The FA know that and have spent 8 years trying to rebuild a media reputation and I don’t think are giving up that work anytime soon. It wasn’t in the Lions Den. It was in a feature done in September 2022 Camp. It was Walker and Coady I think with Walker making the joke.
Wonder what Angel Gomes is thinking amid all this talk about England not having any midfielders who can conduct the play or keep hold of the ball under pressure?
Press resistant midfielders are not an issue in our current player pool and won't be an issue in the years to come either, plenty of them in the system. The issue is that the Conor Gallaghers and the Jordan Hendersons of the world have been deemed more valuable than those profiles up until now. Needs to change going forward.
Eddie Howe likes workhorses doesn’t he and he has tried to sign Gallagher. Potter and Carsley have worked with Gallagher. I’m not sure he is being dropped entirely for a while.
There's really only Guehi who had a case from our squad, and I don't see anything wrong with him not being included.
Thanks. Puts to bed the idea that he's suddenly become distant from the rest of the team after joining Real Madrid anyway. Carsley actually used Gallagher correctly, remember him playing him high up the pitch (with Angel Gomes in the pivot) when we beat Italy U21 2-0. That's where he belongs. Either way I'm not sure that necessarily means he's a shoo-in for the squad with the players he'd have at his disposal now. I can see Howe using Gallagher though, his teams are very running-oriented.
Seems to me that we should just cut the manager out and have the chief football writers of each paper manage the team as a committee
The FA needs to take a hard look at itself. Do we have a style or is everything to throw more money at it like the NHS? Rather than work with the Spanish technical directors or Man City’s technical directors to see how we can better improve and have a style of play?
Having an identity doesn't really come from a country's FA. Players are ultimately moulded by clubs' academies which are largely influenced by the league they play in. We have the most global league which means our clubs and our academies are influenced by people of multiple different nationalities. In La Liga, most of the managers are Spanish and have somewhat similar philosophies. That means their league has a more defined style which makes the football culture and therefore the academies more homogeneous. I don't think we need to replicate that, but even if we did I don't really know how we'd go about doing it because there are so many competing ideas in the Premier League. To have a style of play you largely just need a competent manager, but it needs to be a style that suits your players.
I think the team trying to be budget Spain, but being unable to deal with any amount of pressing is a huge amount of the problem. Rather than try and be "more Spain" and chasing trends that are out of date by the time we implement them, we should be doing our own thing, but sadly English football coaching is far behind the top teams in the world. Brazil have a similar problem, their coaches are just poor compared to their player quality. I mean you look at the England underage teams and its definitely the rule that the coaching is a hinderance rather than a help most the time. Until the quality of English coaching improves we will run into the same problems over and over again. What good a Ferrari if you put someone without a driving license behind the wheel.
This is surely the end of the Southgate #england era. Unprecedented success across 4 tournaments and yet writing is on the wall with so much external hostility. The FA want him to stay. It is his choice alone-but I think that choice has already been made.https://t.co/v9hOUgdP6Q— Rob Dorsett (@RobDorsettSky) July 15, 2024
Of course some successful international managers don’t have a massive distinct style. What are Deschamps or Scaoloni’s styles? Nobody will talk in a decade time about their style only their achievements.
