or maybe the assistant coach is an idiot who doesn’t know how to talk to players? did u watch England? Walker was at fault for the goal we lost the final on and was awful nearly every game
It’s also a warning shot to the FA that the press are not happy that the FA is allowing the star player to dictate when a less important player wouldn’t. If the new manager makes him captain we could go back in time and suddenly find a lot more hostility
When Messi got bogged down by Argentina’s repeat failures and quit international football a few years back, Argentina urged him to reconsider and rightfully persisted with this until he did. There are some players who you roll out the red carpet for and even break principles/rules to do so, because they are worth the hassle. Ben White, is absolutely not one of those players. The impact he could potentially have for us is simply not worth the baggage he brings, nor is it worth us even swallowing our pride for.
If the issue was just not liking the coaching set up he might not need any persuading to come back once something is different particularly if it’s Potter who he has worked for.
The gutter press can’t handle anyone with self-confidence and will always look to bring them down and call them arrogant! They will never change unfortunately.
They ultimately still decide an England’s managers fate. If the press had gone for Hodgson full on after Brazil he probably would have been sacked eventually.
I mean results obviously do but the media atmosphere does as well. And while the written press is decline podcasts etc are rising and tend to feature journalists as guests binging the same point of view they used to write.
One of them matters. The other is noise that should be ignored. I mean. We have all seen their preferred squads and teams they would pick.
The print media are of a rapidly declining importance. It's funny that they accuse Jude of arrogance when their own egos can't handle the reality of their own dwindling status. The next England manager can start a full-on, Luis Enrique-style siege against the press for all I care. They don't serve anyone but themselves, they're not on the team's side even in the best of times.
For good or bad the FA decided a while ago to work with the press and not against them. It’s the one thing the new manager won’t have any leeway to change, .The PL are going the same way with the enhanced open access rules coming in at the start of the 2025/2026 season. It didn’t really help Enrique as the negative press surely helped him get the sack (And remember in Spain the football press tend to adore Real Madrid and dislike Barcelona)
Having the press "on side" on this tournament didn't really help the team much. I mean they were leaking teams and formations early through the entire tournament, spent the whole tournament with England in crisis articles. They took any opportunity to blow up "controversies" (see the Gary Linekar "shit" comment) and build them massively out of proportion. They took things that weren't issues and made them out to be issues. Same as it ever was. The press at the end of the day are going to be guided by performance and results. If either one of those things are bad, they will be plenty vicious with the team. If both of those things are good they'll hype the team up beyond its level, waiting to tear them down.
The Lineker stuff was mainly parts of the press digging in with someone they don’t like and who doesn’t like them. It was rather bizarre. .
I agree that Walker looks a bit past it and needs to be replaced. I'd ideally have James in and White/Trent as well rotating.. let's be honest that's hardly a downgrade and we still have fantastic RB options when all fit. I'd like to know what happened with White behind the scenes, IMO he'd need to deeply apologise because from all we know Southgate/Holland apologised and opened the door but he turned his back on his country and couldn't mend bridges. That's all we know at a guess but obviously I guess it will come out eventually
I doubt White will apologise. If he returns it will simply be in the squad list and the manager will say something like ‘I have asked him back and Ben was happy to accept my offer’.
Yeah and I think that's wrong IMO and think a lot of fans will feel the same and voice that opinion. Regardless of who was in the wrong, he turned his back on his country so he needs to apologise
Does Ben White actually bring any trouble? He doesn't come across like a trouble maker type to me.. I was under the impression, he didn't want to play for England because he didn't feel comfortable with the coaching team - all following a falling out with Steve Holland. If it were a case where he just didn't want to be called up whilst Southgate's team were in charge, then I can't see any issue with him coming back (assuming he wants to).
Apologise for what exactly? I respect the guy for being honest enough enough, if he didn't want to play whilst Southgate/Holland were the coaching team. I would agree with the principle that we shouldn't be begging him to come back, but if he displays a genuine desire to play for England under a new management, then he should be considered for the team on merit, just like any other available player