England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

Bellingham rice foden in midfield. Saka kane rashford up front

 

Be such a shame if we had another Scholes situation where he retires early from England because he's not being utilised properly

 

Forson the only English player on the Pitch for Man United.

 

Scholes didn’t like the whole set up and many of the non Man United players. There is no evidence Foden dislikes any of the players or doesn’t enjoy international football.

 

I doubt he'll retire from England early. Hes already won a world cup with them.

P.S
Btw nice to see him having a word with Mainoo at the end.

 

80% of sides at the top level play an aggressive press, there's a decent bit of difference between how England and Newcastle play. England are a counter-pressing side who are much slower and more patient in settled possession compared to a Newcastle side that play at 100mph and are usually trying to force fast transitions, and they play incredibly narrowly compared to England who use width much more to attack. Newcastle and West Ham are actually very similar in style, much more similar than Newcastle are to England.

If you play for Newcastle you also have the added benefit of teams coming out and trying to take the game to you which is very favourable for attackers who are often afforded the kind of space you don't get in a lot of games playing for England. I like Gordon a lot but he's a better alternative to Grealish - excellent possession retention and defensive acumen - than he is to Rashford. He's capable of moments of quality but nowhere near to Rashford's degree. He's a fraction of the ball striker Rashford is and he takes much longer to get his shots off, largely owing to slower feet and a reliance on one or two angles.

 

Last season I was starting to think Foden was a little overrated. I'll hold my hands up and say now hes probably Englands most gifted player at the moment. Hopefully he'll be as good in an England shirt as he is in a City shirt.

 

I am not sure I agree with half your statements. But to limit the discussion to Rashford. Rashford is poor at ball retention. Whilst I only saw the second half, he had three chances to break, in the first one it was hard as he was crowded out, but the other two he lost possesion too easily. This isn't an isolated situation. He puts his head down and runs into cul-de-sacs. If we are playing Rashford just for his moments of magic, then frankly Ward-Prowse should be played for his set-piece abililty. That is not a good reason to pick him and the same should apply to Rashford.

 

This will never happen though.
The most realistic place is for him in place of Rashford on the left.

 

I never said ball retention was Rashford's speciality, I said it was Grealish's and Gordon's. It feels daft to take two wingers with similar qualities, Gordon is a like-for-like alternative to Grealish (in terms of what role they'd play for us) when Grealish isn't playing well.

It's also not fair to use that game as an example to judge Rashford's skills in that department since he was playing as a lone outlet in a game where his side saw 26% of the ball with almost nobody to link up with. On the ball Rashford is also much more capable of playing a Hollywood pass than Gordon is, and on balance more so than Grealish too post Villa. There's never been an issue with Rashford in possession when playing for England.

The comparison to Ward-Prowse - a player who's never produced outside of a middling Premier League club - also doesn't really work when he plays in a position that requires a player to affect the game almost constantly in different ways and to be consistently involved both on and off the ball. Rashford is a forward, and I think we all know teams can and historically have played players in forward positions simply for moments of magic, and have found great success doing it. Not that that's all Rashford does, but even if he did it's still valid to take him for that imo. That and the fact those two players should never even be mentioned in the same sentence.

 

Foden and Bellingham are our most gifted players, no doubt.

Mainoo looks a prospect but maybe too early for him this tournament.

 

It was completely fair to think Foden was en route to becoming a player of unfulfilled potential. He's taken a huge leap in the last few months and only now is starting to really look like the player we thought he could become, even though he was still very good previously. He still has tonnes of room to grow so fingers crossed he carries on improving.

 

I think Foden may have a touch more natural talent, But Bellingham's mentality is his biggest strengh.If Foden contines with this run of form he may challenge Bellingham and Kane for Englands best player. Saying all this Saka might bang in a hattrick next game. Btw Bellingham's, Foden's and Saka's avarage age is 21. They could have all played for the under21s last year.

 

Pedri off Injured for about 20th time shows La Liga is not a league without Players being overused.

 

Pedri's case is a particularly bad one where the Spanish FA also have to share a portion of the blame. Essentially all of his injuries have occurred since that 73-game season in which he was nonsensically allowed to go to the Olympics.

 

I agree with the first statement. It's not a Rashford or Gordon for me, right now I would take both. I disagree with the second. Rashford showed the issues I have with him. He's an outlet that struggles to link regardless of possession of the team. He can burst past players and for England that's Saka, Sterling and Rashford. Of those I would take Saka and Rashford. He is decisive for England, but let's not excuse his flaws.

 

The only issue is international football experience.

Also Foden over Rashford is obvious I hope now. Rashford should ask for the summer off to focus on his mentality. He is a huge liability officer the ball.

 

More like forced. Spanish FA and Olympic Committee demanded it. Baring in mind in 2012 Jack Butland was the only person who went to Euro 2012 and the Olympics and he didn’t play a minute at the Euros, (And goalkeepers do not suffer as much wear and tear).

 

Rashford and Gordon is what I'd do too. Rashford is a flawed player no doubt but his moments of brilliance aren't limited just to a long-range goal every now and again. He can affect the game in different ways imo.

 

Where did you read that? I always remember reading Pedri put his foot down and wanted to go.

 

He didn’t really have an option either way. Spanish Law means clubs can not refuse any call ups including the Olympics. Last month it was reported they want him again for 2024.

 

If Pedri himself told them he didn't want to go, which most players would have done in his position, I find it hard to believe the Spanish FA wouldn't have accepted that after he'd just put in the shift he had in the Euros.

 

The Spanish FA is not known for respecting players wishes. They absolutely would force someone to go and say they must be being pressured by their club. (With Spanish Law o Erin ding FIFA rules in these situations.)

 

🌟🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Pep Guardiola: “Phil Foden is the best player of the Premier League this season”.

“He has incredible work ethic, it doesn't matter the position he doesn't complain… and now he wins games”. pic.twitter.com/L8WqafBhoy

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 3, 2024

Just thinking about this potential England attack at the Euros this summer 🔥🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/2aytM8RllW

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 3, 2024

 

That is an absolutely world class front 4. All in fantastic form too, arguably the most in form attack in the world. We just need to get the balance in the rest of the team right and we have a real chance.

I'm liking the look of our options after this summer too, Mainoo might be a longer term solution to this Phillips/Henderson third midfielder farce, along with Curtis Jones who also looks good.