the reality is that the way modern tournaments are with expanded teams and watered down groups that Southgate two finals and a semi final is really not as impressive as it may seem. this is harsh but the real final was Germany Spain and England were very fortunate to reach the final playing very poorly along the way. If we are to judge Southgate we should not compare him to Hodgson who took Italy to penalties in 2012 a moment away from a semi final and who had the group of death in 2014 with really a mediocre squad. We should instead compare Southgate to Southgate and with a bigger talent pool he has regressed from 2021 where he had the team playing at least somewhat well and in the final once again conceded the majority of possession. 34% against Italy 34% against Spain He refused to learn his lesson and despite the luck of the draw and 8 years to come up with a tactical identity he was improvising until the last day. The idea that the team has taken huge strides is such a misnomer. English fans should not be happy with this. Yes they have the players that can produce wonder strikes that's awesome few teams in world football have one player that can do this while England has maybe 5 or 6. What an advantage and yet they struggled to impose themselves once again. It's a failure. He had 8 years. It's not his fault he is just limited and over focused on the group development and getting the players to have high moral etc and did not build a blueprint for the team to compete with. Yes he believed he could follow Deschamps model but when France were winning in 2016 2018 and 2022 they played good football not until 2024 have they looked as disjointed as Southgate's England. It was the wrong model to follow and he doubled down on it and fair enough but he failed. He was philosophically wrong. Empirically proven. When faced with a tough Nations League group he was relegated. When up against top sides he fails time and time again. Netherlands were missing their two best midfielders and Southgate still needed an awful penalty and a 89th minute winner to be bailed out. He did not win the tactical battle in a single game roughly speaking. A fair result would have been going out against Slovakia. Don't let 2 finals fool you this was a regression. Southgate would be more comfortable with less talent. The kicker is he is not even defensively solid. Portugal conceded 1 in the knockouts of 2016 Greece conceded 0. England conceded first in every match whether the opposition was Slovakia or Spain. They conceded. So what exactly is the game plan here? So much gaslighting going on. it's nonsense. I am all for pragmatic football but pragmatic does not mean playing cowardly. No one wins tournaments without being brave. It just does not happen. Look at the last 40 years and you can't really find an example of a team that won a tournament without taking on teams on the front foot at some point outside Greece maybe Portugal but again they both beat massive sides without conceding and those are still clearly outliers. Exceptions to the rule. Generally speaking the best team wins.
Scaloni went like 30 games unbeaten. Deschamp's played proper counter attacking football with Mbbape darting down the wings and very much played on the front foot in finals. You also have to realize Scaloni had Messi that went on a once in a generation Maradona 86 like run. You are trying to point out exceptions to the rule and these are still teams that showed they had an identity in how they played and knew their roles and were built for the collective. See Dybala and Lautaro largely being left out because you can't have 3 players dropping into the hole. Look at Spain 2024 2012 2010 2008 Italy 2020 2006 France 98 2000 Brazil 2002 94 Germany 2014 for the most part the team that plays the best as a team and has players in proper positions with a clear role and identity and substitutes that can come on and do the same job win. And all of these teams left big name players on the bench for players with lesser names because it made the system tick properly. Del Piero sat on the bench for Totti while Perotta played every minute as a ball winning winger. Why are Kane Foden and Jude all playing as a 10? There is no clear concept here it's just an all star team. thats nice for a charity game. Deschamp played Matuidi because he wanted defensive coverage high and Giroud because he wanted someone to hold the ball while Mbbape darted forward he had Kante to win the ball and Pogba to distribute it. While Greizman sat in the hole. Southgate played a rb at lb played Trent in midfield then tried Gallagher and then tried Maino after he tried everything else and that helped. He played 3 10's and had no left wing. He tried to play out the back and had a GK that was punting it forward to Kane that had no legs to win a ball. He played the 3421 and it kinda worked then went back to the unbalanced 4231 in the final. Between 2021 and 2024 Kane had 1 touch in the box. That is on the manager. If you don't learn from your mistakes and convince yourself you just need to wait for the luck to fall on your side you are asking for another wasted tournament. Yes they are young but Kane Walker Pickford Stones Shaw Trippier all played their last Euros here and there is no guarantee that a top class player in these positions is ready to step up and take their place or that there will be a top class player to be on the bench in these pistons they are light on. These were the two tournaments to strike