The Official England Thread-The Team We All Support [Vol 3]
Discussion
king hell it gets worse, Henderson coming on......272BHP said:
I can't help feeling that Southgate is the problem.
He has untold riches at his disposal but keeps making the oddest decisions. The fact that Grealish and Foden were barely used at the Euros was criminal.
We have been flat since Grealish was taken off.
This. Definitely. Don't know why he gets an easy ride in the press. Cost us major chances in big games. We look clueless now, spent too long in the game pratting about in own half.He has untold riches at his disposal but keeps making the oddest decisions. The fact that Grealish and Foden were barely used at the Euros was criminal.
We have been flat since Grealish was taken off.
Tomm3 said:
272BHP said:
I can't help feeling that Southgate is the problem.
He has untold riches at his disposal but keeps making the oddest decisions. The fact that Grealish and Foden were barely used at the Euros was criminal.
We have been flat since Grealish was taken off.
This. Definitely. Don't know why he gets an easy ride in the press. Cost us major chances in big games. We look clueless now, spent too long in the game pratting about in own half.He has untold riches at his disposal but keeps making the oddest decisions. The fact that Grealish and Foden were barely used at the Euros was criminal.
We have been flat since Grealish was taken off.
272BHP said:
I can't help feeling that Southgate is the problem.
He has untold riches at his disposal but keeps making the oddest decisions. The fact that Grealish and Foden were barely used at the Euros was criminal.
We have been flat since Grealish was taken off.
Southgate's issue, IMO, is being wedded to Kane and Sterling. If he was playing players on form (which I thought was his thing) they wouldn't get a look in.He has untold riches at his disposal but keeps making the oddest decisions. The fact that Grealish and Foden were barely used at the Euros was criminal.
We have been flat since Grealish was taken off.
But I'm also not sure he really knows how to adjust the style of play to then leverage the players he does have access to.
Kane mopes around like a sulky teenager at the moment. And Sterling has always been more luck than judgement.
Foden's passing wasn't a patch on where it was on Saturday.
Mount was conspicuous by his absence. Again. (I think it may have been Jason Cundy on the radio on the way back from the game that mentioned he's being played out of position?). I do wonder how Grealish/Foden/Mount are impacted by having Kane and Sterling on the pitch at the same time, and what they've been told to do.
Saka didn't do a massive amount when he came on - Grealish off and him on seemed odd to me. Just moved pieces around on a board with no intent.
Grealish looked the part, but I'm starting to wonder if it's all window dressing. End product is lacking and I think he needs to be careful looking for freekicks.
Rice looked solid enough but I don't think a game needs him and Henderson on at the same time.
I like both Shaw and Walker, despite the former giving away the penalty and the latter not making touches he would normally do.
Stones had a decent game, as did Mings. There was one jittery episode between those two and Walker (IIRC) but generally OK. And Southgate does seem to have told them not to pass back to Pickford at last!
Pickford's a liability and another Southgate is seemingly wedded to.
Others weren't on long enough to take any view really.
Hungary were solid enough defensively and in the second half looked as likely to score as we did.
Despite me thinking Sancho wasn't all that on Saturday (end product again for 80% of his time - creating danger means nothing if it is not capitalised on), maybe Southgate should have stuck with that team (mostly). Shaw/Walker for Coady/Trippier but see how they got on. Yes, Andorra were much worse than Hungary....but the energy and desire on Saturday seemed much greater than tonight.
Kane has got to go until he gets some form back. It’s like playing with 10 men.
We’ll qualify no problem, he’ll get a hat trick against San Marino and Southgate will proclaim him the worlds best striker again.
Then it’s back to square one in Qatar.
Also is there any point to Grealish other than falling over and “winning” free kicks.? What’s the point in getting a free kick anyway.? England just pass it backwards to shuffle around the back four before giving it to Grealish to repeat the whole process.
We’ll qualify no problem, he’ll get a hat trick against San Marino and Southgate will proclaim him the worlds best striker again.
Then it’s back to square one in Qatar.
Also is there any point to Grealish other than falling over and “winning” free kicks.? What’s the point in getting a free kick anyway.? England just pass it backwards to shuffle around the back four before giving it to Grealish to repeat the whole process.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 13th October 07:56
TX1 said:
I get the feeling he is not that keen on Grealish, why he brought Henderson on is beyond me and his changes did not make sense at all.
Grealish clearly wasn't happy about being taken off, he walked past GS with a face on him and shook his head when he sat down.Not surprised. GS is treating him like a bit part player while Sterling and Kane have a get out of jail free card every match.
Cobnapint said:
Grealish clearly wasn't happy about being taken off, he walked past GS with a face on him and shook his head when he sat down.
Not surprised. GS is treating him like a bit part player while Sterling and Kane have a get out of jail free card every match.
To my mind he should be first on the team sheet. Things happen when he is on the pitch and when he is off they don't it really is as simple as that.Not surprised. GS is treating him like a bit part player while Sterling and Kane have a get out of jail free card every match.
cerb4.5lee said:
272BHP said:
To my mind he should be first on the team sheet. Things happen when he is on the pitch and when he is off they don't it really is as simple as that.
Completely agree. Blackpuddin said:
+1 the embarassment of riches is going to be a problem for Southgate as he appears to be a caring sort who wants to give everyone a chance but at that level you should know what your best team is and play that.
He seems to want to persist with some more than others though - Kane and Sterling chiefly. Pickford too (to a degree).Hungary played well last night. Their game plan was quite clearly to defend like hell and then try and nick something on the break. It worked.
Our team (mgmt through to the players) should be good enough to know how to break that sort of thing down. But for the majority of the time the ball was being passed back and forth across the line and then back to the halfway line. Occasionally a ball would get pinged out to Shaw or Grealish who would try something different, but it would break down and the same thing would start again. (At least the ball rarely ended up back with Pickford this time).
It seems like the only way we expect to score is from corners, possibly the odd free kick or maybe snatching a penalty if Kane/Sterling/Grealish go down in the box. I don't see that winning us tournaments, and getting piss easy qualification groups does us no favours on this front.
I thought Hungary were playing quite a dangerous game - we were behind the Hungarian goal in the first half and quite often they seemed to be making too many passes in their own half at about the 20yd level. England players were all over them and at times got the ball/a throw in etc. But it did draw a lot of England players in and the ball could on occasion be released long. I may be giving them more credit than they deserved, but I wonder if that was deliberate.
(On a brighter note, was my 9yr old's first stadium game. He absolutely loved the whole thing...the result nor the fan issues dampened his day one bit.
On the fans side, one thing he asked was why the England fans were booing when the Hungarian player line up was announced. Poor form IMO. At least some of the bigger cretins in the England ranks held back on booing the opposition anthem. And then the Hungarians kicked off!)
Yes, I was glad to see Pickford being kept out of the game by his team mates, but the laborious lateral passing at the back was less welcome. I don't recall seeing Mings play a forward ball all night.
The Hungarian lads seemed very fit and up for it. They kept Foden pretty quiet for much of the night. I bet there'll be a few Prem managers wondering if Schafer might be available at some point.
The Hungarian lads seemed very fit and up for it. They kept Foden pretty quiet for much of the night. I bet there'll be a few Prem managers wondering if Schafer might be available at some point.
Gassing Station | Football | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff