BBC Pl Clubs player of the season voting. Arsenal 1, Declan Rice - 41% 4, Bukayo Saka - 9% Aston Villa 1, Ollie Watkins - 77% Bournemouth 1, Dominic Solanke - 88% 2, Lewis Cook - 5% Brentford N/A Brighton 4, James Milner - 12% Burnley N/A Chelsea 1, Cole Palmer - 92% 2, Conor Gallagher - 5% 3, Raheem Sterling - 2% Crystal Palace 3, Adam Wharton - 18% Everton 1, Jarrad Branthwaite - 50% 2, Jordan Pickford - 34% 3, James Tarkowski - 10% Fulham N/A Liverpool 3, Joe Gomez - 12% Luton Town 1, Ross Barkley - 72% 2, Carlton Morris - 13% 3, Teden Mengi - 5% Manchester City 1, Phil Foden - 68% Manchester United 1, Kobbie Mainoo - 35% Newcastle United 2, Anthony Gordon - 34% Nottingham Forest 1, Morgan Gibbs - White - 59% 2, Callum Hudson - Odoi - 20% Sheffield United 4, Jack Robinson - 14% Spurs N/A West Ham 1, Jarrod Bowen - 65% Wolves N/A https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c51nzggvxjdo
Yeah, Blairites with blue ties will be kicked out and Blairites with red ties will come in and replace them, and around we go.
In what shows fhe age difference in squads 7 of the 33 were not eligible to vote at the time of the last election as they were under 18. (And if the term had been the full five years it would have been 8). And at least three maybe more will be in the final 26. Meanwhile In 2010 (The last time an general election coincided with a tournament year) none of the squad had been ineligible to vote at the 2005 election as Aaron Lennon and Joe Hart had both just turned 18 on election day 2005. And at Euro 1992 Alan Shearer was the only player who was ineligible to vote at the 1987 election.
Who plays lb if shaw and trippier are hurt? mad how we have no one who is a natural there. I know arsenal and city did ok with cbs in that role. Could braithwaite play as a stay at home left back?
Joe Gomez seems to be in the squad as a left back, really he deserves to be ahead of Trippier for the position too but it seems unlikely to happen (though I won't be surprised if he ends up displacing Trippier in the tournament). Wouldn't be too surprised if Branthwaite gets tried there in the Bosnia friendly at any rate, at least for a half. He seems to have some appearances as a left back under his belt. Seems a bit odd to me we left Hall out the entire squad though, given the call up for Quansah and I guess Wharton.
Hall said recently that he struggled to settle mentally at Newcastle which is why he wasn’t playing until recently. I’m guessing that he’s viewed as not being ready for a senior tournament yet. It makes me laugh when people on the right claim we’re living in Blair’s world. This is the Thatcherite consensus. I’m not sure there’s many serious historians that would argue otherwise. Thatcher herself said that New Labour were her greatest achievement.
Unless Shaw is fit then I think it would be mental to even attempt to play with a system that depends on someone approximating an orthodox left-back. Thatcher still pursued socially conservative policies, which the Tories completely abandoned from Cameron onwards. Thatcher and Blair were quite distinct, Blair and those that followed not so much. In either case I think the idea that the change was forced by either party or the electorate is a bit fanciful. They're a managerial class that basically just do whatever the money power wants them to.
There's still a massive unwillingness from a lot of people to accept English players as equals to the top players across Europe. The widely held belief that English players are overrated has been in place for so long that many have become chronically underrated.
Agreed. We can tell by the players he's picked that that's what he'll do though. Any decent alternative involves Trent playing somewhere in the back four, either inverted or not, and he probably won't try that. At least not from the start of a game.
I do like Gordon. For all his intensity I think he's a high IQ player, especially around the box. Granted he's not a proven game changer at that level yet though.
