England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

We spoke about it the other week but the main question marks about Morton are defensively. He can cover ground pretty well and is actually a fair decent ball carrier so I don't think he's got any major mobility issues. He's shown sigs of being good in duels too, even if not perfect. He doesn't contest a great deal though so it's hard to tell.

In an ideal world you'd probably want to see how he copes defensively in the PL before giving him a senior call-up, but with what Carsley values I don't think he'd be able to pass up on someone with that much buildup quality. He's everything Angel Gomes is plus way more.

On the ball he's got most of what you'd want. Creative passing from deep, insane press resistance, looks like he has good potential as a controller too. He also has a solid eye for goal and is a decent shooter. I think there'll be plenty of PL interest this summer.

 

I'm very worried about how reliant we're going to be on Anderson for buildup quality. We'll see what next week's squad is like but I don't think Tuchel has anywhere near the same levels of appreciation for on-ball quality in deep midfield areas as Carsley. Specifically in that regard he's a bit closer to Southgate.

 

To be honest, I’ve never liked the way Tuchel uses midfield, even before he became England manager. He would regularly play Marquinhos in there at PSG.

 

I know i'm biased but I'd be looking at Garner. Be ineresting to see how many midfielders he picks because bellingham gives him cover in both the 8 and the 10, James also gives him cover.Away If its between Mainoo and Henderson. I'd pick Mainoo.

 

As a side note, it was interesting that the Spanish side only had 29% possession in this game.

 

Unfortunately I don't think I've seen anyone have that discussion outside of this forum. Aside from Albania away when the whole setup was just weird, I don't think many people have clocked or taken notice of how big the drop-off has been when subs have been made in-game. It's just mind boggling to me how many people are in support of Henderson going.

 

Just watched the full Man City game over lunch. And O'Reilly was probably the worst player on the pitch and Pep probably should of subbed him at HT.
He was at fault for the first goal and partly the second one. He also got away with gifting both Diaz a goal and Vini Jnr a fourth (if it weren't for poor finishing).

What's telling was this was O'Reilly's first real test in a high-pressure knockout stage game and he kind of got exposed. Contrast this with Lewis Hall's performance a day earlier, having to mark Lamine Yamal. And although we still have the away leg to play at the Nou Camp. At this stage, I wouldn't pick O'Reilly for England, esp as an option who can cover at both No8 and LB.

 

Just had a very quick glance at a Brentford fan forum and shock horror, they're making exactly the same criticisms of Henderson that have existed since, well, forever.

 

I'd take o'reilly as a midfielder

 

And he might even be made vice captain!

And I am still fearing Tuchel will not take 26 and will copy what Deschamps has done in the past and take less than he is allowed to.

 

Rooney is the only sane one there, really don’t know what Henderson can provide over any of the other midfield options other than he can shout the loudest.

 

Neville just keeps rambling on about how Rice/Anderson are un-droppable. So Tuchel might as well fill the rest of the selection with Henderson and CM's who are happy to sit on the bench and play Crazy Golf after training.

 

Yeah it's ridiculous. Especially when people like Neville (correctly) identify that England have so often gone out of tournaments due to being dominated in midfield.

It's probably the most important area of the pitch and the team with the better midfielders wins more often than it loses. We got played off the park by Senegal last year because we played a Rice/Gallagher pivot. It'll be exactly the same when we play someone good at the World Cup if Anderson either can't play or isn't at 100%.

 

Exc: Arsenal open talks to extend Declan Rice’s contact. Approach to commence formal talks made. Dialogue at an early stage. Midfielder has up to three years to run on his current deal so no rush to complete but process now underway. https://t.co/9sxp3QoesP

— Sami Mokbel (@SamiMokbel_BBC) March 13, 2026

🚨 EXCL: Reece James commits future to Chelsea by signing new 6yr contract. 26yo’s previous deal 2028; fresh agreement runs until June 2032. Deal aligns England right-back with #CFC incentivised wage structure. W/ @SJohnsonSport @reallycerys @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/n0cYLx4Z6p

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) March 13, 2026

 

Pep didn't help him by playing him in midfield for a month then stcking back at lieftback for the biggest game of the season. I think Pep is geting close to his sell by date.

 

It's definitely Peps fault for playing him there in such an important game. Pep's always had this fetish for playing midfielders in a back four since Barcelona

But O'Reilly's positional awareness is atrocious and he makes it too easy for opposite players get in to dangerous positions. And thats not because he's been switched from CM to LB. If anyone watched him play LB previously, its been obvious he's not a natural defender.
That first goal really showed. He didn't even just sit on the half way line with the last man (Valverde) he just let him get goal side of him because of a lapse in concentration.

And also his recovery speed is shocking. Can you imagine England playing a WC game with Trent and O'Reilly as fullbacks. We'd be ripped to bits against any half-decent counter-attacking team, they wouldn't even need to be that good, just have strength and pace...
Both Livramento and Hall do seem to have far superior recovery speed than O'Reilly.

But on the positive note. I would much rather he got found out in a last 16 tie for City (in the CL) than for England in the last 16 at the WC..

 

Donnarumma hesitated because he didn't want to get sent off for either handling the ball outside the box or fouling the last man

We've all seen in the past how often the above has happened and the whole thing becomes a shit show; GK gets sent off, team goes down to ten men and an early penalty to the opposition

 

Squad out 10am next Friday. They appear to be publishing the U19’s, U18’s and U17’s all tighter at 1pm.

https://www.englandfootball.com/art...unced-for-march-international-window-20261303

 

Hall has an advantage as he has a good relationship with Gordon on the left

 

I'd love to see Lewis Hall in centre mid again, it must be 4/5 years since I've seen him there.

That extra gift he has of beating players in deep and tricky positions and finding a pass could open up a lot of counters in tournament games.