England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

Henderson was unused for Ajax in their 2-0 defeat by Az Alkmaar.

 

Whats the point? It'll cost them money to get rid of him. The manager isn't the problem. Clueless owners are the problem at Chelsea, The only real signing thats paid off is Palmer.

 

Jan Paul van Hecke on Lewis Dunk! 🌟

A #BHAFC legend 💙
His 400th appearance 🥳
Learning from the skipper 🤝

Do you think Dunk deserves an England call-up this summer? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Listen to the full interview below 🎧⤵️

— BBC Sport Sussex (@BBCSussexSport) February 25, 2024

Strange day for Gallagher. Generally very good and unlucky to hit the post but two big misses.

— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) February 25, 2024

Would you give Jack Butland an England call-up? #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/R1Dxinhzmw

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) February 25, 2024

 

I think it's incredibly fitting to see Chelsea lose a final to a Liverpool side packed with kids when you look at the disdain with which they've treated their academy products over the years.

Chelsea could've had Guehi, James, Rice, Mount, Musiala and Solanke as starters with Livramento, Colwill, Chalobah, Tomori, Hall, Gilchrist, Gallagher and Hudson-Odoi all as squad players/developmental projects and kept that €1bn to splash on a select few world class difference makers. There's no way that squad isn't better than what they have now. CHO would be a big upgrade on the Mudryk we've seen in a Chelsea shirt and they sold him for peanuts.

They could've been unique in English football but instead opted to become a sad, failed attempt at Madrid's Galácticos and now they're paying the price for it.

 

Loftus-Cheek, Abraham, Ake and Christensen too

 

They could've been unique in English football but instead opted to become a sad, failed attempt at Madrid's Galácticos and now they're paying the price for it.

Great post, shame Pochettino doesn't seem to have control of transfers - his methods and track record combined with Chelsea's academy could produce something special.

 

Biggest eff up was selling de bruyne

 

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher says he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge. The 24-year-old England international has 18 months left on his contract and has been linked with a move to Tottenham. (Sky Sports)

English midfielder Jack Harrison, 27, wants to turn his loan move from Leeds United to Everton into a permanent deal in the summer even if the Elland Road side are promoted back to the Premier League. (Football Insider)

Blackburn have set their sights on Jacob Fowler - son of Liverpool legend Robbie. (The Sun)

Amid all the very justified praise for Klopp’s kids and Van Dijk, I thought Joe Gomez was excellent yesterday. Still think he’d be a great option to take to the Euros given he can play every single position in defence.

— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) February 26, 2024

No Manager has full control over transfers anymore. The few that have strong influence will be replaced by those who don’t when they leave they current jobs.

 

Yeah, Poch has been taking a lot of heat for the current situation but I really don't think them getting rid of him and appointing some established tactico will fix things. I think Palmer, Chukwuemeka, Gusto and Ugochuckwu are the only real top-quality players they've signed and two of those are young project players with little first-team experience. Like you say, they drastically need to get rid of Winstanley and whoever else has been dictating these transfers.

What's even more ridiculous is that a large portion of the fanbase has cheerleaded the club's attitude towards its own academy talents to aid the pursuit of big-money signings. I've never seen a fanbase as plagued by shiny new toy syndrome as Chelsea's. I always remember how many of them wanted to get rid of Colwill to help fund the Cucurella deal.

 

Amid all the very justified praise for Klopp’s kids and Van Dijk, I thought Joe Gomez was excellent yesterday. Still think he’d be a great option to take to the Euros given he can play every single position in defence.

— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) February 26, 2024

Nice of Fleet Street to finally catch up with our line of thinking.

 

I think Sancho is pretty much a bust at this point.

Jadon Sancho labelled the ‘worst player on the pitch’ by German media after dismal showing in Hoffenheim defeat 👎 #mufc

⬇️ https://t.co/j0iWSuaczE

— Stretty News (@StrettyNews) February 26, 2024

 

The problem is the way profitability and sustainability rules work Chelsea are going to have to sell more academy talents to fund future transfers.Also all the flops they bought and put on 8 year contacts are going to be very hard to get rid of.

 

Looks like he could be another Big time Charlie.

 

I might be wrong, but aren't those contracts not too high. The issue is the length not the renumeration. Theoretically they could sell a player four years down the line. Of course I doubt they have that patience.

 

It always seemed a long shot for someone who's been training by themselves for so long to hit the ground running.

Difficult to see where he goes from here though. Presumably another loan move beckons in the summer. Still young enough to turn it around but he seems to show very little signs he won't just be another good example that the talent side of the equation doesn't matter much if the attitude side is lacking.

 

I'm not 100% sure how it works with FFP. But my guess is they need to sell the player for close to what they paid for them (depending on lenght of contract) or it goes down as a loss. Academy products are 100% profit as I understand it. Might be wrong but how I understand from what I've read and heard.

 

Yes Liverpool should have been heavy faourites going into it. But it was made out to be a 50/50 game. Now its being madeout that Liverpool were the underdogs with all the kids playing. They are top of the league.

 

Chelsea actually had the younger starting and finishing XI in the Carabao Cup match against Liverpool 🔵

Mark McAdam compares the narrative around the squads from yesterday's final 🏆 pic.twitter.com/em9zaXEVo5

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 26, 2024

You were bang on.

 

Maybe during the 90 mins but extra time tipped the balance a bit. Chelsea had a £200m midfield playing against Endo, Clark and McConnell for half an hour and spent the majority of it on the back foot.

Liverpool might have had a few older heads on the pitch at the time but some of them aren't top quality players - Tsimikas & Endo - and I don't think an average age argument is that fair when Liverpool's youngsters are so inexperienced. I don't think having two or three old heads on the pitch makes up for McConnell's, Clark's or Danns' complete lack of senior experience.

Chelsea's young players on the other hand have very much been around the block and played plenty of big occasions before so the way they performed in extra time is worthy of criticism imo.

I do agree though that to an extent it's beating a dead horse, and Neville and Carragher were slightly guilty of that.

 

I think Man United will try and sell him this summer - Saudi if he will go there the most likely option.

 

I'd have thought Spain or Italy are the most likely destinations for Jaden Sancho, following on from the success of Bellingham and Greenwood in La Liga, and Loftus-Cheek and Tomori in Serie A.