Now that we've had chance to see him play full games instead of MOTD highlights the AWB bandwagon has slowed. The opposite is true of Reece James.
Tbh I've been disappointed with him. Whilst it wasn't much of a secret last season that his game was very much lopsided in terms of being a defender over a more attack minded option, I thought at United he'd come on a lot in that sense. Unfortunately though I feel if anything his limitations in that part of the game have just been amplified by playing in a side like United. Can't help being coached by Solskjaer mind as he looks like the most dull, uninspiring and clueless manager in the league. I actually can't think of a worse manager relative to their resources in the premier league.
I've seen 100% of his minutes for United and he's an exceptional defensive full back, probably the best I've seen. He's had a couple of bad games and his lack of attacking quality is evident. I'm not sticking up for a player of a team that I support here either as I'm not sure that United should have signed an exclusively defensive full back for that kind of money, especially when Shaw is a defensive full back too. I still maintain that AWB would be invaluable in knockout games in major tournaments.
It’s crazy for a professional footballer working at his lofty level has constant weight issues though !
Hoping grealish maddison and odoi get called up. Also like to see tomori play some part. I think sancho will be fit. Some great attacking options not to mention rashford kane and abraham plus sterling. Best attacking options for a while.
Here it is: your #ThreeLions squad for the #EURO2020 qualifiers against Montenegro and Kosovo!https://t.co/wsv3qjndm2— England (@England) November 7, 2019
I’m surprised that CHO is back in tbh even though he did have a decent run out against Ajax the other night but hadn’t previously done enough for me since returning from injury so would have had him in the U21’s still to help him get back up to speed. No Grealish, I’m gonna presume he’s still injured anyway but surprised that Mount is there, really thought the knock he got against Ajax might have kept him out or maybe suggest to Southgate to rest him tbh. Wouldn’t be surprised to see quite a few drop outs though, quite a few of these guys are carry injuries or only just returned to fitness.
So he’s dropped Keane completely after giving him five recent competitive starts? We are supposed to be planning for a tournament and this guy wastes so much time. Probably end up with Rice and Henderson in midfield again to see if they have learned to pass from deep.
Anyone know what the numbers indicate under the players names and why Maddison and Tomori haven’t got these numbers?
The absence of Grealish is my only real complaint, although as Barry said why he wasted time picking Keane for consecutive games is beyond me.
Still a few positions that aren't ideal, but the depth is nice and it's weird for us to be able to leave very good players out and there be an argument that it's the right call.
On Grealish, Southgate stated that he wouldn’t hesitate to bring him in if there were any injury issues this weekend. Presumably in reference to Mount, Barkley and Sancho.
Southgate said grealish is up against sterling odoi and rashford I notice no mention of sancho. Does that mean hes very doubtful
What annoyed me about that comment was how he included CHO. I can understand Grealish has work to do to match Sterling and Rashford, if he's gonna be starting as one of the front 3. However, CHO has literally played only a handful of games up to now in his career and has been in poor form recently albeit is coming back from a bad injury. Don't get me wrong I really like and rate CHO as a talent, but Southgate is talking him up like he's proved miles more than Grealish and that he's some sort of seasoned veteran. Not only is this inaccurate, it's also dangerous from a man management pov as it could make CHO feel he's already made it and his position in the squad when fit is secure already. I know I may get accused of being over the top here, but I do feel irked by these comments from Southgate.
Surely we should be working on viable tournament options, not mucking about with ultra-attacking set-ups that we already know we won't use against any half-decent side.