Sky_Blue_Daz
Well-Known Member
I watched the ireland game last week with my dad, if it wasn't for the goalie they could of been hammered. They could have the spine of a decent team in the next campaign
Euro qualifiers 2024 (12 Viewers)
- Thread starter Otis
- Start date
Cooper might have a sniff as well (appreciate he’s Welsh but homegrown and been involved with England previously)
Big Sams also still available
SkyBlueSoul
Well-Known Member
What about Warnock? Whoever comes in needs to focus on the Nations League first and he's got a track record of getting teams promoted from the second tier.
ovduk78
Well-Known Member
I only watched 2nd half but luckily didn't have the sound on. I struggle to see what Grealish & TAA bring to the side. TAA thinks he's some superstar passer always looking to hit long passes yet seems to get in the way and is useless when we haven't got the ball. If we want someone to hit long passes like that why not Ward-Prowse?
eastwoodsdustman
Well-Known Member
Because Alexander-Arnold is Southgates love child.
How many other players aren't good enough to keep their position so get picked to play in another at international level?
Nick
Administrator
His favourites are his downfall.
Not good enough for RB so whack him in at AM.
SlowerThanPlatt
Well-Known Member
Trent has 23 caps in five years and sat on the bench for all but 33 minutes of the WC, is that a favourite?
Sure there’s players more deserving of the title if we must!
Sure there’s players more deserving of the title if we must!
Evo1883
Well-Known Member
Yes I'd say trent is the opposite of a favourite and Southgate has largely ignored the lad during his tenure
Evo1883
Well-Known Member
Southgate was very selfish not walking away after the world cup and letting somebody else try and win something with these players ..very selfish ..and the FA were stupid to not get him out
People will look back at this period in 15 years and admit it was a missed opportunity , I guarantee it
People will look back at this period in 15 years and admit it was a missed opportunity , I guarantee it
Otis
Well-Known Member
I think you may well be right, sadly
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
To be honest the Euros was the time to go but I can see why he wouldn’t.
David O'Day
Well-Known Member
Praised their excellent mentality, in a 1 all draw vs. North Macedonia
Terry Gibson's perm
Well-Known Member
He wouldn’t because it’s big money and little fuss as the fa are weak it’s a part time job on mega full time money. He wouldn’t get a prem job if he quit and if King sacked Robins and said I am bringing in Southgate I would think he is crazy.
He still had the confidence of all the players, the FA, and the media. Plus, England is apparently terrible at producing good managers and there is still no obvious successor. Not surprised at all he stayed.
If we don’t win the Euros next year then it’s clearly a case of what could have been, but for all of Gareth’s shortcomings after seven (!) years in charge, there still isn’t a compelling counter-narrative for which other manager/tactic/first XI would have swept in and won it all.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
The general consensus, which people have arrived to at different times, is that playing 7 defensive outfield players and directing them to play slow tempo football is at odds with where our strengths lie. On a few occasions when the play has been higher tempo and the likes of Bellingham allowed some creative freedom, it has looked far more threatening. Against decent opposition we have managed to be carved open despite stacking the pitch with defensive players. It’s very CCFC-esque.
That and the insistence on starting players who are out of favour with their clubs. Especially Maguire, who has just looked like a liability each time he’s played. Graham Potter would be a logical successor in any case
Everyone loves to bang on about Maguire, but I think his regular presence in the England side for the past seven years is a symptom rather than a cause of England’s conservative style. For all our attacking assets (and it’s a literal plethora of them) we haven’t had a standout central midfield player in the squad until recently, and we have only one CB who most people would agree is consistently international quality. That means we have to make compromises elsewhere.
Southgate has (correctly) determined that teams who are defensively well-organised tend to do better in international games which are getting increasingly tight and conservative. And he’s realised that dependable progression through tournaments is less about catering to the team’s prima donnas and/or trying to cram in whichever flair player is flavour of the month with fans and the press, and more about having a consistent backbone of leaders in the squad who trust the manager’s vision and will bring the rest of the squad along with them. For all the whining from England fans during every tournament of the Southgate era, there’s not been one jot of dissent from the players themselves, who would presumably be well within their rights to moan about a playing style that doesn’t cater to them - it certainly didn’t stop England players from doing it to bigger-name managers than Southgate in the past.
