I don't think that Madueke will ever get in England seniors. His technique just isn't as good as a lot of the other options we have, especially against packed defences. Skipp and Ramsey will probably get in at some point by virtue of a lack of options. I really hope that Cole Palmer gets a loan next season as he looks fantastic at u21 level but isn't getting much game time at City.
There’s no agenda.. Spain , for whatever reason , rested 8 players .. no idea why as they were all going back to their clubs .. not playing Brazil in a couple of days .. Apparently the new guy has moved up through the ranks and decided to see if they could move forward using the young players he’d played in the under 21’s and under 23’s .. Seems like it backfired as they got Scotland on a bad night ( for Spain) . Still crazy to omit Gavi arguably Spain and Barca’s best player form wise and who’s only about 18 and would fit into his ideal of a young vibrant team .
Spain got lucky against Norway. Hardly vibrant. Yet England beat Italy away and cruise past Ukraine. Yet u don't think that's vibrant
Exaaactly, all those people who are made to hate Englands team for various reasons are the same ones who maintain that inferiority complex towards England amongst football fans (Mostly those who have adopted the stereotyping of "Them" being Hooligans) I personally don't care if Spain lost with its 2nd string or 5th string! All i know is if you keep playing like that you wont be going to no Euro's!
I'm chuffed for Scotland really. It sets up our September meeting with them nicely. Also, anyone who beats Spain is alright by me. Give me the power play of an England, Germany, Holland or Denmark any day. The tactical tedium of the Spaniards just leaves me cold.
I couldn't agree more! i find the Spanish tippy tappy dull as hell, always have! I'd rather watch the rough and tumble of a League 2 game than watch the Spanish pass it among themselves at the back for ten minutes at a time!
Yeah even at their peak in the latter 00s and early 10s when they were all conquering I found their football tedious. People say it was only boring because teams parked the bus against them but that’s a load of nonsense. There have been dozens of great sides throughout history who have been given the same treatment but still scored loads of goals and entertained. Also, if they hadn’t/didn’t play so slowly, teams wouldn’t be able to get organised and they’d be able to exploit gaps quicker, get the opening goal sooner and then everything would become easier.
It’s bewildering He made 8 changes .. and omitted Gavi who is arguably the most in form player in La Liga
They had the best midfield in the world back then to do it. Xavi iniesta busquets silva alonso fabregas. Now they have a number of run of the mill midfielders, pedri aside, that can't play that way
I agree, it really is time to start accentuating the positive. Could our in-game management be better? Absolutely. Can we improve in certain key positions? It's always been the case. But let's make no mistake, this England is a proper force in world football again. We can now compete technically with even the biggest Latin nations. We've got a tight club-like unit, something that used to be the major advantage of the smaller countries. Youth is on our side. And, unlike previous generations, we have good options on the bench in most positions. Seriously, what's there not to enjoy?
I found the performances against both Italy and Ukraine good enough but equally could have been better. Was quite disappointed that even at 2-0 against Ukraine with a few minutes to go he didn’t bring on Guehi for Maguire or Stones. I’m not sure Colwill will be involved in the summer. Will they weaken the under 21’s just to get him in the seniors? He can’t do both. Ditto Gibbs - White or Elliott. If they are lots of ‘injury’ related absences we could see first call ups to 1990’s born players instead.
The England senior games are the week before the Euro's starts so in theory there's nothing stopping Colwill at least being with the main England squad for at least one of the games and then moving to the under 21 squad. You could cap Colwill in a pretty favourable game against Malta on on the 16th June and get him a couple of training sessions better preparing him for the September games, then move him to the under 21's who's first game is 22nd June. It happens relatively commonly with other international teams previously when the tournament aligns with senior fixtures, although I can never recall England doing it. Of course it really depends on how the senior staff view him. If he's seen as a good contender for a starting spot for the Euro's we should absolutely be trying to optimise his England career by getting him in ASAP and coupling it with tournament experience with the under 21's, if he's just seen as squad potential for next summer there's probably little point.
I would be surprised if they do it like that. I can see Southgate saying he would have picked him but feels it would be unfair on the under 21’s chances to have him miss training with them.
Yeah I'd be surprised, it'd be a shame though. We're usually pretty risk averse with young players coming into the squad, and usually they're not capped on the first call up unless its a relatively easy game so if we don't cap him this summer, difficult to see him being thrown into the Ukraine qualifier in September based on previous history, by which point you're rapidly running out of international breaks to integrate a young centre back into the side. Ideally you'd want him and Stones having a good run of games together. Of course it could just as well be there's no real expectation on him to displace Maguire by the Euro's so it doesn't really matter, but for me personally we need to take a couple of risks to really propel the team to the next level - namely a new centre back and new central midfielder, and Colwill has all the attributes we should be willing to gamble on and nurture.