to go before the Euro's it would be one of the most unjust sackings in the history of football

 

Listen I dont wanna step on anyones toes, I'm a dane though, so I might.
Can I just say one little thing, and then I will shut up and you can go back to hating Southgate


It seems like everyone here automatically assumed a walkover?

The danish starting 11:
Leicester
Valencia - Milan - Chelsea - Hoffenheim
Dortmund - Inter - Tottenham
Barcelona - Nice - RB Leipzig

This isn't some Norwegian or Finish side with half the players being home league.
There is a reason the ELO ranking ranks Denmark just two places below you guys.