I think if it’s based on CM options I totally agree, there aren’t a lot of options, but he was Gibbs White’s replacement. I know some on here suggested Carsley was picking Gibbs White as an 8 but he plays as a 10 for Forest, always played as a 10 for the U21s and now we have Gomes, Mainoo, Rice and Gallagher for those positions. If he was going to call up another CM it should have been Wharton IMO, at least he’s playing every week although admittedly he hasn’t hit the heights of the backend of last season. But I think Gibbs White could have been replaced by an attacking midfielder. Fair enough if they want to keep Rogers in the U21s but Maddison has started the season well so not sure why he ignored him. Eze was another obvious option. Even Livramento coming in is a bit odd as he’s replacing a CB, although admittedly our only option there is probably Dunk or a wild selection like Harwood Bellis so I kind of get that decision.
It’s silly picking 3 strikers in the squad and then not playing either of the 2 backups to Kane when he isn’t fit. I never like the idea of playing midfielders up front, Bellingham is a generational talent but he’s not a striker and never will be. He belongs as an 8 or a 10. Even some saying play Palmer as a false 9 I found weird, it won’t get the best out of said player and it’s shoehorning players into the team which Southgate tried to do without success. We have 2 top PL strikers as Kane’s understudies, we should actually use them. Although I’ll probably be eating my words later when Bellingham scores a hat trick!
100%. Watkins and Solanke are not Championship standard strikers, it's genuinely insane to play midfielders up top when you have strikers of that quality. On one hand I'd admire Carsley for such a bold lineup but moving our best player (needlessly) out of position would be quite annoying. Let's see what he does.
English born Greek international George Baldock has died age 31. Looks like he may have been intoxicated and drowned in his pool, a tragic way to go. Some people are calling for the game to be called off tonight but the Greek FA have requested a minutes silence and black armbands.
It's favourites if they are picked when alternatives can do the job. Or are you saying we can't criticise selections like Mount as LW when Grealish/Rashford fit the team better.
JWP played in the Phillips role against Italy in Nations league in June and did an OK job. Phillips at the time was injured going into the world cup. Longstaff was touted as a Rice backup as Phillips was also supposed to be the Rice backup. Neither of those suggestions were unreasonable.
Manchester United have made Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell, 27, a top target for January. (Teamtalk, external) Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United are all interested in Aston Villa's 23-year-old England youth midfielder Jacob Ramsey. (Give Me Sport), external Newcastle might sell England striker Callum Wilson, 32, in January to facilitate a move for a new forward. (Football Insider), external England interim manager Lee Carsley has experimented with playing Jude Bellingham as a striker in training this week as he considers unleashing a wealth of attacking talent on Greece on Thursday. (Daily Mail)
Longstaff as a Rice backup is a ridiculous suggestion imo. Rice was playing as a lone 6 at the time and Longstaff has virtually none of the necessary qualities needed to play in that role. He's a poor passer of the ball, he's not particularly good defensively and there not a chance I'd want him as the first receiver of the ball from the defence. He's a box crasher with an engine and decent ball striking, that's about all he is. Same with JWP, he's simply not a 6, let alone a lone six. Admittedly Phillips was still living off previous England performances at the time but the idea JWP could be relied upon to anchor a midfield with how limited his game is is complete madness to me. He's physically poor and doesn't have anywhere near enough composure or press resistance to play deep for England at a major tournament. He's been capped for England 11 times and his performance level has only ever fluctuated from average to poor. There's a reason no big 6 side ever came in for him, and the biggest club he played for binned him off after a season.
Saying managers have favourites is always a lazy criticism. You can always criticise selection of course but there's always going to be players a manager prefers beyond simple form. There isn't a manager in the world who just selects on pure form.
There's pretty much a national expectation that form should be the only criterion for international selection so that alone means you can never win as England manager. No sane manager is going to chop and change a squad that much, it'd be nothing but detrimental to the team.
Ward - Prowse was twice an injury away going to a major tournament. Had Maddison pulled out after his knee injury suffered in the last match before the World Cup he would probably have been his replacement.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I took it that Curtis Jones was being brought in to replace Kobbie Mainoo. We've got a number of players like Conor Gallagher, after all, who can cover the Gibbs-White position and, as Barry says, we're not exactly overwhelmed with defensive midfield options.
#ENG and Greece will wear black armbands at Wembley tonight to mark the passing of George Baldock. Also period of silence before k/o. “As originally planned, Wembley will acknowledge and celebrate the life of Kick It Out founder Lord Ouseley ahead of pre-match ceremony" @FA.— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) October 10, 2024
That proves my point though, he was never considered a replacement for Rice or Phillips, which most people wanted him to be.
True but had Rice or Phillips pulled out he probably would have replaced them as well as I am not sure who else would have been in the frame.
Lets be honest, the idea of selecting on pure form is just the opinion of fans and journalists that don't really know what they're talking about. In the limited time that international managers have with players there has to be some continuity for team building. Selecting on pure form would just lead to lots of churn and be a net negative.
Carsley himself said last he will select on form during the season. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...m-england-team-news-greece-2024-b1186922.html ‘Southgate was accused, perhaps unfairly, of picking players on reputation but Carsley has suggested that between tournaments he will prioritise form, perhaps giving Palmer an edge against Greece and Sunday's game against Finland in Helskini. "You get diluted as a head coach or manager if you’re picking players who are out of form or aren’t playing well based on what they’ve done in the past," Carsley said. "When you go into a tournament that’s maybe a little bit different because you have to get a blend of players that can cohabit with each other for potentially five to six weeks."’
🇬🇷 Greece have reportedly asked for tonight's match with England to be postponed following the death of George Baldock, but UEFA have refusedMore: https://t.co/TvJQNQeYKs pic.twitter.com/FOxbgv0Dir— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) October 10, 2024
Honestly, he has teammates who will be affected by this or even players he was friends with. I would have thought postponing the game would have been sensible and think most fans could understand the situation.
Scheduling. International matches are not easy to rearrange and the only alternative would have been three matches in November which UEFa or FA would not want themselves due to several issues.(Logistical but also risking a row with the PFA over international workload.)
Yeah, I’m aware of the reasons but sometimes, just sometimes something happens where football takes a back seat!
An attacking performance with balance ⚖️Here's what Lee Carsley is aiming for in tonight's #NationsLeague game against Greece… pic.twitter.com/kWRqLkA4ga— England (@England) October 10, 2024