The UK has had two broad political and econominc consensuses since WW2. The post war consensus or the British socialist state introduced by Clem Attlee 1945-79 and the Thatcherite consensus 1979 - today. Thatcherism is a particular expression of the neoliberal capitalist system that has dominated Western nations since the WW2. Britain used to be a bit of an outlier among developed Western nations in this sense until Thatcher. Blairism was just a different shade of the same thing, broadly in line with the EU expression of it, only really distinct when viewing through a very narrow overton window. I'd contest that there wasn't much socially conservative about Thatcher. She's was a libertarian and rather that she sowed the seeds of destruction for British conservatism. Libertarianism by it's nature is antithetical to conservatism as it does the opposite to conserving. It's individualist, anti-environmental and ultra globalist. It relies on low taxation (for the rich at least) constant churn and needs cheap labour which necessitates mass immigration. As Peter Hitchens say, the only answer the modern Tory party has for any problem is 'more markets'. He constantly laments that there is no longer a conservative party in Britain. This is Thatcher's legacy. I'd agree that Blair and Campbell created a particular kind of political presentation that is still dominant but that's mostly superficial and not the significant undercurrent. The problem that modern British politics has is that the broad political character of the country is socially conservative and economically socialist, this was roughly the political and economic settlement that Attlee gave the country after WW2. Today neither party actually delivers on either of political ideals, actually quite the opposite. Both parties are trying to continue the delusion of low tax (for the rich at least) and a competent functioning state. The only real point of difference being that Labour will commit more to public spending whilst the Tories cut and demand fantasy improvements in efficiency. The difference in ideals and outcomes is why people are so frustrated with politics. Personally I think neoliberalism died with the 2007 financial crash. It isn't that our leaders don't realise that, it's that they've committed everything to globalism and there's no actual way out. Thatcher sold all our national services, to foreign governments mostly, we import half of our food, we import half of our energy and we're in debt to international bond markets to the tune of nearly 100% of GDP. The idea that we are or can be 'independent' is a fantasy because since Thatcher the country has been sold off and few attempts to become self-sufficient have been made, although it's worth pointing out that Blair wanted to build seven nuclear power plants that Cameron kiboshed. Liz Truss's trade deals with New Zealand and Austrailia further diminish food security but that's Libertarianism for you - 'more markets' is the dogma. As I've mentioned before on here we're now in a situation where the only way the government can create the illusion of growth is through mass imigration. tl'dr we're in big trouble and there's no way out but for me Labour are the lesser of two evils.
For all this talk about Blairism, I'd just be extremely surprised if Southgate opts to lead with Toney and Gordon in the upcoming Euros.
🚨🔵 | 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋: Cole Palmer is the PFA Premier League 23/24 Fans’ Player of the Year! #CFC pic.twitter.com/GvnQsknX1Z— Everything England 🏴 (@TheEngllshGame) May 22, 2024
Arsenal are ready to move for Feyenoord and Netherlands goalkeeper Justin Bijlow, 26, as they expect their 26-year-old England stopper Aaron Ramsdale to depart. (Mirror), external Tottenham are willing to offload 27-year-old Brazil forward Richarlison to make space for England and Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, 26. (Talksport), external England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, 30, has given a clear indication he will remain with Everton despite transfer interest from Chelsea. (Mirror), external Mason Mount put himself in the frame for Saturday's FA Cup final by returning to training. (The Sun) Gareth Southgate says his new-look England squad will have more "hunger" going into the Euros. (Daily Mirror)
The FA will remind the entire England squad details of the postal voting process, in the event they’re still in Germany on July 4th. The first 1/4 final is on the 5th.— Steve Scott (@stevescott_itv) May 23, 2024
🚨EXCLUSIVE Newcastle interested in double swoop for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jarrod Bowen #nufc #whufc #efc https://t.co/oknBoHZ1EG— Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) May 23, 2024
Bowen is a strong move but dunno what they're seeing in DCL at this stage. Feel like he'd cost way more than he's actually worth.
That makes it even worse imo. Could understand it a bit more if the intention was to use him as a rotational piece for when Isak isn't fit but in no way can DCL act as a replacement for Isak.
🚨 Harry Maguire will miss the FA Cup final.Ten Hag: “Harry Maguire is unavailable but for the rest Mount, Lindelof and Martial are available”. pic.twitter.com/AR82U7RC0E— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 23, 2024 Harry Maguire not back in time for the FA Cup final. . ‘Erik ten Hag says defender Harry Maguire will miss the FA Cup final: "Harry Maguire [is] unavailable. Tomorrow we will make final decisions. It's just he didn’t heal as expected." ‘