England Senior National Team General Discussion Thread

Alex Scott categorically should already be on the plane alongside Rice and Anderson (who he’s also been better than).

The fact that Mainoo and Wharton are seemingly ahead of him as a default is a complete joke. How many elite midfielders does he have to boss before the point sinks in? Rodri and Bernardo Silva tonight.

 

McFarlane says Levi Colwill just needed managing after the FA Cup final after a big injury. Reece James was similar while being on the bench. Joao Pedro had a "slight knock". He says he is "hopeful" all three will be available for Sunderland.

— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) May 19, 2026

 

Congratulations to our #ThreeLions and #YoungLions at @Arsenal on becoming @PremierLeague champions! 🏆👏

Commiserations to our players at @ManCity who contributed to a thrilling battle for the title. https://t.co/dPXYqClpoV

— England (@England) May 19, 2026

 

made of biscuits is Reece James.

 

I think saying that he's better than Anderson is your club bias showing. Anderson is currently better at nearly every single aspect of midfield play. Scott has had a breakout in the second half of this season which is great for Bournemouth and England fans but he needs to show this form over a couple of seasons and continue to improve.

Here's a per 90 statistcal comparison of the two players this season. They do play slightly different role and ironically I think they'd compliment each other quite nicely in a pairing.

https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=iRu1P7MxtwZQQni1wgnJb

 

They already have in the u21s.

 

No panic. I'm sure he'll be hobnobbing it with the world's best come June 17th.

 

Everton’s interest in FC Midtjylland's Chile winger Dario Osorio, 22, is unlikely to impact a deal being done for 30-year-old England attacker Jack Grealish following his loan spell from Manchester City. (Football Insider)

Jamie Carragher has criticised Curtis Jones after the Liverpool midfielder responded to Mohamed Salah's recent social media post - Daily Mirror

 

🎙️ Calum McFarlane. #CFC

On the possibility of James, Colwill and Joao Pedro featuring in the final game...

'Levi has obviously come off the back of a very serious injury, so it was probably too quick of a turnaround from the Cup Final... we didn't want to risk him.'

'We had… https://t.co/qdu336hzVR

— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) May 20, 2026

 

Winning a Premier League title elevates the status of a lot of these Arsenal players significantly...

In my opinion you can't be considered truly world class without winning a big prize.

Saka, Rice, Saliba, Gabriel, Raya etc... they all enter a new stratosphere now, you can now…

— Dougie Critchley (@DougieCritchley) May 20, 2026

Ridiculous opinion, effectively means that this guy wouldn’t have considered Kane world class until he won a title with a European super club who have an overwhelming advantage over the rest of their domestic “rivals”.

 

There were a lot of people saying this about Kane, it’s the type of low IQ opinion you see a lot of on twitter, they have just get made to look stupid. He literally finished top in Goals and assists in a season Spurs finished 7th.

 

I wouldn't bother with this guy, his opinions are ridiculous. He doesn't know football at all and pretty much just says whatever he thinks is the popular narrative at the time. He constantly flip flops and undermines himself.

Just the other day he was on about English players being overrated and pointed to Saka and Rice in a list that also included, of all people, Reece James.

It's also funny that he's firmly on the "Premier League = overrated" bandwagon now because I remember him sitting on a panel with people claiming that Brighton would contend for the Serie A title, shortly before they were battered by Roma in the Europa League.

 

What is everyone's likely starting 11 this world cup? Could we see tuchel revert to a 3 at the back or push towards a 4231?
.this is the first tournament in a while I have no clue who will be the starting 11

 

Very fair points. I’ll take that on the chin.

 

Out of interest, I just used that same comparison tool to compare James Hill to other English CBs. Hill comes out of the per 90 comparison very well indeed. He’s “better” than pretty much everyone other than Guehi.

 

Harry Kane will have his goalscoring record forever then.

Doesn’t apply until after Euro 2028 as UEFA say it’s too short notice to change for that due to broadcasting contracts.

Also further changes could be made before the final approval in September,

https://www.uefa.com/uefanationslea...r-men-s-national-team-competitions-as-of-202/

Feels like it become a bit easier for a big team to mess up and not qualify.

 

So if we are in a group of 12, only the top ranked team qualifies for the finals and everyone else in playoffs? So only three teams qualify directly? Have I missunderstood?

 

I don’t think it be just the very top team but say 2 or 3 from each of those groups but with loads in playoffs like the Women’s game has.

 

From the UEFA site:

The European Qualifiers will also assume a tiered structure: League 1, composed of the 36 teams of UNL Leagues A and B and League 2 composed of the remaining 18 (or 19) UNL teams. In League 1 there will be three groups of 12 teams drawn from three pots of 12 teams. Every team will play six home-or-away matches against six different opponents, two per pot, similarly to the format of the UEFA club competitions. League 2 will be staged exactly as UNL League C with three groups of 6 (or one of 7). While directly qualified to the final tournament, the host teams will take part in the European Qualifiers with an objective linked to their position in the next edition of the UEFA Nations League. The best ranked teams of each group of League 1 will qualify directly, while the remaining places will be allocated via a system of Play-Offs, which will guarantee fair qualification chances also to League 2 teams (visuals are available here).

 

It just says the best ranked team from each pot qualifies directly which is going to be tough. Looks like playoffs will be the most likely way to qualify from 2028.

 

I don’t think it’s clear if best ranked means just the top or top 2/3. I don’t know how they will fit in playoffs for load and loads of team in just one meetup. The women have two but they won’t be time for that. Six NL matches. 4 for the top8 and promotion and relegation and then 6 for qualifying leaves jsut the March matches for Playoffs.

 

🚨Bayern Munich are considering a move for John Stones
🇩🇪Free transfer would see England man reunited with Vincent Kompany & link up with Harry Kane
↔️Plenty of interest in 31-year-old - at home & abroad
✒️https://t.co/ARh4oXPscX #mcfc

— Mike Keegan (@MikeKeegan_DM) May 20, 2026

 

What are the results you found? There are a whole range of metrics that you can add to the comparison. I added all the metrics I thought most relevant to understanding the performance of a midfielder and left and the ones that I didn’t think were relevant. If you disagree then tell me why you think the metrics I added shouldn’t be.

It’s the start of a debate not the final word. I don’t know much about James Hill or how he stacks up to other England defenders.

 

Sorry, I’m a bit confused! I was just letting you know that I liked the tool you showed me and used it to see how a different Bournemouth player compared to English CBs. Wasn’t meant to be a challenge or anything.

I’ll add that Scott, at least statistically, doesn’t stand out nearly as much as I thought he would based on the eye test compared to Wharton, Mainoo, and Garner as well. The thing with James Hill is separate from the Scott conversation, I don’t have anything to add about that; you were correct lol.