England National Team Discussion

[Danny]

8 minutes ago, Storts said:

Spot on - Kane and Alli are brilliant - but they work so well in our team because of the players around them and the way we play. Alli in particular has suffered for England. Kane last night had 2 chances and scored 2, there was no real service into him apart from the first goal.

That's the issue, Alli created a penalty out of nothing really and that can't be the sort of thing Southgate is relying on otherwise we'll get beaten by a decent team.

For me it was obvious early on that we weren't creating or pressing, so why not play Alli deeper? If we can't get the ball forward why not let him push it forward, it may not be his best game but it's better than those two being isolated up too.

We played with three centre backs but lost all benefits of that formation when we resorted to just parking the bus. The whole point is that the midfield and wing backs can push on and use the width created to try and pall apart their defence.

[Dan+]

I can't work out what our plan was last night. The second half was embarrassing. I cannot remember ever seeing a side look so clueless against ten men.

[Storts]

7 minutes ago, Danny said:

That's the issue, Alli created a penalty out of nothing really and that can't be the sort of thing Southgate is relying on otherwise we'll get beaten by a decent team.

For me it was obvious early on that we weren't creating or pressing, so why not play Alli deeper? If we can't get the ball forward why not let him push it forward, it may not be his best game but it's better than those two being isolated up too.

We played with three centre backs but lost all benefits of that formation when we resorted to just parking the bus. The whole point is that the midfield and wing backs can push on and use the width created to try and pall apart their defence.

Agree - last night he should have dropped Alli deeper to get on the ball. I didn't realise quite just how bad our depth is in central midfield. It's a real weak point.

I like the 5-3-2 formation we played but it wasn't utilised properly, and our centre backs may not be good enough to be honest.

[Storts]

Just now, Dan said:

I can't work out what our plan was last night. The second half was embarrassing. I cannot remember ever seeing a side look so clueless against ten men.

Every sub just made us worse

[Danny]

28 minutes ago, Storts said:

Agree - last night he should have dropped Alli deeper to get on the ball. I didn't realise quite just how bad our depth is in central midfield. It's a real weak point.

I like the 5-3-2 formation we played but it wasn't utilised properly, and our centre backs may not be good enough to be honest.

I'm not a massive fan of Henderson but when it's down to Chamberlain or Livermore then we definitely miss him.

[Cicero]

3 at the back only works if there is efficient protection in the midfield or the defenders truly understand the role. Don't think England have either. 

 

Kane

Dele------Lallana----Sterling

Henderson---Dier

Rose-----Keane-----Jones----Walker

Forster

 

[Dan+]

I don't know why Gibson didn't get a single minute.

[Stan]

Deserved. Maguire called up to England squad. 

 

[Storts]

7 minutes ago, Stan said:

Deserved. Maguire called up to England squad. 

 

'Deserved'

He's played what 2 games for you?

The bias of football fans is unrivalled. (I'm not saying he doesn't deserve a call up - but just funny how as soon as a player joins a club/plays a few games, there are calls for a national team call up from those fans)

[Stan]

4 minutes ago, Storts said:

'Deserved'

He's played what 2 games for you?

The bias of football fans is unrivalled. (I'm not saying he doesn't deserve a call up - but just funny how as soon as a player joins a club/plays a few games, there are calls for a national team call up from those fans)

Not said on here, but I've called for him to be in the England squad since last season. So not just since he joined us. 

 

[Stan]

Full squad. 

Why do we go with 4 keepers? Hart shouldn't be there.

How are Welbeck and Livermore still getting called up? Has Lingard even played this season? 

[Smiley Culture]

Is that the worst England squad selected of all time? I genuinely can't remember seeing an England squad selection with so few stand out players. 

That said, there are very few other options than those selected and even fewer players of a certain quality available to England any more. 

[Stan]

People's thoughts on Chalobah's inclusion?

[Storts]

13 minutes ago, Stan said:

People's thoughts on Chalobah's inclusion?

Ridiculous - but you expect that.

It's a poor squad because we have average players

[Smiley Culture]

24 minutes ago, Stan said:

People's thoughts on Chalobah's inclusion?

My initial thought was shock but then I spent time trying to think of someone else worthy of an England call-up that hasn't been picked and I come up with very few names. Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley are injured, Jack Wilshere's returning from injury and slapping teenagers and that leaves the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Mark Noble and the like. 

[Spike]

I think we should all accept that Dele Ali isn't a midfielder and is, in fact a very solid deep-forward.

[Spike]

Perhaps well-drilled mediocrity will outperform incohesive stars?

[Smiley Culture]

11 minutes ago, Spike said:

Perhaps well-drilled mediocrity will outperform incohesive stars?

Is this the line we're going with over the 'fresh, new, young squad' line that was peddled out for Euro 2016?

[Spike]

Just now, Smiley Culture said:

Is this the line we're going with over the 'fresh, new, young squad' line that was peddled out for Euro 2016?

Dunno mate, but nations like Wales outperform the sum of their parts because they are a TEAM.

[HK85]

16 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

My initial thought was shock but then I spent time trying to think of someone else worthy of an England call-up that hasn't been picked and I come up with very few names. Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley are injured, Jack Wilshere's returning from injury and slapping teenagers and that leaves the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Mark Noble and the like. 

Tom Davies. 

[Stan]

22 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

My initial thought was shock but then I spent time trying to think of someone else worthy of an England call-up that hasn't been picked and I come up with very few names. Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley are injured, Jack Wilshere's returning from injury and slapping teenagers and that leaves the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Mark Noble and the like. 

good point. 

[Cicero]

Southgate has a boner for Chalobah and rightly so. Lad will make his position his own. 

[RandoEFC+]

No surprises, pretty much any English player who can hold down a first team spot in the top 13 or so Premier League teams is enough to be in the top 30 English players these days which is why the likes of Maguire, Chalobah and Livermore are in the squad whereas players like Sturridge, Smalling, Hart and Welbeck just stay in the squad because there's nobody to replace them even though they've done fuck all recently.

I expect this lot to play better as a side than the Golden Generation but the end result will be the same for another 3-4 tournaments at least.

[Smiley Culture]

1 hour ago, RandoEFC said:

 

I expect this lot to play better as a side than the Golden Generation but the end result will be the same for another 3-4 tournaments at least.

Really?

I expect more dull football, walking qualifiers against inferior nations and ultimately complete rubbish at tournaments and in this UEFA Nations League thing.

[Dan+]

6 hours ago, Spike said:

Perhaps well-drilled mediocrity will outperform incohesive stars?

That only works if you're properly coached. We were the total opposite in 2016, an awfully coached side with players who weren't great, although still better than they showed.

Very happy for Maguire. Didn't expect him to get in this soon but by all accounts he was very impressive at Hull and it's not hard to see why. Looks like he could be a quality signing.