while the two generations were in synch. Even Watkins and Toney who are no Kane will both be 30 by 2026 and who knows if they will continue their form as strikers. They are not exactly proven players at the highest level. The idea that hey this is ok we will just win next time or the time after that really misunderstands how quickly the level can drop. People will say they should have kept Southgate if the next manager fails but the reality is he should have been dropped after 2021 and another manager should have had 2 cracks at it while these two generations were in synch. You don't need a star in every position to win but England since 2018 have relied on star power over identity and unless a manager can come in and create defined roles and positions very quickly there is a chance the star power simply wanes and the results reflect that. Look at Spain post 2012 they were still a young side in 2012 but a lot of key players aged out and they did not contend again for another 12 years or so which is actually a very quick turn around and this is a team with the most identity. These things are very hard to repeat. What are the odds England makes 3 straight Euro finals? Or even 2 straight looking at 2026. It's such a missed opportunity. The gap between 2020 and 2024 was there for England to win 1. So many sides were in transition and not at their best. Including Italy Brazil Germany and even Spain. If England don't make 2 straight finals with 2024 and 2026 or 3 straight Euro finals with 2028 we are looking at 2030/2032 before they have another crack at it and who knows what the team will be at that point. We are asking them to do something very difficult now. It can be done but it is rare. after Netherlands lost their two finals in 74 78 they did not get another until 88 and then not another until 2010. France had 3 finals between 98 and 2006 and then not another until 2016. Germany are the hope for this England generation where they were in the finals in 80 82 86 90 92 and 96 winning two tournaments but again this is very rare.
All I know is we had luke shaw attacking down the left when we could have had grealish or Gordon That should tell you everything about southgate
Gordon should have started every game as a left winger because he is the best English left winger in the world. Then Grealsih should have been his substitute the Eze. Foden should have been Jude's substitute at the 60th minute every game as the 10. A left back should have been taken no matter the form or level again look at Cucarella. When Spinazolla went down italy had to sue Emerson. You plug in who works to play the role. Southgate admitted he never trained for a back 3. He maybe should have if he did not want to use wingers. A 4231 with 3 players in the hole is offensive death. Rice playing in a 2 against high pressing teams is death trying to break out.
If went after 2021 Lampard or Gerrard would have been hired for sure. The FA would have wanted the same connection with fans Southgate had and gone for a big name ex player again. Stones has top class replacements in Colwill, Branthwaite, Quansah etc. Walker and Trippier has James, Trent, Livramento, White, Gray. Shaw has Hall and Colwill. Pickford will only be 34 which is not impossible for a goalkeeper but Henderson, Ramsdale, Trafford and others. And players can always shuffle postions if need be.
I don't have the answer as who to hire but that is the root of the problem. While the FA did a big revamp on how they'd develop players they did not seem to do this with managers. Maybe it's a beaurcratic thing. Who is there to hold police the police? But English managers are not up to snuff at the highest level and another golden generation goes beckoning.
They did try a bit but it’s harder than players and they have to deal with a press and fanbase which is very divided on the Foreigner question,
Harry Kane is not expected to give any consideration to retiring from international football and will instead use Lionel Messi as inspiration as he looks to bounce back from another final defeat with EnglandSources close to Kane have completely dismissed that theory or the idea… pic.twitter.com/Yncn5T34EB— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) July 15, 2024 Harry Kane will take inspiration from Lionel Messi as he attempts to bounce back from latest final “heartbreak”https://t.co/Lo3Ggu5Hy4— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) July 15, 2024
This is the crux of the matter. The fact that we've had the same failings in each tournament. If we'd seen clear improvement, but fallen short for another reason, then that's fine. But to falter with pretty much the same issues is a real problem. Once is a mistake, twice is a decision.
I would not bring in a foreigner but surely they can retrain their managers to be more advanced. I think people don't realize the damage Southgate did at the managerial level. 8 years is a long long time to have someone with negative ideas essentially be at the head of the program. all the information is out there. surely a Lampard or Gerrard or anyone can be taught how to play a more progressive model. I would not try and copy Spain but Germany seems like a good shout. They are very much similar to England in the types of players they produce but there managers are far superior. And both Spain and Germany had someone come through their FA you don't need a big club manager. Southgate made sense as someone from the inside the problem is his philosophy is poor.