England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

This is nonsense when you say suits Carsley, as Carsley only really played a false 9 shortly after Balogun switched (and even then he played Archer a lot). He’s played a 9 pretty much the whole time time otherwise , whether than be Balogun, Archer, Brewster, Delap or Stansfield.

 

I've said from the start I'm a big believer in Mainoo and I'm as high on his prospects as ever, but he's definitely a midfielder who has to be used in certain ways if you want him to really shine. That's the case for most midfielders really, but Mainoo reminds me a lot of Thiago Alcantara. He's not a defensive midfielder and he's certainly not a 10 either, he excels mostly in small spaces. He's not quite Thiago's level technically but as others have noted he has a knack for affecting games and scoring big goals, while also being very good in duels, which I think will actually make him a better player than Thiago when all is said and done.

He's definitely not fit for every game state or every tactical setup though, most midfielders aren't, and he especially doesn't suit the madness Ten Hag tries to implement on a weekly basis. Mainoo only looks slow when he has to defend massive spaces in transition and for whatever reason he's having to do that constantly at club level. His mobility in short bursts with the ball at his feet is actually pretty good. He probably does need a bigger gas tank though, hopefully that comes with age.

 

Portugal?

 

Then it's not the case of tying down. If he wants to play for England then he will play for England, end of story. It's the same obsession here like it was with Olise who didn't chose France because England failed to tying him down but because he wanted to. If Livramento would jump ship even after he accepted being in the England squad, then good riddance.

 

Livramento doesn’t speak much if any Portuguese as far as I know (There is a reference in the Athletic to him hating Spanish at school). While some do switch with limited language skills it probably does make it more daunting,

 

All 23 England players are training today and it will be Harry Kane, back at his old training ground at Spurs, who will be speaking alongside Lee Carsley this afternoon to preview the Finland game

— Tom Barclay (@TomBarclay_) September 9, 2024

 

Anthony Gordon spoke clearly about what was lacking in England's Euro 2024 "failure" and showed against Ireland how to fix it.

The reality is England are a better, more dynamic team with Gordon in than Phil Foden, writes @LiamTharmeCoach ⤵️

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) September 8, 2024

 

This was obvious before the Euros even started. It's simple football to understand you can't have a team where every forward wants the ball to feet, no matter how good all of those players are individually.

 

I think through has he done it early on at the Euros the media and pundits would have complained that Southgate simply wasn’t able to get the best player in the PL (As voted by themselves). The media and pundits have know noticed Foden struggles for England but at the time they all adored him - remember in Qatar when the narrative was Foden must start so Southgate obliged and left Rashford on the bench,

I do wonder if Foden should be left out entirely of the next squad because if he is not starting I don’t think he is particularly a good impact sub either,

 

Sometimes its hard believe your account isn't a satirical experiment, the amount of time you spend thinking about the opinions (or the hypothetical opinions) of these mostly unnoteworthy hacks, is truly extraordinary.

 

Sorry. I just find it a bit annoying that in Qatar it did feel like Southgate might have buckled under the pressure to start Foden and it didn’t work out in the France match,

 

I don't think Southgate paid any attention (or very little) to the press or media, he's not that type of person. Any failings he had are his own, and we can only pray that's the case with Carsley as most of what the write/talk about is complete nonsense.

 

Foden assisted two goals vs Senegal in the game prior to the France game. It wasn't exactly some incomprehensible call.

The only games Rashford started for England under Southgate across 3 tournaments were the Belgium dead rubber in 2018, and the final group game in 2022. Not exactly much evidence he wanted to play him. I dont think he would have ever trusted him to start a big knock out game due to his poor work rate.

 

Lee Carsley says England "will make two or three changes" to "freshen the team up a bit" against Finland on Tuesday night.

— James Olley (@JamesOlley) September 9, 2024

Predicted England XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Lewis; Rice, Mainoo; Saka, Grealish, Gordon; Kane

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...jury-latest-nations-league-2024-b1180848.html

 

Former England right-back Kieran Trippier, 33, is pushing to leave Newcastle amid interest from Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce and Besiktas. (Talksport), external

 

Predicted. In other words guess work

 

that’s why Sterling was so effective in the euros before

he could run in behind

it was painfully obvious that foden was not suited as a lw

would be much better in the graelish role vs Ireland

 

Yeah I think leaving him out of squads for the foreseeable future should do him and the team both good from that perspective in this adjustment period. Also interesting to note Foden is now the same age as Wilshere was when he received his last ever cap for his country against Iceland 2016 - another previous overhyped media darling of English football.

 

I actually think Foden's role at the Euros was fairly similar to Grealish's role vs. Ireland, just in a horrific setup. We basically played without a left winger and without a full-back who could offer any attacking support. The more I think back to it the more I really wonder what on earth Southgate was playing at. He was trying so hard to fit Foden into the team that he basically tried to build the whole side around him, but in doing so he handicapped all of the other attackers and midfielders.

 

Of course Whilshire had major injury issues which Foden has not had.

 

We are going to learn nothing playing Ireland, Finland and Greece, I expect maximum points, then I expect people to get carried away, then I expect Carsley to get the job full time......finally I expect us to lose against the first decent (better prepared because they're playing against quality in their nations league sh*te competition) national side.

I've always thought that Southgate getting us relegated in this pointless nations league thing would actually do us some damage and I haven't changed my mind. What the FA need to do is to arrange as many friendlies as possible against top national sides (is there any available windows? I don't know). The game against Ireland did NOT teach us how good or bad this England team is under Carsley, the games against Finland and Greece likewise, Scotland had a bloody good 'run out' against Portugal and they 'learnt' a lot more about themselves than we will when we play (no disrespect) bloody Finland!

 

They is room for two friendlies next year I think. Another issue for the FA I some of the biggest teams won’t play a friendly unless reciprocal friendly is agreed and the FA is allergic to non home based friendlies.

 

If we had finished third instead of Germany we would have got Netherlands, Bosnia and Hungary (Again). If we had finshed second we probably would have got Netherlands, Bosnia and either Germany or Hungary.