England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

Have we forgotten we were top scorers in the qualifiers goals per games played? Let's give him the benefit of the doubt until the bigger games v Belgium etc we never had a san marino or Gibraltar in our group. Middle to slightly lower half teams. Teams that wales and Scotland scraped past. The Italians had a simple group and scored alot less for example

 

I’d say Ramsdale, Saka, White, Bellingham, Maddison and Barnes are the players who might break into a squad but maybe not the final 23.

 

Yeah, I agree. Southgate deserves mild constructive criticism but let’s not go overboard.

 

Has there ever been an attack minded manager who used to play CB ??

 

I like Burnley’s O’Neil

 

I think we should be looking to get a tactical mind in to work alongside Southgate at this point. I feel Southgate is worth sticking by long term as international football requires good man management and people skills, which Southgate seems to have. I still feel the dynamic in the squad and mood in the dressing room is positive, and that the players have lots of respect for him.

However, on the football side of things, he seems to be struggling now to work out how best to shape the team going forward. I think his midfield selections have been functional at best, negative at worst.

 

Interesting looking at the fifa rankings we aren't that far ahead of teams down to 11th . So if we stop winning games we could end up in pot 2 when the wc draw comes about. Or is it too late for that

 

Tbh I was never convinced. The World Cup in spite of the good run actually made me very frustrated and showed tactical limits that have been confirmed

 

Koeman had the Netherlands playing well

Pep was a defensive midfielder

wasn’t Eddie Howe a Cd?

 

To be fair Koemann wasn’t your standard CB plus he’d been through the Dutch system and was influenced by Cruyff...

 

Pochettino?

 

Going back a bit, you've got Jock Stein.
Matt Busby, Bill Nicholson, Bob Paisley & Bill Shankly were all half backs.

 

My point is that Southgate had a defensive mindset as a CB so it figures that he’ll be the same as a manager

 

The main issue we have is there aren’t many forward thinking English managers about

Howe was ok but could he adapt a system that is more progressive? Dyche? No thanks and same for fat Sam

we don’t even have w progressive u21 coach. We need young coaches trained all over Europe who know multiple systems

u can’t just show horn players into a specific formation, you adapt to your team. That’s why we failed with gerrard and Lampard

 

How about Terry venables

 

Yeah him with Glen Hoddle would be glorious working with this fabulous lot of young talent

 

Saka on the bench again. Doesn't bode well for any call up in the near future.

 

Surprised by that, has the most assists after TAA and KDB.

 

Hes far better than holding or Tierney

 

Holding is a cb

we will see lots of rotation as arteta is employing a press heavy formation

 

I realised they're playing a back 3. Still should be in the team though

 

He’s gonna come on I reckon

 

This is exactly why one of the reasons going back to 3 subs isn’t good for player development imo. 5 subs means more likely to gain more minutes as you can usually risk at least 4 subs and then bring on the 5th if needed for injury or late on but with 3 subs, you only usually use 2 and then leave the last sub until quite late on as don’t usually use early in case of injury. Now Nketiah is coming on for a few minutes near the end of games. Saka and Willock both remain as unused subs rather than more than likely gain good playing time under 5 subs. It’s a shame as during lockdown was great for the youngsters but better get used to a slow burner again with regard to the younger players.

 

don’t agree with that. Tierney is class.

saka was on the bench for loads of games last season as well, so it’s not that much of a surprise

 

We have loads of right backs, but I have to say Ayling looks class for Leeds. Was good last season.

he is English I’m guessing