England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

There’s no point even complaining as nothing will change next time out. In the space of a year I've gone from cautiously optimistic to flat out terrified that we are in course for another 2010/2014 style tournament.

I’ve always had doubts about Southgate but this year he has gone full on derp mode. He clearly has something against Grealish, he runs players into the ground, plays players out of position and is now also playing far too cautiously. Worryingly he will not learn from this and will somehow see positives.

what a f**king clown he is, I’ve now lost all respect for him

 

Joe Cole talking about Grealish and makes some good points...



One of the things he said there which makes sense is that it's taken the kid till he's 24 to have got to this point.

I haven't really seen the kid that much, tbh, but, when I have, he's always looked like a luxury player who can't be relied upon. As Cole says, he's also been very loyal to Villa which probably won't do him any favours in the long run... there a reason this guy only won 8 England caps after all...



That particular aspect has always been an issue with England and managers have preferred guys whose workrate can be relied upon. It's not just Southgate.

 

I've gone to this. In one game.

 

Grrrrr....Kane saying we’re heading in the right direction!! I mean I know he has to say these sort of things but seriously I’m pretty sure he knows we are NOT heading in the right direction playing this system!

Like others have said, I can understand this system if it makes us more solid at the back but honestly it doesn’t and it stagnates our attacking play compared to what it has been!! Our defence looked better when we went a man down and playing 4 at the back again! Southgate needs to wake up before he butchers this side, butchers a decent attempt at the Euro’s and turns an entire Nation against him!!

Sorry but I’m going to shout........WAKE UP SOUTHGATE FFS!!! If he doesn’t change things now then he never will!

Also, I wasn’t entirely on board with the Southgate agenda ( doesn’t really rate him ) against Grealish but after tonight, I’m starting to change my mind, game was crying out for him who is on form, Sancho like I’ve stated on here on a few occasions recently isn’t on form so made more sense for Grealish imo.

Also, that Spanish ref was a ********ing disgrace, sorry can’t mince my words for that tart! How he is a professional referee God only knows!

 

Does not change the fact that Denmark is a level better than Wales ... Denmark also beat Switzerland at home and played 3-3 away to qualify for the Euro-21 finals. So you are mentioning all the wrong teams in your comparison. But just name me one other NT team that has not lost more than 1 game the past 4 years ?

 

You haven't played anyone of note in 4 years.

 

I’ve been impressed with Grealish for years .. he did well the first time in the premiership about 5 years ago when he was just 19 or so

Joe Cole was actually raving about him and reckons he’s the most gifted player since Gazza !!

He applauds him for remaining loyal to Villa but thinks they’re holding him back and he needs to move to a top club ..

Thing is he can’t play much better than he has this season with Villa and his England performance .. He’s just gonna be ignored until we get a manager in who appreciates his talents

 

Well... yeah, but....






I mean, maybe it's just me but... yknow...

 

Alex Scott is a stunner for sure .. then she starts spitting out endless footballing clichés ...

She played at RB but she’s happy to explain to Jamie Redknapp what makes a good midfield player

 

Same

 

Sack him

 

They won’t .. .. he’s a real nice guy , will never embarrass the FA ... he’s there for the duration .

 

Oh my.....in what sort of wonderful World is he on?? He ain’t on our World that’s for sure!

 

I think the Grealish thing is a little like when Hodgson put Kane on corners and got a tonne of flack for it and it kind of became an ego thing where everyone could see it was a issue but he didn't want to back down so he kept Kane on taking terrible set piece after terrible set piece. To be playing DCL and Mount out of position out wide over him is really straining for credibility.

Regardless of what you think of Southgate prior to the lockdown I thought there was always a logic to his selections and ideas even if you didn't agree but the past few games its become increasingly difficult to see any reasoning. I don't see how you can identify so many problems from our win away in Spain as he did the other day for example but seemingly see no fault in any of our past few games.

 

let see... Belgium, France, England Croatia, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Chile, Sweden, Poland, Wales, Peru, so 12 out of the present top-22, though I do not really believe the World ranking to be worth much, the Elo ratings are much more trustworthy.
https://www.eloratings.net/

 

Right

The FA won't have the money to compensate Villa.....

 

Fair point ... maybe they could swap over

 

Southgate reckons we were excellent ..

 

An english coach I'd be interested in?

None of them. I'd leave the job open but with VERY specific needs.

 

He also praised Rashford .. and explained that he couldn’t play Grealish as the formation demanded speed down the wide areas and we needed to win free kicks ..

We’re doomed

 

I saw him then and have caught him a bit when he was in the championship and since they've been back up, (I don't want to give the impression I haven't seen him at ALL because I have), but the blunt truth is that he was playing in the championship in his early 20's for a reason... and it wasn't because he was expecting to be world star a couple of years later, was it.

Like I say, the kids 24. Normally players have made it to a top club by then and yet he was still struggling to avoid relegation with Villa last year... AGAIN. IIRC they got relegated back in 2016 with a grand total of 17 points after having played 38 games... not exactly a sterling level of performance, is it so to quote that as a reason why we should be using the kid seems a bit odd, tbh.

But, fair enough, his level of performance has improved drastically over the past year or so so maybe he'll make the difference. TBH he couldn't do a lot worse than Rashford who was absolutely SHOCKING tonight and, on that basis alone I'd have been happy to see the kid come on.

I just think think this stuff about 'the fans are crying out for him' doesn't mean very much because, generally, the fans don't know their arse from their elbow.

 

We defended well but I'm not sure how anyone could claim we used the ball well with 10, it was proper hoof ball for the second half. We didn't even try to build attacks. Our only hope was nicking one off a set piece.

Also hope his comments on Maguire don't mean we're going to blindly keep starting him....its obvious he's mentally broken. It's unhelpful for everyone to keep playing him. At least he should not be playing first team football right now.

 

To be fair , he played in the championship because they were relegated in 2016 and he stayed loyal to them ... I applaud him for that to be honest .