England National Team Discussion

[Happy Blue]

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They were originally gonna use this flag:

 

 that will be the new national flag the way the county is going 

[Stan]

17 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They were originally gonna use this flag:

 

I bet he doesn't even know what some of those symbols are... 

[Reluctant Striker]

I think it's fair to say the UK has reached a stage of being a non militaristic civil war. And weirdly international football just pours petrol all over that particular bonfire.

[Dave]

Hopefully tonight puts to bed the theory that Lewis Dunk is even close to being good enough to play for England ever again.

[Lucas]

20 hours ago, The Palace Fan said:

Hopefully tonight puts to bed the theory that Lewis Dunk is even close to being good enough to play for England ever again.

Absolutely terrible.

Solid for a side like Brighton but at the top level his skills are limited and it's shown. Basically been at fault in two games.

Bit of a mockery putting Branthwaite in and not playing him. We had the chance to view him against good opposition and Southgate chose not to so answers on a postcard with that one.

Kobee Mainoo excelled for me last night. Took his chance and some.

Can't remember the last time a youngster like him came out of nowhere and was fast tracked so quickly, possibly Walcott maybe when he appeared on the plane to Germany '06 out of nowhere, but it's great to see Henderson and Gallagher fall down the pecking order as a result.

Someone like Bowen is going to be very unlucky. We're just stacked in those wide areas and I don't think there's space for him. Same for Gordon I think.

Toney is just ahead of Watkins in the order for me as he can fit into the system easier if Kane's not available. Both will probably go. 

Got to sort out the full back situation though, especially the left. Can't be having centre backs playing as a full back at that level, it holds you back, but I'd genuinely go Tripper as LB if Shaw can't make it. Chilwell is miles away from it at the moment and is only in because options are minimal. Think I'd rather have Alfie bloody Doughty there than Chilwell from what I saw...

Edited March 27 by Lucas

[Danny]

Was Dunk that bad outside of the mistake? I agree he's probably above average and just good on the ball at Brighton, plus he's a one club player so that helps him there. But he's played for England before and performed fairly well so I don't think he was undeserving of more game-time.

Bowen is interesting, I wouldn't be surprised if we did bring him as he's just so chaotic. You need that raw pace and power sometimes at International level, both in his pressing and in his ball carrying. I was sceptical after the first cameo he made against Brazil but he sold himself to me against Belgium, very useful.

[Reluctant Striker]

Dunk has played well in previous games. But his defending & passing were so awful in the 1st half Vs Belgium it felt very odd to me that Branthwaite did not get on.

The wide players, will surely be Saka or Foden off the right, likely Rashford, Grealish or Foden off the left. I do think Bowen & the unused Palmer are unlucky barring any injuries. But Gordon could just sneak in, with his high tracking back energy. Could depend on how many multi position defenders are included.

Midfield 3 could well be Bellingham, Rice & Mainoo, with Maddison, Henderson, Phillips & Gallagher being 4 after 3 possible spots.

I do think Toney with his penalty taking could get in ahead of Watkins, after a few months of everyone deciding it would definitely be Watkins. Only way both fit into 23 is probably if all 3 of Palmer, Gordon & Bowen miss out & only 7 defenders are chosen. Or maybe only 2 from Maddison, Henderson, Phillips & Gallagher. With TAA & Stones as emergency DM options.

It's at the back it all gets a bit more a case of who is good enough, more than who is unlucky. I think we can expect Walker, TAA, Stones, Maguire, Dunk, Konsa, Trippier, if fit Shaw

Edited March 27 by Reluctant Striker

[Happy Blue]

On 26/03/2024 at 15:20, Stan said:

I bet he doesn't even know what some of those symbols are... 

Of course i do silly. Jihadist flag, CCCP, LGBT, Tudor Rose,  European Union flag, and a defaced Palestine flag

 

[6666]

Saka, Foden, Maddison, Rashford, Palmer, Gordon, Eze, Grealish, Bowen, Sterling.

How many you taking? Bolded ones would be my picks.

[Stan]

18 minutes ago, 6666 said:

Saka, Foden, Maddison, Rashford, Palmer, Gordon, Eze, Grealish, Bowen, Sterling.

How many you taking? Bolded ones would be my picks.

All of them bar Rashford and Sterling and one of Eze/Grealish. 

[OrangeKhrush]

Grealish and Rashford haven't been good and would amount to nothing more than a gormless Gareth style pick with that old tired line of "they have done it before".  

Saka is pretty self explanatory and while Bowen has had a great season,  Cole Palmer is out of this world and should be the second option.   On the left side Gordon has been the best player compared to Southgates normal selections,  Eze has put his name into the hat lately and there is that "Foden" plays out wide thing which would diminish most of Foden's skill sets.   With Foden and Palmer you get flexibility in AM and on the flanks. 

I don't see Trippier being selected,  he got injured in November tried playing through the injury and got worse,  he has sat 2 months out and came back overweight and well out of the pace of the game,  this is a chance to look at something else at LB

 

[MUFC]

Rasshhhyyy.

Edited June 7 by MUFC

[Stan]

 

 

[6666]

Not mad at it. A few new interesting faces in there.

[Smiley Culture]

People would have lost their shit had Southgate named some of those players.

[Dr. Gonzo]

On 29/08/2024 at 11:50, Smiley Culture said:

People would have lost their shit had Southgate named some of those players.

Which ones? I think one of the biggest Southgate criticisms before the last tournament was he "sticks to his favourites" - I think once the group stages of the Euros was over the biggest complaint people had about Southgate was the defensive tactics with the squad we had.

I think Carsley's probably going to get a bit of leeway in his squad selection up until the first few minutes of his England play football and the general public has more of an idea of how England will look under him.

[Smiley Culture]

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Which ones? I think one of the biggest Southgate criticisms before the last tournament was he "sticks to his favourites" - I think once the group stages of the Euros was over the biggest complaint people had about Southgate was the defensive tactics with the squad we had.

I think Carsley's probably going to get a bit of leeway in his squad selection up until the first few minutes of his England play football and the general public has more of an idea of how England will look under him.

Maguire, Gallagher and Gomes, probably to a lesser extent Lewis, though there’s at least something behind that and the fact there is only one out and out striker in the side. 

 

[Michael]

Lee Carsley has done relatively well in his first 2 matches as England manager. He has the privilege of managing one of the most talented England teams ever and one would hope that he could lead this England team to win a major international competition. Carsley as a relatively young manager, potentially has a very long career as England manager ahead of him, if he can find the required success at England's helm. 

It is also interesting that today is the 20th anniversary of the death of the great Brian Clough, a man who many people thought should have been given the chance of managing the England national team. Clough was undoubtedly one of the best English football managers to grace the game.