It isn’t always great to watch, but the results are two or three PKs away from being undeniable. Would Potter or Howe inevitably have done better? I’m not sure I’ve seen enough to say.
David O'Day
Well-Known Member
There are better centre backs than Maguire, even if you think there are not then there are CB's who are just as good and where playing far better.
The last Europeans were won a team that most of the time were set up to play entertaining football, great a being shithouses but the were entertaining as well.
Germany in 2014 were entertaining, Spain were the definition of a team set out to play pretty football and they didn't do too bad.
The players don't complain about him as they like him but being a nice man is not a qualification for the England job.
You like Southgate and everyone here would say he has been ok but some of us just think we have the players to be better.
Last edited:
Sky_Blue_Dreamer
Well-Known Member
What's also worrying is the squad is down to 23 again, and we all know Southgate will pick a horde of solid but unspectacular CM's and end up leaving some very good AM's behind. Especially when he has around 4 of those spaces earmarked for his favourites even if they didn't play between now and the end of the season.
I feel he's been lucky with draws in his tenure and will be relying heavily on that again if we're to progress.
I feel he's been lucky with draws in his tenure and will be relying heavily on that again if we're to progress.
Well I suppose what I’m saying is that it’s definitely a lot easier to be an expressive, attacking team if your midfield is anchored by Schweinsteiger or Busquets - when it’s anchored by Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, not so much. Hummels-Boateng or Ramos-Puyol is a good defensive foundation to build an attractive side around….less so if it’s Stones-Centreback TBD (who is definitely better than Maguire, I promise, I just don’t want to name them right now)
England certainly have the attacking quality to match those great Germany and Spain teams - what we don’t have are the balanced squads or the defensive solidity, and Southgate knows it. That’s why the handbrake is there - I wish it wasn’t, but I can’t pretend there’s no need for it.
thekidfromstrettoncamp
Well-Known Member
In the game I would have told everyone except McGuire who can't pass more than 5 yards to only look for forward passes (no back passes).Every time someone had the ball they had at least 4 possible passes the 2 guys on the wing and Rice or Foden who seemed to find loads of space.IMO we tend to look so much better than most opposition but play so negitive we pass to the player next to us when we could easily pass futher forward without the possiblity of losing the the ball.Some of our running off the ball is just inviting a pass but negitivity stops it. I thought Pickford was more tuned in to my last point.
We have some great players would be a shame to lose this opportunity to win something.
We have some great players would be a shame to lose this opportunity to win something.
Sky_Blue_Dreamer
Well-Known Member
I agree. I think Rice is a more than decent holding midfielder, and with an outstanding all-rounder like Bellingham alongside him and one of the best No.9's in Kane up front, there should be plenty of scope to fit in the plethora of creative attacking midfielders we've got available to us.
Rice is a great player but unfortunately England’s CBs need more protection than just him on his own. England’s results have improved accordingly while playing with two holding midfielders.
SBAndy
Well-Known Member
It’s a shame it’ll likely come too late in the day but I wouldn’t be averse to seeing Rico Lewis in centre midfield with Rice. Whilst it isn’t his de-facto position he ends up there more often than not when on the pitch.
A left field should would be Angel Gomes. Loved watching him in the U21s last summer but 99.9% sure he won’t get a call up.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily no, which is probably why we don’t play that way very often now. The results when we did play that way were pretty good though.
David O'Day
Well-Known Member
I would, TAA would be a nightmare as a defensive midfielder against good teams. His lack of defensive awareness he shows at right back where he regularly lets people make simple runs off him would be awful at CDM. He's going to fail to track so many midfield runners.
Yeah I really don’t get the campaign for Trent in midfield. Personally I think Rice-Phillips-Bellingham is a great midfield trio which offers us the defensive balance and the energy we need to let our front three do its thing.
MusicDating
Euro 2016 Prediction League Champion!!
In related news, I see England U17s lost their WC last 16 tie to Uzbekistan. Seems like we attacked loads, but lost to a well organised outfit...
www.englandfootball.com
U-17 World Cup report: England 1-2 Uzbekistan
England booked their place in the quarter-final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup with a hard-fought win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday 22 November 2023.
www.englandfootball.com
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
Why do Wales get to play all their qualification deciders at home?
CJ_covblaze
Well-Known Member
It’s a random draw. They’ve got a very good record there.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
They do indeed, and got two home ties for the World Cup playoff I think. Pretty fortunate