England Senior Team General Discussion Thread

Whilst I would like to see 4-3-3, Southgate’s thinking might be that he wants to bed in the 3-4-3 in which case I’d like to see Mount or Maddison in the midfield 2 against San Marino and perhaps Saka and TAA as the wing backs.

Really no need for a double pivot a la Rice and Phillips.

 

We could have a cricket score against san marino if he goes attacking wise

 

Yeah. Like the one in the last test against India.....

 

Big chance that England will be the sole host of the Euros , but will any fans be allowed in?

 

Saw them all live in their prime, and also Gazza at Rangers numerous times. He was a different beast. There's no doubt that Gerrard and Scholes had better careers and were great players for much longer, but in terms of natural talent on the ball it's no contest.

 

Maybe I missed it but didn’t hear anything about the formation sadly but I did take a positive when he mentioned that we basically stunk the place out during some of the Autumn Internationals so hopefully he might try and address the problem areas like Central midfield combinations.

 

if everything goes to plan yes

 

The only England players i've seen to come close to Gazza for natural ability were John Barnes, Wayne Rooney and Matt Le Tissier. I'd say Barnes was probably equal ability wise but wasn't as good when playing for England as Gazza.

P.S that goal Barnes scored againest Brazil is still the best by an English player I've seen.

 

That’s when Brazil couldn’t defend though

Times they have a changed .. for example look how many Brazilian defensive midfielders there are nowadays and arguably the best two goalies are Brazilian

 

Foden on the bench again for City. I thought he finally got himself into the starting eleven reckoning. Anyone else concerned by this?

 

Agree wholeheartedly on this. I'd say Rooney and Le Tissier were probably a notch below (this is not a slight on them) but Barnes certainly was on a par.
Barnes always appeared more elegent and refined, whereas Gazza was more raw and spontaneous. Very different, but equally talented.
Of the current crop, I think Foden is probably the closest. He moves quite like Gazza, especially the way he can just glide but accellrate past people. He obviously doesn't have Gazza's physical presence, which was a massive advantage for him especially in his early days when he was fit and extremely mobile.

We've never really scored that many goals by an individual weaving through a defence. Waddle vs Turkey is one, but Turkey back then were cannon fodder and it wasn't close to Barnes' level.
Plenty of great direct dribbling (Owen vs Argentina, Gazza vs Scotland) or long range efforts (Charlton vs Mexico, Sweden, Cole vs Sweden, Scholes vs Mexico, Shearer vs Portugal) that stick in the mind though. Difficult really to put any ahead of Barnes' though.

 

No. The games are coming thick and fast. He'll be involved in plenty more this season.

 

Yes but still a great goal.

 

Suppose he'll be fresh for England unlike most of our other players.

 

Gazza was well past his best at Rangers as well , such a shame about his knee injury

 

Yeah, that reckless tackle on Gary Charles I think it was cost him big time.

 

I'll make myself unpopular if I say that I think Barnes was overrated, won't I? I've tried watching his highlights in recent years but he just looks slow and ungainly by modern standards. Gazza and Waddle, by contrast, still hold up well.

 

Its mad. He keeps rotating players too much. Same with stones. How can players form understanding with their teammates or maintain form if they are in and out the starting lineup

 

I'll remind you of this next time you want 900 uncapped centre-backs called up to the England squad.

 

He wasn't the player he was before his knee injury, but he still had something when I first saw him up there. He was still in pretty decent shape for the first two seasons, but once he started on the binges with Chris Evans in 97 that was really the end of him. His last season was poor, and he was pretty much running on fumes from then.

 

Gazza, Hoddle and Waddle all stand out in my memory .

 

Danny Mills ( ex City player) was on the radio last night sharing your concerns.
He said that he’s only started 22 times in 4 seasons and it’s simply not enough... he wants him to be starting 90% of games like KDB does

 

Not remotely. I don't think it's been an issue all season, frankly. Pep will either play him midweek and then rest him on the weekend or viceversa. Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions League is a bigger game than Wolves in the Premier League.