FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: England Tournament Thread [R]

We played a 5-2-3/3-4-3 in Euros though. 5-3-2 was in 2018?

 

Given that Southgate said that Kane was struggling with his ankle in the last game then I think that we need to rest him against Wales. Wilson is plenty good enough for this game.

 

I agree. That's why this narrative that Southgate played 'negatively' simply isn't true. if he'd have chosen Philips or another defensive midfielder alongside Rice THEN calling SG's lineup 'negative' would be fair.

The complaint that SG didn't make the change quickly enough is probably fair but then, Belgium's showing against Canada was similar but they managed to grab a rather flukey goal against the run of play against a similar side that were very athletic, worked incredibly hard and were well organised.

Something I did find rather annoying was all the crap I had to watch on the telly BEFORE the match about Bellingham and how he was Bobby Moore, Frank Beckenbauer and Zinedine Zidane all rolled into one after ONE good game for the national side.

I get he's been great for his club side and has been respectable for us but then, so have a LOT of English players over the years.

We just need to get a grip and realise we're NOT always going to blow teams off the pitch. The other team also have say in what goes on and, if our players don't perform, (as we didn't here), we'll struggle to get the draw and maybe even lose, as Belgium have just done to Morocco... as Germany did to Japan... as Argentine did to Saudi Arabia. I mean, Saudi Arabia, FFS!!!

 

Yeah the all knowing British press/media can ruin a player. I remember how In their eyes Gazza went from a hero to a zero when those bastards went after him.

Bellingham was in Liverpools sights before this WC. That goal put his price up methinks.

 

Grealish, in particular, does tend to either go to ground or throw his arms in the air when he comes under any pressure. Usually it's fair enough... partiularly when he's had his legs taken from under him it's reasonable to fall over, obviously

But sometimes it's a case of him demanding the decision when it's questionable whether he's come under pressure to hurl himself to the ground with that level of vigor or to throw his arms in the air in a movement that looks more petulant than anything. If that kept happening the refs would simply not give him the calls consistently, even if he HAS been fouled.

At the very least it's a more high risk strategy to rely on the ref giving you all the calls you ask for.

 

As bad as our performance was at least we're not Belgium

 

I wasn't sure if you were suggesting a return to the system used in euros or in 2018.

 

Not a huge surprise. They have been on the slide for a while and really should be looking to incorporate younger players. Not out yet though.

 

A lot of problems came from the fact that the midfield didn't make themselves available for a pass from the CB's.

I remember watching our game against the yanks, asking, (only slightly sarcastically), 'Do our midfielders KNOW they're allowed to move?'

As someone said on the telly, they had 3 attackers backed up by 3 midfielders, ALL of whom worked incredibly hard and were well organised. If midfield pivots don't make themselves available and are capable of turning and finding a pass wide or forward, it's going to be a long old game.

 

Problem for Belgium is there don’t have many younger players coming through - particularly in certain positions.

 

... or Croatia

 

I have seen some of these tactic nerds on Twitter say that a 4-2-3-1 could be the solution. It would give Stones/Maguire an extra option when they have the ball and would make us more compact in possession, allowing easier passing options.

 

Well, you said that the display was very negative and that GS 'encouraged that' and that usually implies the starting line-up was set up to play negative football but, anyway...

I agree he could have changed the line-up earlier and I said that but the thing is, most of the attacking and younger players that people were asking for were on the pitch anyway.

I'd have thought taking off a 19 year old Bellingham and sending on a 32 year old Henderson was a negative change but that's now being deemed as a positive one in some quarters because we improved a bit after that.

Also, as you say, he DID bring on Grealish just after the hour.

 

We played it against Italy in June. I thought it was the most cohesive we played that month. It was also the game that convinced me Ward-Prowse could play a role for England and Tomori was not up to international standard.

 

They do and they have enough younger players in their squad. If you look by average age of squad they are roughly in the middle at this tournament, but the starting XI is much older than average.

 

I don’t think some of their youngsters that have remained on the bench are that highly rated through compared to the veterans still starting.

 

But you still haven't really said who else he could have brought in other than Foden for Mount but, as someone else said, when Foden's played for England he hasn't been notably brilliant, has he.

He could maybe have made the changes 5-10 minutes earlier but that's about it.

 

Entirely possible that they'll never reach the level Vertonghen did say, but they also aren't 35 and could likely handle pace a bit better.