England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

I watched the first half then turned it over

 

Yes, it's good but that should have been way more than 3-0.

 

Why did the goals stop after 20 minutes?

 

Well, to be fair Wales decided to try and defend a lot better than they did previously and it wasn’t like we had to really do that much more. The game was well and truly won. Wales played much better in the second half and wanted to not get battered plus all the subs in friendlies makes it disjointed and almost always ends up scrappy.

 

England's first team vs its second team.

__________________________Pickford


James_____________Stones___________Guehi__________Livramento


____________Rice_________Anderson_________Bellingham


___________Saka___________Kane____________Rashford

__________________________Vs

__________Gordon_________Watkins___________madueke


___________MGW_________Wharton___________Palmer


MLS______________Burn___________konsa_____________Trent


________________________Henderson


I think its quite close. You could swap a few players round or bring a few players in like Rogers or Foden.

 

Very close indeed. What would your third side be Gaz?

 

Pope Hall colwill Chalobah walker Scott Gallagher foden solanke bowen Grealish

 

Johnstone
White - Branthwaite - Colwill - Hall
Jones - Rogers - Henderson
Foden - Delap - Grealish

 

Adam Wharton, 21, is emerging as a target for Manchester United. The England international is admired at Old Trafford and the club might bid as much as £60m for the Crystal Palace midfielder. (Mirror), external

Meanwhile, United will not consider England manager Thomas Tuchel as a potential replacement should they sack Ruben Amorim. (Sun), external

Crystal Palace have identified West Ham United defender Max Kilman, 28, as a potential replacement for Marc Guehi should the England centre-back leave in the January transfer window. (Football Insider) , external

England and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, 32, would reject any big-money offer from Saudi Arabia if the club offered him a new contract. (Star)

Marcus Rashford has set his heart on staying at Barcelona - even with other big clubs circling. (Sunday Mirror)

 

Not sure they can play at Anfield anyway. A potential New Trafford would not raise any capacity problems, other than finding attractive enough International opposition to fill it!

As I recall it meant more than usual as England had failed to qualify for the previous World Cup. At least history is not repeating itself and England will be there in North American this time.

I would also mention that Serbia took four points off Portugal, beating them in Lisbon, forcing the Portuguese into play-offs for the last World Cup in Qatar.

 

Well partly because Wales were a bit more defensive from then on, but mostly because it's a pointless friendly in a long season that was already won. Not getting fatigued or injured would have been a higher priority than scoring another goal.

 

Now it just seems a formality

 

England's 3rd team vs its 4th team.


___________________________Pope


Spence_________Maguire_____________Colwell_________Shaw


__________Gallagher________Jones__________Rogers


___________Foden__________Delap_______Grealish

__________________________vs

__________Bowen_________Abraham________CHO


__________RLC__________Henderson_______Mount


Hall___________branthwaite__________Cresswell________Walker


_________________________Tratford


A few square pegs in round holes but still 2 solid teams I think. I was starting run out of ideas for strikers mind.

Edit: Put in Hall instead of Mitchell

 

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Just shows the incredible depth

 

It was surpising how many CBs and Fullbacks we have to choose from. The only problem is they are all much of a mushness.

 

Do any of the big European nations have cauldron atmospheres for games against minnows though? It feels like this is more of a natural consequence of the huge imbalances found within international football and will thus be common across the board rather than an England specific thing. I could be wrong though.

I agree with your comment that atmospheres are quieter than those abroad- but I also feel there are other elements of our fan culture that blow other countries out of the water. We get 80,000+ turning up to the playoff final most years, which is more than the big games in Italy between Juve/Inter/Milan get. It’s also worth remembering that Juve literally had to downsize to a stadium smaller than Sunderland’s because they couldn’t fill a bigger one, and that’s Italy’s biggest club, for all their football culture is vaunted.

 

Got to laugh at Talksport talking about us having a culture of bringing people down and crabs in a bucket mentality- re Bellingham, yet they are the ones fanning the flames of debate around him by bringing him up in every show. Most England fans I know are just happy we are playing well at the moment and have genuine options in midfield.

It’s them down to a tee though. They always get people on their station to talk about addictions and the battles they have had, whilst having the bookies on to each show they do providing odds for games. Bunch of scumbags.

 

Regarding Bellingham, I disagree with the narrative that we outright can’t win the tournament and/or be successful without him. That’s not to say we’re not better if he’s at his best and part of the setup, but the idea that being Bellingham-less means we’re not good enough is for the birds.

The Portugal side that won the Euro final without Ronaldo was nowhere near as good as the team we’d have without Bellingham, though granted you also have Brazil and Argentina to worry about in a World Cup, so more hurdles.

 

Can anyone add a 5th and 6th? The next few tournaments we will have a depth advantage over others especially attacking wise. A Bellingham or Palmer or whoever on the bench chomping at the bit waiting to come on to prove a point is going instil a lot of fear into any team.

 

I won't do a whole team but a 5th team back 4 would be something like Mitchell,Dier,Quansah and Tripper. Maybe Alex Scott,Maddison in somewhere. But with the strikers you are looking at the likes of Vardy and Wilson.

 

Let’s hope Jude in particular is willing to do that and doesn’t decline to be mainly a bench player.

 

You don’t have to hope for anything, Jude or any player aren’t going to turn down a place at a World Cup.