Sky Sports gaslighting everyone this morning. Describing Alexander-Arnold's array of passing as "outstanding", without clarifying that it was good in the first half and diabolical in the second.
Rice's stats from yesterday 106 touches 93 passes 94% pass completion 1 goal 1 assist 3 key passes 3 tackles 1 interception 2 clearances Still baffles me that some England fans can't see that he's our best midfielder by a margin, both in the past 5 years and currently.
I'm still not convinced by Trent, against top sides you simply cannot give the ball away like he was in the second half. I really hope James can get over his injury issues and become a bit more normal.
Ireland were very poor, however I doubt they are much poorer than Slovenia or Slovakia who we played in the summer. In those games, plus pretty much every game dating back to last Autumn including Australia, Iceland etc we looked incoherent and dreadfully boring. So there was definitely an improvement today and you can't expect a transformation over night. Gomes looked good when he came on, seems to always show for the ball which you'd think should be a given.. I hope our midfield balance really does change though and we don't just go for Gallagher etc
1832514628674335048 is not a valid tweet id Although it tends to help in achieving those dreams when your dad is a professional footballer.
A lot of people are saying how Southgate cost us the Euros by not starting him at right back all the time and
He is very good in some areas, and noticeably limited in others, which is why his position on the ball has been changed by both Arteta and now Carsley.
His heatmap shows that he was on the right hand side more than central yesterday but in terms of field height it was pretty much the same as it was at the Euros under Southgate. You can look at his heatmap in the game against Switzerland and his average position is actually much higher up the pitch than yesterday. https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1...FA-Nations-League-B-2024-2025-Ireland-England https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1...uropean-Championship-2024-England-Switzerland It's fair to say that he is better as an 8 than a 6 though. That said, I think he was the best solution as a 6 we had for most of his England career. The question now is how plays as the 6. I'd like to see Gomes given a start alongside Rice in the next game.
I agree, ball retention is vital at international level and he was giving the ball away for fun. One player who wasn't and who stole the first half for me, along with Grealish, was Kobbie Mainoo. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but as he gets older and stronger, he's starting to develop an air of Paul Gascoigne about him with his ability to resist the press, dribble away from opponents and manipulate the ball. I don't know what happened to him in the second half, but if he can start performing for a full 90 minutes he'll be massive for England.
And once again, for all the good that Southgate did, getting relegated into this league is perhaps one of the worst things he could have done. Our fixture list is appalling with no real tests, we'll be lucky to get many games against good opposition now before 2026 which could really leave us being a bit undercooked. It was pretty shambolic to finish last in that NL group last time, and I remember him blaming us starting different players - from what I remember he played a disfunctional set up with most of our main players not injured. He didn't really experiment at all
Particularly with the FA being allergic to going overseas to play friendlies which puts off many of the big European teams who want a reciprocal friendly within a year or two.
I think you are getting a little ahead of yourself! I don't see much Gascoigne in him at all. I'm a bit of a Mainoo sceptic though so perhaps not the best person to ask. One of my big concerns with him is, as you alluded to, his athleticism. He gases in most games, maybe this is age but some players just seem to have that deficiency. He's pretty slow too and gets caught behind the ball a lot, especially as the game goes on. I just want to see more from him generally. He's too low impact overall for me. 1832721699344720049 is not a valid tweet id Don't get me wrong, few 18 year olds will have a season like Mainoo did last year, a brilliant goal in a cup final and a major international tournament final. I hope I'm wrong on him but we'll see. He will at least be a decent England player.
It will be very interesting to see if Gomes gets more of a run out in the week to get a good comparison with Mainoo. For me, the big difference is when Gomes passes he's then immediately on the move looking to get into better positions, whereas Mainoo becomes relatively static. I prefer Mainoo more advanced - I think he has much more to offer in the final third than he does playing deeper where he can get exposed at times. The more rounded skill set may well come in time - very few teenagers have a full set of skills to play all aspects of midfield - but at the moment I don't like the balance he offers alongside Rice with a back four. He was much more effective at the Euros when we were playing three centre backs, which freed him up to play further forward or break forward.
Newcastle will try to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, 24, in a cut-price deal in January when he will have 18 months left on his contract, but the Eagles will hold out to get their valuation of the England international. (Football Insider)
Trent’s passing, Sakas cutting inside and everything about Kane were big issues in the second half. If Kane does play he needs another man next to him up top like Gordon ala Son, he can’t do it up top on his own anymore. He keeps cutting back to allow the defence to be in front of him, it’s infuriating. He won’t run in behind at all. He’s a liability and a big one atm. The coach needs to make a call.
Kane should not be starting I called palmer as a potential false 9 a while ago and the fact that rice is an 8 not a six look how much better he was Mainoo is also a player I prefer higher up the pitch where as we have actual deep cms now in Gomes and Wharton
I think a False 9 is a genuine possiblty under Carsley as those players might suit him more than Watkins/Solanke/Toney.
Because of what? Who will go ahead of England? Scotland? Cap them if Carsley thinks they are the best at their positions but not for this tie-down nonsense.
It was voted by the public and Trent has a lots of fans. He has won it before when he didn’t really deserve it.